Tag Archives: london
Rate of city house price growth in UK starting to plateau
The rate of house price growth in key cities in the UK is starting to plateau after a strong first half of the year with London in particular likely to see slower growth ahead, according to the latest index data. Month on month the Hometrack Cities Index recorded growth of 6.9% in June and year on year growth is running at 10.2%, the same level as the previous month. The index report suggests that double digit year on year growth has been sustained by the surge of investor demand ahead of the stamp duty change in April while low mortgage rates and improving economic conditions have continued to attract households into the market against a backdrop of dwindling supply with the net result being continued upward pressure on prices. In June Bristol remained the fastest growing city with year on year price growth of 14.7% taking the average price to £253,400, followed by London with annual growth of 13.7% to £476,800 and then Cambridge up 11.5% to £411,800. The data also shows a strong uplift in price growth in large cities such as Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds where house prices are comparatively affordable and yields above average and attractive to investors. Month on month the highest growth was in Oxford at 9.6%, followed by Cambridge at 9.5%, London at 8.2% and Bristol at 7.8%. At the opposite Aberdeen has seen prices fall by 8.2% year on year but the city recorded a small uplift month on month of 0.3%. The report points out that any impact from the decision by the UK to leave the European Union will not be reflected in the index for two to three months. ‘That said, we have reported signs of slowing growth in some cities, particularly in southern England where affordability levels are close to record highs. The slowdown might have been more apparent by now had the stamp duty change not been introduced,’ it says. A new analysis looking at listings also shows that for selected cities new supply has grown faster in the last three months than the average increase in supply seen over the last 12 months. For all cities in England and Wales excluding London new supply has grown 10% faster than the 12 month average, this rises to over 15% in London. In contrast, the relative change in sales over the last three months has registered a relative fall of 8% in London meaning that 8% fewer homes sold in the last three months compared to the 12 month average. The relative change in Bristol is 0%, while in larger regional cities, where house price growth has been picking up momentum, the relative change is sales is positive at up to 7% in Manchester. 'This analysis shows how recent sales momentum in regional cities, and higher house price growth, appears to have held up over the referendum period. In contrast, the headwinds facing the London market ahead of the vote… Continue reading
Billions to be invested in homes for sale and rent in Ireland
Some €200 million it to be put into an Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund in Ireland aimed at opening up large sites in areas where people need homes. This is to relieve critical infrastructural blockages to allow for the delivery of homes on key sites and to improve the economic viability and purchaser affordability of new housing projects and deliver 20,000 new homes by 2020. The Irish Government has also announced under its Housing Action Plan that €5.35 billion will be allocated to the development of social housing with the aim of building 47,000 more social housing units by 2021. There will also be changes to planning to allow large scale residential development planning applications to be fast tracked. The Government said it will legislate to allow for larger housing development applications of 100 plus units to be made directly to An Bord Pleanala, the country’s independent planning body. An Bord Pleanala is also set to prioritise the determination of all planning appeals for large scale developments. This is to be done within an 18 to 20 week period and the roll-out of e-planning is also being looked at. The action plan also includes increasing the supply of home to rent and support for a stable rental sector. A national policy for appropriate on and off-campus accommodation for students will also be developed. The Housing Agency will be allocated €70 million to acquire suitable portfolios of vacant properties to be let under a national vacant housing reuse strategy. A register of vacant properties across the country will be drawn up and the planning rules for change of use of vacant commercial units to a residential units will be reviewed. However, according to the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) critical skills shortages across all sectors of the housing market in Ireland will urgently need to be addressed to deliver the scale of housing delivery needed. Claire Solon, SCSI president, said that a National body with real authority and mandate is needed not just for housing, but also for national infrastructural planning. ‘It’s clear from the Action Plan that in several areas, it’s the need for projects like road completions, or water and drainage schemes that are actually preventing the delivery of housing,’ she pointed out. ‘The industry has shown itself be to resourceful following many difficult years, but there needs to be significant investment now to address the skills shortage in all sectors, professional, technical and trades,’ she explained. ‘We will be asking the Minister of Finance to specifically resource our sector in the upcoming Budget for training of apprentices, graduates and to help encourage workers from other sectors to transfer to construction and property roles. The industry plays a vital role in our economy and after many years of underinvestment, negative reporting and poor output, it needs radical intervention to upscale and deliver what could be one of the most important development stages in the history of our country,’ she added. The SCSI also believes… Continue reading
Residential sales in UK up by almost 5% between May and June
The provisional seasonally adjusted UK property transaction count for June 2016 was 94,550 residential and 10,930 non-residential transactions. Residential property sales recorded in the UK increased by almost 5% between May and June 2016, according to the latest estimated figures to be published. The residential transaction count was 94,550 and while this is up 4.9% month on month, it is 10.2% lower compared with the same month last year. The large increase in transactions for March 2016 followed by the substantial reduction in April is likely to be associated with the introduction of the higher rates on additional properties in April 2016, according to HMRC which publishes the figures. However, whilst April and May 2016 are lower than the corresponding months in 2015, it should be noted that the total for March to May 2016 is still substantially higher than the corresponding period last year, it pointed out. The additional property rates were announced in the Autumn Statement 2015 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and in the Scottish Government's draft 2016/2017 budget for Scotland. Non-tax factors may have played a role as well, for example the Bank of England's plans to curb buy to let mortgages resulting in a rush to purchase before April 2016, and the European Union referendum affecting transactions in recent months. The residential count includes properties paying the main and additional rates. For June 2016 the number of non-adjusted residential transactions was about 21.2% higher compared with May 2016. The number of non-adjusted residential transactions was 11.1% lower than in June 2015. According to Doug Crawford, chief executive officer of My Home Move, June’s figures show a market returning to health after a very quiet April and May which was due to investors doing business earlier in the year to avoid the stamp duty changes. ‘While the number of property transactions remain below the levels seen a year earlier, a 4.9% increase between May and June is very encouraging. My Home Move’s own data suggests that the number of completions in June 2016 was actually 2.7% higher than in June 2015,’ he said. ‘The June increase shows that the property market mostly shook off the uncertainty from the Brexit referendum at the end of the month. This reflects our experience as most purchases went ahead without any issues. The big question now is what the impact will be for the rest of the year,’ he explained. ‘While this is less clear, our view is that the fundamentals of the property market are strong enough that there will not be a significant impact. There have been anecdotal reports of a slight slowdown in July from the estate agents we work with, but it is impossible to tell how much of this is actually Brexit related and how much is down to a normal summer slowdown. The picture will only start to be clearer in September after the holiday season,’ he said. Continue reading
