Tag Archives: investments
New analysis argues that the UK needs 300,000 new homes a year
The UK needs 300,000 new homes to be built every year rather than the target 200,000 proposed by the current government, it is claimed. Land brokers Aston Mead says that the 200,000 is evidently too low and its analysis of the situation comes as others have also pointed out that the number of new homes being built will not meet demand. For example, last week a new report from the cross-party House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, also said that the current 200,000 target is not high enough. According to Charles Hesse, Aston Mead land and planning director, the figure is evidently too low but last year it was not met with only 160,000 new homes completed. ‘The last time the UK built more than 200,000 homes a year it was post-war, and there was a massive council housing programme under way. So we need radical changes in the way that we approach house-building, to enable construction to take place at a much faster rate,’ he said. He has drawn up a three point plan that would help to fund construction and free-up available land so that companies can start building with the minimum of delay. Firstly this involves the creation of a National Housebuilding Fund to finance public sector commissioning. ‘Borrowing costs are at rock-bottom, and something in the region of £20 billion would cover the cost of constructing 100,000 homes, which could be sold direct into owner occupation,’ he explained. Secondly, he suggests developers and planners should be braver about building on the less desirable areas of greenbelt. ‘Whilst some of it should be preserved at all costs, other areas would actually be improved by being built on. There are 514,000 hectares of green belt surrounding London. You only need a tiny fraction of that to more than satisfy housing supply,’ he pointed out. Finally, he suggests that local authorities should be encouraged to release land they themselves own as in London alone there is enough public sector land to build at least 130,000 homes. ‘A lot of authorities are not planning for enough houses, and they are not getting enough challenges from the planning inspectors about how to do it. And if that means an intervention from central Government, then so be it. Ultimately, we need to double the current rate of construction,’ he added. He believes that ‘tinkering at the edges’, providing a dozen homes here and there is no longer enough. ‘House building needs a radical overhaul, and without it we will never get close to the target of 300,000 new homes a year that this country so desperately needs,’ he concluded. Continue reading
Majority of Australians think it is a good time to buy a home
Almost two thirds of Australian’s think now is a good time to be buying a home while roughly the same proportion believe the housing market is vulnerable to a significant correction. The latest quarterly housing market sentiment survey by CoreLogic and TEG Rewards housing market sentiment survey highlights the paradox in housing market attitudes. The data shows that 64% of respondents thought it was a good time to buy a property, up from 60% of respondents a year ago. However, 65% also indicated they thought property values could suffer a significant correction. Sydney based respondents, where affordability constraints are the most pressing of any capital city, were the most pessimistic about whether now is a good time to buy a property, however slightly more than half the respondents still felt it was a good time to buy. Conversely, the regions where dwelling values have peaked and shown a downturn are where respondents are most confident about buying conditions. Some 80% or more of respondents in the Northern Territory, Regional Western Australia and Perth indicated they thought it was a good time to buy. ‘With such as a large proportion of survey respondents thinking that now is a good time to buy a dwelling, it was surprising that almost two thirds also indicated they thought dwelling values could suffer a significant correction,’ said Tim Lawless CoreLogic head or research. ‘While the results suggest that survey respondents are concerned there could be a substantial fall in Australian home values, the proportion is lower from a year ago when 75% of respondents thought the market was vulnerable to a significant correction in values,’ he added. When asked whether dwelling values would rise, fall or remain steady over the next 12 months, the majority of respondents expected values to remain steady, with Tasmanians the most optimistic about the direction of value growth over the next year. Nationally, 38% of respondents are expecting dwelling values to rise over the next twelve months. In contrast, a year ago 45% of respondents thought values would rise, indicating that respondents have become less optimistic with regards to their views on capital gains over the next financial year. For rental market conditions, only 11% of survey respondents are expecting weekly rents to fall over the next 12 months, despite the CoreLogic rental series showing the weakest rental conditions in at least two decades. Nationally, almost equal numbers of survey respondents indicated that weekly rents would either rise or remain stable over the coming year, however there were some considerable variations across the regions. Less than one fifth of respondents in Perth and Regional Western Australia think weekly rents will rise. ‘The low expectation of rental rises in these areas is in line with current rental statistics which show ongoing falls in weekly rents across most parts of Western Australia,’ Lawless pointed out. Continue reading
Supermarkets can add an average of £22,000 onto the price of a home
Living close to a well-known supermarket chain can add an average of £22,000 to the value of a home, new research has found. The report also reveals that premium brands can add even more to nearby house prices, with properties close to a Waitrose store receiving an average boost of £38,666 or 10% than the wider town in which they are located, according to the research from Lloyds Bank. In addition to Waitrose, properties near a Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer, Tesco or Iceland also command the highest house price premiums of £27,939, £27,182, £22,072 and £20,034 respectively. The lowest house price premiums are in areas with an Asda, Lidl or Aldi stores with premiums of £5,026, £3,926 and £1,333 respectively. ‘Our findings back-up the so called Waitrose effect. There is definitely a correlation between the price of your home and whether it’s close to a major supermarket or not,’ said Mike Songer, Lloyds Bank mortgage director. ‘Our figures show that the amount added to the value of your home can be even greater if located next to a brand which is perceived as upmarket. Of course, there are many other drivers of house prices beyond having a supermarket on your doorstep, but our research suggests that it is a strong factor,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures shows that homes in the same postal district as Waitrose command the highest price premium compared to other areas in the same town in seven out of ten regions of England and Wales. The largest premium is in the North West where the average house price in an area with a Waitrose is £73,629, some 39% higher than in the surrounding areas. Other regions with a high premium are the West Midlands at £57,539, Yorkshire and the Humber at £36,376 and the South East at £31,681. At a local level, Chiswick in West London commands the largest average house price premium when compared with the surrounding area, at £476,738. The average house price in Chiswick, which offers residents a Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer, is £961,564, almost double the average for Hounslow at £484,826. Golder’s Green, which has a Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer, has the next largest premium in cash terms at £423,180, followed by Belsize Park and Hampstead at £313,166. Outside of southern England, the largest average price premium is in the Cheshire town of Wilmslow, where shoppers are catered for by supermarkets including Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Lidl. Buyers can, on average, expect to pay a price premium of £277,028 for a home in Wilmslow. In the Ponteland area of Newcastle, the average premium is £206,401 with a Waitrose, Sainsbury's and a Co-op store. The also data shows that this ‘supermarket bounce’ is not necessarily just confined to those areas which have a Waitrose, Sainsbury's or Marks and Spencer's located in them. There are several locations with a discount supermarket store where average house prices trade at a premium…. Continue reading
