Tag Archives: investment
New home lending in Australia recorded solid growth in April
New home lending to owner occupiers in Australia saw solid growth during April, up 4% month on month but still 5.9% lower than a year ago. The figures, published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, also show that loans for building new homes increased by 4.4% and for buying new homes there was a 3.3% rise. The official figures confirm that demand for new home purchase across Australia remains very strong, according to Housing Industry Association, the voice of the residential building industry. ‘Even though the amount of new home lending for owner occupiers peaked over a year ago, current loan volumes remain elevated by historic standards. This means that activity on the ground over the remainder of 2016 will be healthy,’ said HIA senior economist Shane Garrett. He pointed out that May’s interest rate reduction is likely to provide some impetus to new home lending over the coming months. The HIA believes that 2016 will be another remarkably strong year overall. ‘Further easing on the interest rate front would augur even better for the short term outlook in residential building,’ added Garrett. Compared with a year earlier, the number of loans to owner occupiers constructing or purchasing new homes increased in four of the eight states during April 2016. A breakdown of the figures show that in the Australian Capital Territory there was a 30% rise, in South Australia and increased of 9.7%, in Victoria a rise of 4.5% and in New South Wales a rise of 1.1%. But there were declines over the same period in Western Australia with a fall of 18.9%, a fall of 15.2% in Tasmania, a fall of 2.2% in Queensland and a fall of 1.8% in the Northern Territory. Continue reading
Research reveals hundreds of thousands facing eviction in England
More than 148,000 renting households in England were put at risk of losing their home in the past year, equivalent to 350,000 renters, according to new research. The figures from housing charity Shelter come from an analysis of statistics from the Ministry of Justice. Shelter identified 'home threat hotspots' across the country where renters face the greatest risk of losing their home, which comes as a result of the chronic shortage of affordable homes combined with crippling welfare cuts. Enfield topped the list with one in 23 rented homes under threat of eviction. This was followed by Barking and Dagenham with one in 23, Havering with one in 27 and Croydon also with one in 27. But Shelter says that the problem stretches far beyond London. Areas such as Luton, with one in 28 rented homes at risk, Thurrock one in 34 and Peterborough with one in 35 also made it into the country's top 20 home threat hotspots. Additionally, the volume of people facing eviction who are coming to Shelter for advice is getting higher and higher. In the past year alone, over 9,800 people facing eviction have called the Shelter helpline for advice and 500,000 people have visited the Shelter website's eviction advice pages. An example is Angela, is a 35 year old mum from Bristol. Last year, her landlord increased the rent which she couldn't afford to pay so was evicted, and she's been sofa surfing with her five year old son for the past eight months. ‘I'd managed to really build a home for my son, where we felt part of the community. It was really scary going from that to waiting for the bailiffs to throw us out. I desperately wanted to be in a position to tell my son that we were moving house but instead, we've been sofa surfing and relying on the good grace of friend's to let us stay,’ she said. ‘For me, home is the start of everything. It gives you more than an address; it gives you a life and a community base. For my son, it's just as important. I'm so worried about him and how this will affect him long term. Luckily, we're still getting ongoing support from Shelter so I know we've always got someone to turn to for advice,’ she added. According to Nadeem Khan, helpline adviser for Shelter, every day the charity is contacted by people who are struggling to keep up with their rent. ‘Many are in total desperation after the court papers land on their doormat and the threat of being evicted becomes very real,’ said Khan. Further research from Shelter shows that some 59% of adults aged 18 to 44 in Britain say they will be forced to put their lives on hold because of housing problems, new research has found. Overall the current housing shortage is reshaping how millions of people live their lives and creating entirely new timeframes for when they hit traditional… Continue reading
Call for housing and property skills shortage in Ireland to be addressed
A skills shortage is set to affect Ireland’s ability to address its housing crisis and infrastructure deficit, it is claimed. In particular there is a shortfall of qualified graduates coming into the profession, according to the newly elected president of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) Claire Solon, a chartered planning and development surveyor. Research carried out by the Society earlier this year revealed that over 2,000 new job opportunities are expected to be created across the surveying profession in the next four years. However, based on current enrolment numbers, there will only be enough construction and property related surveying graduates to fill just over half of them and Solon it was imperative to have the qualified personnel to meet the needs of the Irish economy. ‘It’s not only the construction of homes that we need these qualified graduates, it’s also for the delivery of infrastructure that our country needs to keep pace with the growth of the economy, such as office buildings, hotels, roads and bridges,’ she explained. ‘I will be looking at several ways in which we can combat this shortage to get graduates into the workforce faster such as on the job training programmes as well as accelerating routes for those interested in becoming surveyors,’ she added. This will included a media campaign to encourage students to choose construction and property courses. ‘We’re working with accredited colleges and in-house to develop part time and and modular programmes which enables people to work while studying or to convert graduates from other areas like business or economics into the property & construction sector,’ Solon pointed out. She also said that women only account for one fifth of the Society’s membership and that needed to change. ‘When speaking with female graduates, they often say that they were unaware of the vast array of professions that exist within the surveying umbrella. So I believe communication is key here, to really highlight the variety of careers within surveying,’ said Solon. She pointed out that a chartered planning and development surveyor can be involved in managing teams from the initial viability study to the delivery of major building projects while a chartered facilities manager could be tasked with organising the operation of high spec office premises for technology companies such as Facebook, Google or Ebay. ‘If you prefer the outdoor life, chartered geomatic surveyors spend most of their time on site, now using high powered drones and sophisticated technology to map and survey land,’ she added. Continue reading
