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Property prices in England and Wales down 0.8%, latest official figures show
Property prices in England and Wales fell by 0.8% in March, taking the average house price to £178,007, according to the latest data from the Land Registry. It means that the annual price change now stands at 5.3% and the data also shows that sales have fallen. From October 2013 to January 2014 there was an average of 76,056 sales per month. In the same months a year later, the figure was 71,090. But in London property prices are still going up with a monthly increase of 0.2%. At 11.3% the annual change for London is considerably higher than most other regions. The average price of property in the capital is £462,799 in comparison with the average for England and Wales of £178,007. The London borough with the highest annual price rise is Newham, with a rise of 19.8% and Hackney experienced the highest monthly increase, up 1.6%. Kensington and Chelsea saw the lowest annual growth of 5.2% also experienced the greatest monthly fall with a drop of 1.6%. On a regional basis the North East saw the only annual price fall with a drop of 2.9%, the South East experienced the greatest monthly price rise of 0.8% and the North East also saw the largest monthly decrease with a fall of 4%. Bracknell Forest and Hertfordshire experienced the greatest annual price increase in March with a rise of 13.6% and Darlington saw the greatest annual price fall with a drop of 6.2%. The index report shows that price index volatility is greater in areas where recorded sales volumes are low. Index volatility leads to erratic and high changes in reported price. Some of the areas that typically have very low transaction volumes include, but are not limited to, the City of London, Rutland, the Isle of Anglesey, Merthyr , Blaenau Gwent, Ceredigion and Torfaen. The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in January 2015 decreased by 19% to 851 from 1,049 in January 2014 while the number of properties sold in London for over £1 million in January 2015 decreased by 23% to 571 from 746 in January 2014. However, Edward Heaton, of Heaton and Partners search agency, pointed out that the headline figures only tell part of the story. ‘In London, for example, there may indeed have been an 11.3% increase in greater London over the last year, but in prime central London prices have actually dropped,’ he said. ‘The biggest increases have been in second tier areas such as Wandsworth, Battersea, Clapham and some of the up and coming areas to the East of London. In the South East, most of the activity and increases in price have been in the mainstream market below £1 million,’ he explained. ‘Certainly above £2 million prices have remained pretty stable, although there is an expectation that prices will start rising rapidly after the election, almost regardless of its result,’ he added. Nicholas Leeming, chairman of national estate agents Jackson-Stops &… Continue reading
Labour Party plans for UK housing market after general election criticised
Announcements from the UK’s Labour party on policies it would introduce if it wins the general election on rent controls and stamp duty for first time buyers have been met with considerable criticism from the property industry. Under the party's plans to tackle the country’s lack of new housing, Labour leader Ed Miliband said he would introduce a ‘first call’ policy that would give first time buyers who have lived in an area for more than three years priority on up to half of new homes. He also announced that he would scrap stamp duty for first time buyers on homes worth up to £300,000 and said foreign buyers would be subject to higher taxes and a ‘local first’ policy would ensure properties are advertised in the UK before they are promoted overseas. Miliband claimed that cutting stamp duty to zero would benefit nine out of 10 people buying their first home and could save up to £5,000. It would fund the stamp duty plans by tackling tax avoidance by landlords, pointing to HMRC figures that estimate it costs £550 million a year. Labour would want the creation of a national register of landlords, saying this would could tax avoidance by landlords by 20% and bring in £100 million for Treasury coffers. Tax relief for landlords to cover the upkeep of furnished properties would also be reduced for rogue landlords that rent out sub-standard properties. Also, under the plan private landlords would be banned from introducing above inflation rent rises over a three year period and landlords and letting agents would be required to disclose the rent paid by previous tenants, to allow renters to negotiate the best possible deal at the start of a contract. Mr Miliband said Labour's plan would help create ‘a stable, decent, prosperous private rental market where landlords and tenants can succeed together’. Jeremy Blackburn, head of policy at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said that while the proposed stamp duty reform could help some first time buyers in the market, it’s another measure that tinkers with demand side stimulus. ‘Prices are already predicted to rise in the next parliament and this is only likely to make matters worse. The promise of one million homes by 2020 is an ambitious target, but Labour has not fully explained how they expect to remove obstacles to such a supply- ide revolution. What we need is a drastic increase in supply,’ he added. Building affordable homes is a better way of solving the housing crisis than reducing stamp duty, according to housing charity Shelter. ‘While reducing stamp duty may help at the margins, the only way to give generation rent a fighting chance of their own home is to tackle the root causes of our housing crisis by building the affordable homes we desperately need,’ said chief executive Campbell Robb. Mark Hayward, managing director, National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), welcomed the policy on stamp duty for first time buyers, saying… Continue reading
Newly let property rents up in the UK while others remain stable
Rents in the UK remain stable for renewed and occupied tenancies but continue to increase for newly let properties in the first quarter of 2015, according to the latest rental index. Overall average rents for newly let properties increased 4.5% in the quarter to £894 per calendar month, up from £853 in the fourth quarter of 2014. Arrears continue to decrease in England, Scotland and Wales, a sign that household income is less stretched than a year ago, the index from Countrywide also shows. A breakdown of the figures shows that average rents increase for one and two bedroom properties in the first three months of the year, up 0.8% and 0.4% respectively compared to the previous quarter to £730 and £817. Three and four plus bedroom properties saw rents remain stable with just a 0.1% decrease to £939 and £1,435 per calendar month respectively. However, when looking at March 2015 compared to February 2015 rent increased for three and four bedroom properties by 1.6% and 16.4%. Two bedroom properties see no change in average monthly rent and one bedroom properties a 1.4% decrease. The average monthly rent in the quarter decreased in over half of UK regions, with the greatest decrease in the South East of England, down 1.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2014 to £1,097. Average rents remain unchanged in the North but increased in central London, up 3.1% to £2,561. Month on month, rents increased in the majority of regions, with the South East seeing the greatest increase, up 14.8% in March compared to February. Average rent decreased the greatest in central London, down 4.4%. The average UK rent for renewed tenancies in March is £848 per calendar month, an increase of 0.8% month on month and 2.3% year on year. By property size, increases and decreases in average monthly rent for renewed tenancies remained relatively unchanged in March when compared to February, apart from one bedroom properties which saw a 4.3% increase. Two bedroom properties see a 0.6% increase, three bedroom properties see a 0.6% decrease, whilst for four plus bedroom properties the average rent remains unchanged. The only region to see a decrease in rents in March was central London, down 2.3% on February to £2,485. All other regions saw no change or an increase in rents, with Wales seeing the greatest increase, up 13% to £654. Year on year, the East of England is the only region to see a decrease in rents, down 0.9% in March 2015 compared to March 2014. The average rent for all occupied rental properties is £840 per calendar month, an increase of 0.2% month on month and 2.4% year on year. By property size, rents for occupied rental properties see marginal changes in rents month on month, with one, two and three bedroom properties seeing an increase of 0.7% 0.3% and 0.2% to £693, £773 and £879 respectively. Four plus bedroom properties see a small decrease of just 0.1%… Continue reading
