Housing Market
News covering issues affecting the UK residential property market, house prices, interest rates and buying and selling trends.
-
Ed’s last stand: “a load of cobblers”
General Elections bring out the opinions of the electorate and property people have been more than forthcoming in these last days before the big election day on 7th May. Naomi Heaton (left), CEO of London Central Portfolio says that Ed Miliband’s “last stand” is “a load of cobblers”. Among her points are: “The latest Labour pledge is to abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers buying homes worth up to £300,000 for the next three years. They have said that it will benefit nine in 10 such buyers to the tune of £5,000. Rubbish. “Labour is clearly very bad at its sums, which is why, of course, we are so worried about them running the economy. “The average purchase price for a first time buyer outside London is £137,120, (Halifax). Following the Stamp Duty reforms introduced by the Conservative coalition last December, the Stamp Duty charge for buyers at this level is just £242. This is what the Labour policy would save, not £5,000. “If we look at the country as a whole, including London, the average price for a first time buyer, is £171,870. Again, due to the recent reforms, Labour would be knocking off £937 off their purchase costs,…
Read More » -
Political leaders vow to tackle housing crisis
High residential property prices are the single biggest concern among home-hunters, a new Rightmove survey reveals. The latest data from the property portal shows that asking prices for homes on sale in England and Wales hit an all-time of £288,133, on average, in the month to early April, pushed up by a drop in the number of properties on the market, creating a lack of choice in the market, which incidentally, is the second biggest concern for house-hunters. Miles Shipside (right), Rightmove Director and Housing Market Analyst, commented, “April’s Rightmove House Price Index reported an all-time high in asking prices this week of £286,133, setting an interesting challenge for political leaders. Failure to meet house-building targets since the eighties, nineties and noughties to match forecast housing demand has been a major factor in upwards price pressure both in the property sales and private rented sectors. “ As the cost of housing is a key concern for many home-hunters Rightmove asked David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg for their proposed solutions to make more affordable homes available, and what else they would do to try and solve the UK’s housing problems. Here are extracts from the interviews with the three…
Read More » -
General Election
We are not even building half the number of homes that we need to keep up with demand. A record number of young people are living at home with their parents. Many young people and families are priced out of homeownership and some of these families are living in overcrowded conditions. We have committed to ban letting agent fees to tenants.” Despite the desperate need for more homes, under this Tory-led Government we have seen the lowest level of house building in peacetime since the 1920s and homeownership is now at its lowest level for 30 years. THE FUTURE Labour is committed to tackling the housing shortage and we have set out a comprehensive plan to get at least 200,000 homes built a year by 2020. Under our plan, we want to see all local communities take responsibility for their own future and plan for the homes local people need. A Labour Government will make it compulsory for every local authority to have a plan which sets out how it intends to meet local housing needs. But with that responsibility will come much greater powers to deliver the homes their communities need. We’ll give local councils the ability to designate…
Read More » -
Property sales dry up ahead of Election
The upcoming Election is to blame for residential property sales drying up, but a general lack of housing stock coming onto the market could fuel another surge in home values after the election, according to the latest monthly market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The research reveals that political uncertainty surrounding next month’s General Election is deterring many purchasers, with buyer enquiries and house sales falling. But despite the dip in demand from purchasers, a general housing shortage across many parts of the country led to 21 per cent more surveyors reporting an increase in home prices in March, up from 15 per cent in February. Furthermore, 15 per cent more surveyors expect prices to appreciate even further over the next three months compared with 10 per cent in February, fuelled by the existing supply-demand imbalance in the market. Nationally, the market in Northern Ireland continues to outperform the rest of the UK with the strongest home price growth last month and the highest price expectations over the next three months. However, across much of the rest of the UK, particularly in Wales and Scotland, price gains over the next three months are expected to be…
Read More » -
Lib Dems reiterate Mansion Tax ambition with Election manifesto
The Liberal Democrat party has placed housing at the heart of its election manifesto, revealing plans to introduce a £100 cut in council tax for 10 years for people who insulate their home, as well as confirming that it plans to introduce a ‘mansion tax’ – originally a Liberal Democrat policy – on residential properties worth £2 million or more. Homes worth between £2 million and £2.5 million would face an annual mansion tax of up to £2,000 a year, under Liberal Democrat plans. Nick Clegg (left) confirmed the Lib Dems had scaled back the policy and it would now raise only £1 billion – considerably less than the £1.7 billion initially proposed. Mr Clegg commented, “It is less than originally mooted but as we have worked up the idea, looked at what we think is reasonable and fair, we think this is a reasonable and fair way of doing it and shouldn’t scare the horses.” The Labour Party has also proposed its own mansion tax, which would see properties valued between £2 million and £3 million paying £250 a month or £3,000 a year. The party is yet to set out details of higher bands. The Lib Dems’ manifesto,…
Read More » -
House building sector could be hit by political uncertainty
