Tag Archives: industry
New home building in Australia reaches 20 year high
New home building in Australia has reached a 20 year high, heralding a recovery in the industry, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA), the voice of Australia’s residential building industry. According to HIA senior economist, Shane Garrett, back in early 2012 when activity was so low, the prospect of breaking through 180,000 starts within a couple of years was beyond almost everybody’s most optimistic expectations. But the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics are not all good news as the multi-unit dwelling segment saw a sharp fall during the second quarter of this year, with detached house building also nudging down a little. On the renovations side, the volume of work done also fell, with a 3% reduction in activity during the June 2014 quarter. But overall new housing starts totalled 45,527 in seasonally-adjusted terms. Despite representing a 6.9% decline on the previous quarter, these figures mean that total starts during 2013/2014 was 180,833, the highest 12 month total since March 1995. Detached house commencements slipped by 1.1% during the quarter while other dwellings saw a 15% slide in seasonally adjusted terms. The new HIA Economics report Housing Australia’s Future estimates that about 186,000 new homes will be required annually between now and the year 2050. ‘Even in such a strong upturn, we are still short of this requirement today. This is a stark illustration of the serious supply side issues which will need addressing,’ said Garrett. ‘A number of factors continue to plague the capacity of the new home building sector. These include high taxation, stamp duties, planning restrictions, and delays in making residential land available,’ he explained. ‘Failure to tackle these constraints will mean that the ability of the industry to provide for Australia’s long term housing requirements will continue to be seriously undermined,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures show that new home starts in the June quarter fell by 12.3% in New South Wales, by 3.3% in Victoria, by 1.3% in Queensland, by 1.7% in South Australia and by 48% in the ACT. Three states saw building commencements rise during the quarter. They were up 2% in Western Australia, by 28.7% in Tasmania and by 18.3% in the Northern Territory. Continue reading
New online services launches to help UK landlords with immigration checks
A new service for UK landlords has been launched to help them cope with the new legislation that means they must check the immigration status of potential tenants before agreeing a rental. The first groups of landlords will be required to undertake the checks from December 2014 under a pilot scheme in the West Midlands with the requirement being rolled out across the rest of the country in 2015. The new online Ready Rentals system has been created to help landlords who will have to ask those applying to live in one of their properties for proof of their right to reside in the UK such as a passport, right of abode certificate, or alternative documents that confirm their immigration status. Under the Immigration Act a landlord failing to comply could receive a fine of up to £3,000 and the new rules have already stirred up much feeling amongst the private rented sector, making it a controversial topic, with some questioning whether it is the landlord's place to act as 'immigration officer' in this way. Others fear the additional weight of responsibility on private landlords might negatively affect the industry, putting people off renting out their properties as they struggle to cope with the changing legislative demands. ‘The immigration issue is a hot topic at the moment, with the government and opposition openly debating their approach to the nation's growing problem, but I don't see this new legislation merely having been presented as a vote-winner. Checking a tenant's immigration status is not only beneficial to the country as a whole, it also helps the landlord to feel more assured that they will receive their rent successfully,’ said Neil Woodhead, founder of Ready Rentals. ‘For some it can feel as though the legislation that private landlords have to follow is constantly changing, and this can be daunting for many. Yet it is important that private landlords face this, and other legal demands placed upon them, in a thorough manner. The result is legal compliance and a professional service for tenants, a win-win for all,’ he added. Just one of the issues that Ready Rentals will address, the new immigration laws will be fully supported by the service, providing landlords in the West Midlands and further afield when it is rolled out, with access to all the advice and referencing systems needed to ensure that they meet the new demands of the immigration legislation. Woodhead explained that the online system will be available for an affordable annual fee and aims to make the life of a private landlord easy and the service they offer legally compliant and seamless, addressing concerns and providing invaluable answers to problems faced by individual landlords. This is achieved by providing access to all the documentation needed to become a private landlord, a tailored system to suit individual needs; continually updating advice on statutory regulations and letting a property; providing the ability to market online to major portals; giving information on general marketing and advertising;… Continue reading
New controls on the UK’s private rental market hailed is a flawed idea
Home seekers would face higher rents and restricted choice if tenancy rent controls were introduced in the UK, it is claimed. The Labour Party’s proposal to bring down the cost of renting and improving tenant security through the introduction of rental controls would actually result in higher rents initially, according to new research In the report, The Flaws in Rent Ceilings by Ryan Bourne for the Institute of Economic Affairs, argues that policymakers should instead look to radically shake up planning laws in order to facilitate more private rented accommodation and improve individual wellbeing through increased affordability. The study also claims that the Labour plan would lead to a misallocation of housing and a reduction in the supply of homes to rent without improving affordability and it questions claims that individuals suffer from a lack of security of tenure in the private rented sector. Secure tenancies are provided by the market for those willing to pay for them. The report says that the private rented sector’s share of the total housing stock has rebounded from a severe collapse having been subject to draconian rent controls between 1915 and 1989. Only since its liberalisation has the industry improved, with private rental accounting for over 16% of the housing stock in 2013, up from 10% in the late 1980s and early 90s. It argues that the success of the German rental market, where similar restrictions exist, cannot be used to justify the implementation of tenancy rent controls in the UK as while Germany’s ability to meet rising demand through the building of new homes has meant rents have become increasingly affordable since 1980, the same cannot be said for the UK. ‘With 1.3 million households in the UK renting from private landlords, the sector is in desperate need of policies that will stimulate desirable rentable accommodation at an affordable price. A lack of new property development continues to push up the cost of rent and Labour’s plans will only make things worse. Liberalising planning laws, in contrast, would enable the supply of rentable property to catch up with increasing demand, bringing down the cost of rent,’ said Bourne. ‘Despite claims from politicians, controls such as these will not improve the affordability of renting, other than in the very short term. These controls are likely to push up rents, due to greater uncertainty over future regulation and the risk to landlords associated with increased security of tenure. New tenants would face high initial rents as landlords insure against within-tenancy risks and compensate for future losses,’ he explained. He also pointed out that security of tenure is not a major consideration for the majority of those groups dominating the private rental market, namely young people, students and more mobile households.’ Over 35% of private renters remained in residencies for less than a year in 2013. Because rents will be initially higher, fixed term tenancies would allow less mobile households to enjoy low rents at the expense of the more mobile, harming labour… Continue reading
