Tag Archives: real estate
New partnership meets for first time to boost UK home building industry
A new partnership made up of representatives of house builders, warranty providers and training and trade bodies aimed at attracting new people to the construction industry in the UK has met for the first time. The Board of the Home Building Skills Partnership (HBP) has started work in earnest on plans to attract and train tens of thousands of new workers, led by Redrow Homes chief executive officer John Tutte with a strong group of leaders from across the home building sector. The HBP aims to develop, grow and sustain a programme to provide the workforce the industry requires to deliver the further increases in housing supply the country desperately needs. It will focus on attracting new entrants into the industry, and on providing focussed training to develop the qualified workforce needed to construct today's high quality new homes. The Board will guide and direct the Partnership and define its operational parameters and priorities. It will also oversee the recruitment of a dedicated team that, in collaboration with the wider supply chain, will drive forward the initiatives on a day to day basis. Over its first four years it is hoped that HSP programmes will engage with over 3,500 companies, more than 40,000 workers and some 180 Colleges and Training Providers. ‘The house building industry is totally committed to increasing output and meeting the housing needs of the country. The Partnership will help us attract and train the people we need to deliver more, high quality homes in the coming years,’ said Tutte. ‘The broad experience of the Board we have recruited will help us put in place the building blocks we need to succeed. Over the coming years the Partnership will help secure tens of thousands of skilled employees for house builders and the wider industry who will help us solve the housing crisis we now face. More quality people will enable us to deliver more quality homes,’ he added. The HBP aims to develop an improved public identity for home building, influence the development of a more professional, fully trained workforce and increase productivity and the value added per employee. It also aims to improve the quality and relevance of industry training, co-ordinate the tackling of common workforce challenges and influence and leverage investment in skills to the benefit of the home building industry. Continue reading
Asking prices up in England and Wales but down in London
Asking prices in England and Wales have reached a record high despite the looming vote on the future of the UK in the European Union, the latest index report shows. Housing market momentum continues to push up the price of property coming on to the market up with a rise of 0.8% or £2,320 to new high of £310,471, according to the June report from property portal Rightmove. Desire to buy and lack of supply is affecting the market with the time to sell falling to 57 days, the fastest ever measured by Rightmove. But there is some signs of referendum associated uncertainty with fewer new sellers coming to market as new properties for sale were down 5.3% compared to average at this time of year with the most reluctant being owners of larger homes with four or more bedrooms who have dropped by 6.6%. A breakdown of the figures show that in the North East asking prices increased by 0.1% month on month and 3.1% year on year to an average of £148,662 while in the North West they were up 2.2% month on month and 4.2% year on year to £183,482. In the West Midlands there was a month on month rise of 1.4% and year on year asking prices were up 4% to an average of £209,273 and in the East Midlands up 0.6% and 4.8% respectively to £198,090. There was a month on month rise of 0.6% in Yorkshire and Humber and year on year asking prices are up 2.6% to an average of £178,388 while in the East of England they were up 1.2% and are now 9.4% above a year ago at £338,499. In the South West there was a 1.4% month on month rise and year on year an increase of 5% to an average of £302,022. In the South East asking prices rose 0.7% month on month and are 6.9% higher year on year. In Greater London price growth is slowing with a month on month fall of 0.2% and asking prices are now 4.8% higher than a year ago at £643,117. Meanwhile growth has been steady in Wales, up 1.4% month on month and 6% year on year to £185,145. Overall, there have been price rises every month so far in 2016, showing that the uncertainty associated with the EU referendum has failed to halt this year’s upwards price momentum, according to Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst. He pointed out that this is in contrast to the run-up to the May 2015 general election, when the electoral uncertainty resulted in a price fall of 0.1% in the month of the election. ‘This year the first quarter buy to let surge has exacerbated the shortage of suitable property for sale, and with ongoing buyer demand fuelled by cheap mortgage money, there appears to be greater resilience. The result is that the average time it takes to sell a property is at its lowest level… Continue reading
Residential property market in Dubai looking stable, says latest report
The residential real estate market in Dubai maintained its stability in the year to April 2016, despite prices falling, according to the latest analysis report on the emirate. Despite a 9% year on year drop across the mainstream market, the General REIDIN sale price index remained relatively flat on a monthly basis, with no noticeable changes in the performance of both apartments and villas, says the report. Dubai’s prime market continued to outperform the market average with the prime price index down 5% in the 12 months to April 2016 compared to the previous 12 month period, the report from international real estate firm Knight Frank. It says that it is encouraging that prices in the prime segment increased 2% on a quarterly basis between the fourth quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016. The performance of prime apartments outweighed that of villas, with the index pointing to a 2% quarterly increase over the same period. In turn, prime villas recorded no significant price change. The Knight Frank report also says that a number of factors have supported this regulation in prices and are set to support the return of confidence to the market including the government commitment to infrastructure spending. It points out that while it is too soon to estimate the impact of the Expo 2020 on the residential sector, continued government spending on infrastructure projects geared towards the event such as Route Metro 2020 and Dubai Parks & Resorts will promote confidence in the market and is expected to draw further inward capital. There is also likely to be some control of supply as there is a general consensus among developers of the need to phase out residential projects in line with demand and strong liquidity with the residential real estate market in Dubai continuing to attract capital from strong liquid markets such as Saudi Arabia and India, two of the traditionally top buyers of real estate in Dubai. In Abu Dhabi, sale prices remained relatively stable on the back of a shortage in quality residential supply with the General REIDIN sale price index recording a 1% increase year on year in the first quarter of 2016. The report says that while demand has declined on the back of corporate restructuring and cutbacks in government spending, this has been balanced by a slowdown in the delivery of projects, thus keeping the market steady. ‘Looking ahead, the residential market in the UAE is expected to soften over the second half of the year. While it’s difficult to predict when the next growth cycle will be, we expect the residential market to level out by the end of 2016 before seeing gradual recovery in 2017. We expect prime residential properties will continue to outperform the market average in the short to medium term,’ the report says. ‘We expect Dubai to continue attracting investments both regionally and globally. However the outlook for the emirate in general and the real estate sector… Continue reading