There could be a fall in house building levels from next year as a consequence of political uncertainty which could cause a lagged effect, according to the Construction Products Association (CPA). The CPA this week announced that construction output is set to increase by 5.5 per cent this year, but will slow to 4 per cent in 2016 and 3.4 per cent in 2017, due to uncertainty relating to Government policies, such as Help to Buy. The lag between construction contracts and work on the ground means that construction activity in 2015 probably will not be impacted by the election until next year, since the majority of work for the year has already been planned. “Construction output is forecast to increase 5.5% in 2015, which is more than double the rate of growth for the UK economy, due to growth in the three key sectors of construction; private housing, commercial and infrastructure,” said Dr Noble Francis, Economics Director. “Over the following two years, however, construction output is forecast to be adversely affected by the UK’s most uncertain election in more than 40 years.” Although fewer homes are being developed than the country requires annually, private house building growth is forecast…
Read More » -
Housing market picking up despite political uncertainty
The residential property market is showing signs of improving as “data points to a stronger pre-election housing market than we had anticipated,” according to a leading analyst. Concerns regarding a pre-election hit to the UK housing market appear to have been overemphasised, according to the investment bank, Jefferies, which has upgraded the residential property sector ahead of next month’s General Election following indications that the housing market is improving in spite of political uncertainty. The UK broking arm of the US bank estimated that residential property prices in London and the South East could fall sharply on the back of lower transaction levels. But despite a slowdown in the market, Jeffries has now changed its view on the sector, which includes listed estate agents and house builders. The reverse in views is largely thanks to a greater supply of mortgages, the Help to Buy scheme which has helped the new-build sector “punch above its weight”, and a strong lettings market which has offset the fact that fewer homes are changing hands on the sales market, helping to support estate agents in the process. Anthony Codling, property analyst at Jefferies, told the press, “The latest data points to a stronger pre-election…
Read More » -
Scrapping non-doms could harm London’s housing market
Labour’s plans to close down what they call a loophole for the super-rich, by scrapping non-dom tax status in this country, would be a terrible mistake as it could have an adverse impact on the housing market in the capital, along with many other sectors, according to a leading estate agent. Nicholas Leeming (left), Chairman of national estate agents Jackson-Stops & Staff, which has 44 offices nationwide, believes that Labour Leader, Ed Miliband, is intent on “closing down London to international business” if he abolishes the non-dom tax status. Mr Leeming argues that Labour’s policy will effectively deter many wealthy foreigners from buying property in this country, particularly in the capital. He said, “The Labour party is out to target the wealth creators in this country and will effectively close down London to international businesses and investors if it continues to punish this sector. We have created a world-class city and we want to continue to encourage people to buy homes here and invest in the capital. The move to scrap the non-dom tax status will impact on every aspect of life in the capital – jobs, the property market, shops, restaurants and businesses. London needs to remain open for…
Read More » -
Conservative Manifesto launch – Right to Buy for 1.3 million families
Margaret Thatcher did a great deal of good as the UK’s first female Prime Minister, but her Right to Buy initiative wasn’t, (in many people’s view) one of her better ideas. Thousands of council tenants thought it was brilliant and many that bought their homes at super low prices have reaped extensive financial benefit. The big flaw in the Thatcher plan was that the revenues raised from Right to Buy did not always (ever?) go towards replacing the lost housing stock with new council owned properties. However, Mr Cameron clearly sees his new version of the scheme as a vote winner – those tenants in housing association homes could be onto a winner if they vote Conservative. 1.3 million families could do so, at discounts off market prices of up to £102,700 in London and £77,000 across the rest of England, but the Tories say all the properties that are sold will be replaced. “Conservatives have dreamed of building a property-owning democracy for generations,” he said. “The next Conservative Government will extend the right to buy to all housing association tenants in this country. So this generation of Conservatives can proudly say it: the dream of a property owning democracy…
Read More » -
Housing industry lobbyists must be louder, says Alastair Campbell
Housing industry lobbyists have not done enough to make housing a primary issue of the General Election, according to Tony Blair’s former Director of Communications and Strategy, Alastair Campbell (right). Despite the growing housing crisis, the main political parties are far more focused on other issues like the NHS, economy, immigration, welfare and jobs, with housing lower on the political agenda, largely because housing lobbyist have so far not done enough to be heard. Speaking at the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) conference last week, Campbell advised the industry to campaign harder on housing issues in order to make it a greater political issue. “Too many people give up before they have actually been heard,” said Campbell. He pointed to homeless charity, Shelter, as an organisation that commanded prominent media coverage thanks to their knack of campaigning on a particular issue. He continued, “I think at this stage of the election campaign, housing is not in there as strong as it should be, as a strategy. You have all the politicians talking about a housing crisis, but in terms of what they are going to do about that, who is shaping that agenda for them? “Just as Shelter has…
Read More »
