Tag Archives: health
Rents in Scotland continue upwards but still 30% below England and Wales
Residential rents in Scotland accelerated again in March with annual growth of 1.3%, up from 1.1% in February, according to the latest buy to let index. Average monthly rents in Scotland now stand at £539 and they are some 30% lower than the typical rent in England and Wales, the index from lettings agent network Your Move also shows. Total annual returns on rental properties in Scotland reached the highest level on record at 9.7% on average in the 12 months to March 2015, up from 7.2% a year ago. This is equal to £15,000 per property before any mortgage payments or maintenance costs, but taking into account property price growth and void periods between tenants. Buy to let investors in Edinburgh have experienced the strongest annual returns in the last year of 13.4%, equivalent to £27,135 in cash terms. In the month to March, Scottish rents increased 0.3% overall, the strongest monthly uptick witnessed since October 2014, after a winter downtrend. ‘Despite surging demand for homes in the private rented sector, Scottish rents have been treading water in recent months, allowing tenants some valuable breathing space over the winter. Now we’re starting to see growth scale up again in the spring, as the rental cycle starts to gain momentum,’ said Brian Moran, area lettings director at Your Move. ‘But even this is still at very modest levels compared to the rest of the UK with rents rising at less than half the pace as being seen in England and Wales,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures show that on an annual basis, rents have risen across three of five regions in Scotland. In Glasgow and Clyde, rents have seen the biggest increase over the past 12 months, with rents now 3.6% or £19 higher than in March 2014. Edinburgh and the Lothians have experienced a 2.3% jump in rent prices year on year, and the East saw a more modest 0.8% annual rise in rents. Rents have fallen across two regions of Scotland in the last year. The Highlands and Islands witnessed the most significant annual drop, with rents falling 1.9% and in the South of Scotland rents are now 0.1% lower than a year ago. Compared to last month, rents are higher in only two of five Scottish regions. Rents in the South of Scotland saw the biggest monthly uplift in March, but still have the cheapest monthly rents across the country, at £489. Rents in this area have climbed 1.8% since February 2015, as rent growth starts to get back into its stride a long spell of price drops in the latter half of 2014. The only other location to experience a boost in rents in the past month was Glasgow and Clyde, with rents rising 0.3% during March. The majority of regions have witnessed a fall in rents month on month. The steepest drop in rents was in the Highlands and Islands, down 0.6% since February. Edinburgh and the… Continue reading
Surveyors reveal the damage caused to Victorian and Edwardian houses in the UK
There are over four million Victorian and Edwardian houses in the UK and many are crying out for some serious care and repair work, according to chartered surveyors. Buildings of Victorian and Edwardian age account for a disproportionately high number of the 'essential repairs' listed in mortgage valuations and survey reports, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. One cause of problems arising today can be traced back to the Victorian builders who were not always averse to taking shortcuts and skimping on materials, with the result that ‘inherent defects’ developed in later life. Experienced surveyors will know how to identify common problems like damp, timber decay, and structural movement. But they will also know when not to worry, when apparent defects are not significant, according to a RICS qualified chartered surveyor Ian Rock. He pointed out that large numbers of homes of this era have suffered from a long term lack of maintenance. Worse, many old buildings have been subjected to inappropriate repair work, leading to a loss of valuable original features. ‘In some cases well intentioned repairs have had the effect of exacerbating the problems that they set out to solve. Works such as re-pointing and rendering in modern cement based materials, the use of plastic paints and the retrospective application of unnecessary damp proof treatments can all be detrimental to the health of such buildings, in time leading to accelerated decay and irreparable damage,’ he explained. The most inappropriate works commonly carried out on traditional buildings include replacing original good quality sash windows with inappropriate modern aluminium or PVC-U casements and stripping out original period doors. There is also unnecessarily injecting chemical damp proof courses or injecting them incompetently, and re-plastering or rendering main walls with cement based materials rather than traditional lime, thereby trapping damp in the walls. Damp, rot and beetle infestation is encouraged by blocking ventilation to floors and roofs, and by allowing high ground levels such as flower beds to build up against external walls. Removal of chimney breasts or load bearing internal spine walls without providing adequate support to the remaining masonry above can also cause damage. Others are neglecting badly eroded mortar joints to external masonry, allowing damp to penetrate and frost damage to occur and re-pointing walls with cement mortar that prevents walls from ‘breathing’, and re-pointing in visually dominant ‘show off’ styles such as protruding ‘weather struck’ pointing. RICS also points to botched repairs to flashings to stacks and roofs with short life materials such as self-adhesive tapes or mortar fillets and a failure to provide enhanced structural support to roof structures where original lightweight slate coverings have been replaced with heavier concrete tiles. Damage can also be caused to these old buildings by not lining old flues before lighting fires or using appliances, and failing to cap and ventilate disused flues as well as weakening floor joists with excessive cutting for cable and pipe runs. ‘RICS members have a pivotal role to… Continue reading
