Tag Archives: real-estate
House prices in England and Wales up 300% in last two decades
House prices have increased by nearly 300% in the last 20 years in England and Wales with the average sale price rising from £66,110 in 1995 to £262,847 today. But new analysis from international real estate adviser, Savills, has found significant regional and local variations in house in price growth. Looking at 20 years of Land Registry data, available for the first time, Savills research has found the top 5% of wards across England and Wales have seen property prices increase by 538%, from £108,032 in 1995 to £689,649 in 2015. In contrast, the 5% of wards that have shown the smallest increase have seen sales prices rise by 148% over the same period, from £46,819 in 1995 to £115,954 to 2015. The report explains that the distribution of growth across all wards, broken down between regions, demonstrates not only the growing house price divide between regions, but how wide the variation of growth is at a local level. In London alone, growth varies from a 938% increase in Oval, Lambeth to a rise of 218% in Erith, Bexley. Only 5.5% of wards now have an average sale price less than £100,000, compared to 88% of all wards in 1995 and are predominately former industrial locations in the north of England and Wales. Meanwhile, there are now 66 wards with an average sale price of over £1 million, 53 of which are located in London, while in 1995 just eight wards had an average sale price of more than £300,000. ‘The 20 biggest risers are dominated by central London markets, though they also include some areas that have seen substantial gentrification over the period. This includes Queens Park and Kensal Green in Brent, East Dulwich and Cathedrals in Southwark and Stoke Newington Central and Dalston in Hackney,’ said Lucian Cook, head of Savills UK residential research. ‘Looking at the top 30 performers outside London, Brighton and Hove, North Oxford and Cambridge all feature prominently, as well as a few coastal markets in Norfolk and Cornwall and prime commuter wards such as Harpenden South, Denham North and Luffield Abbey,’ he pointed out. ‘At the other end of the scale, areas that have seen the smallest growth contain a number of wards in Blackpool and Middlesbrough,’ he added. Continue reading
Rents in Australian capital cities up just 0.3% in 2015
Last year was lackluster for residential property rental growth in cities in Australia with rents increasing by just 0.3%, the latest index data shows. Rents increased by 2.2% in Melbourne, by 1.9% in Sydney and Canberra, and by 0.6% in Hobart. They fell by 13.2% in Darwin, by 8% in Perth, by 0.3% in Brisbane and by 0.2% in Adelaide. ‘We’ve never seen rental growth as sluggish as it is at the moment. Furthermore, we’re expecting to see more of the same over the coming months due to increases in the supply of new housing, rental stock and a further slowdown in migration rates,’ said CoreLogic RP Data research analyst Cameron Kusher. The CoreLogic RP Data index also shows that combined capital city rental rates are at $483, an increase of just 0.3% over the past 12 months which is a record low rate of annual growth based on records back to December 1996. A comparison between December 2015 and December 2014 shows in 2014 annual rental growth was slowing but was tracking at a much higher 1.8% which highlights just how much the rental market eased throughout 2015. ‘The construction boom across the capital cities, coupled with slowing population growth, low mortgage rates and the recent heightened level of activity from investors are the major contributing factors to the slowing rental growth in 2015,’ said Kusher. ‘Although Sydney and Melbourne saw the largest ramp up in new housing supply, both cities still recorded rental increases over the year, although rental growth is slowing relative to 12 months earlier,’ he explained. ‘It is clear that the increase in investment stock continues to provide landlords with little scope to lift rental rates while the low mortgage rate environment provides little incentive to push yields higher,’ he added. The firm predicts that growth in rental rates is likely to remain weak or potentially slow even further over the coming months. The good news for those looking to rent is the possibility that rental rates will fall even further over the coming year. ‘While the news for renters will be welcomed, investors may be facing weaker capital gains coupled with little in the way of rental growth or yield. The large pipeline of residential construction activity and recent high levels of investment demand means that renters are likely to continue to have plenty of choice,’ added Kusher. Continue reading
£140 million to be spent on regenerating housing estates in the UK
Some of the UK’s most rundown housing estates will be replaced with attractive and safe homes with a new fund for regeneration projects, it has been announced. Prime Minister David Cameron released details of what he called a comprehensive approach to estate regeneration with the creation of a new £140 million fund. He said that the government will work with 100 housing estates across the country to either radically transform them or, in the worst cases, knock them down and replace them with high quality new homes. ‘Within these so-called sink estates, behind front doors, families build warm and welcoming homes. But step outside in the worst estates and you’re confronted by brutal high rise towers and dark alleyways that are a gift to criminals,’ Cameron explained. Secretary of State Greg Clark said that there is a belief that the worst estates offer huge potential to be revived so that they become thriving communities and places which people want to live and work in. ‘That’s why we’re so determined to kick-start work which will benefit the lives of thousands of people by providing high quality homes,’ he added. To help tackle the problem the nationwide strategy will be supported by a new Estate Regeneration Advisory Panel, which will be chaired by Lord Heseltine, the former Deputy Prime Minister who has long championed the regeneration of Britain’s inner cities. The Panel will report in detail by this year’s Autumn Statement. The Prime Minister’s announcement comes ahead of a report from property advisor Savills which will show the approach to regeneration could help catalyse the building of hundreds of thousands of new homes in London alone. ‘For decades, sink estates had been seen as something simply to be managed. It’s time to be more ambitious at every level. The mission here is nothing short of social turnaround, and with massive estate regeneration, tenants protected, and land unlocked for new housing all over Britain, I believe we can tear down anything that stands in our way,’ Cameron added. Yolande Barnes, Savills research director, explained that the research shows that housing estates can deliver more homes and be made into better neighbourhoods by re-integrating them into the wider street network and creating or repairing the streetscape. The British Property Federation (BPF) welcomed proposals and praised the Government for ensuring that binding guarantees will be put in place for tenants and homeowners, to ensure that that their right to a home is protected. ‘There are some very old council estates that are in need of regeneration, but that process must treat existing residents fairly,’ said Ian Fletcher, director of policy for real estate at the BPF. ‘The Government is therefore right to put some sorts of guarantees at the forefront of its policy and encourage a partnership approach. There are investors in our membership, pension funds and the like, who will be very interested in how they can contribute to those partnerships,’ he pointed out. ‘Communities need not only… Continue reading
