Housing Market
News covering issues affecting the UK residential property market, house prices, interest rates and buying and selling trends.
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Will the snap 2017 General Election slow the Spring property market?
Will the property market now face a six-week close-down as movers wait to find out what happens after the 2017 General Election called today by the Prime Minister, Theresa May? On previous form, it might. The market had to wait for the 2015 General Election called by the doomed David Cameron and the ensuing EU Referendum last year, both of which sucked precious weeks and months from those years’ crucial Spring – and normally busy – property buying peaks. This time around been a mixed reaction from the property and lending industries. The Yorkshire Building Society was first out of the blocks following the announcement this morning by Mrs May. Its economist Andrew McPhillips (left) said: ““The housing market is going through a sluggish period at present and a general election adds to the chances of it lasting longer. “Home buyers who are well on the way to making a purchase have traditionally not been put off by such surprise macro-events but those only thinking about it may decide to pause.” North London agent Jeremy Leaf (right) says: “The period of indecision starts from now until the election and thankfully it is relatively short. Inevitably, a lot of decision-making will be put…
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NLA questions Right to Rent scheme
The Right To Rent immigration control scheme introduced by the government in England last February is not having the “desired effect”, the National Landlords Association says. The comments come from its head of policy Chris Norris in reaction to figures released today showing that one landlord is being fined every four days under the Right to Rent rules. Sixty-two landlords received penalties under the scheme during its first eight months of operation from February to September last year, the figures show. Fines totalling £37,000 were handed out, or £596 on average per landlord, although fines in theory can reach £3,000 for the most serious cases. Out of the 62 cases 36 were for lodgers in private houses and 26 were handed to landlords of private rented accommodation. The figures were obtained by the Press Association through a Freedom of Information request. Chris Norris, head of policy at the National Landlords Association (pictured, left), says he believes that most of the landlords involved are accidentally breaking the immigration rules rather than knowingly doing it. He also said that “ultimately this scheme should be judged on whether it tackles or prevents those who knowingly ignore the law and let to people who…
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RICS says supply to England’s sales market continues to “wane”
RICS has reported an ailing sales market within its latest survey of agent sentiment, which each month is carried out among its members across UK. In an unusually forthright report, the figures for March have prompted it to use strong language to describe the UK sales market, including “stagnant” and “waning interest”. RICS reveals that new buyer enquiries and sales remained flat and stock levels hit a new record low “as the number of properties coming on to the market continues to decline”, the report says. “The key theme that really runs through the whole of this survey is the lack of supply in the market,” says Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist (picture, left) “Our key measures – average stock per surveyor – has actually hit a new low, and this explains why house prices on balance remain in modestly positive territory. For the time being it is hard to see any major impetus for change in the market, something also being reflected in the flat trend in transaction levels.” RICS says new instruction dropped during March with 13% more respondents experiencing a drop in new listings, and agents now hold 43 properties for sale on their books, on average.…
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Over half of tenants CHOOSE to rent, says survey
If you are annoyed by the constant government narrative that all those who rent are unhappy, failed home owners denied the delights of bricks and mortar by high house prices and unhelpful lenders, then research by London agent Benham & Reeves Residential Lettings should cheer you up. It interviewed 1,400 of its tenants in the capital, where it has four branches in North London, to ask them about why they rented – part of the largest survey of its customer base that the company has ever completed. Diverse mix London’s very diverse mix of tenant nationalities was revealed. Some 18% of the respondents were non-British residents working for a relatively short period in the capital – and therefore less likely to buy in London. Only 3.66% of those in the survey were renting because they had been turned down for a mortgage because they did not earn enough, while 5.76% had been turned down because their deposit was not large enough. Some 17.8% of those in the survey said they were saving up a deposit to buy a property. But over half of tenants in the survey classed themselves as ‘lifestyle’ renters with 24% saying they chose to rent because it…
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Stamp Duty deadline for landlords creates glut in property rental market
A glut of homes created by last year’s landlord rush to buy before the extra ‘second home’ Stamp Duty kicked in has slowed down the rental market significantly, it has been claimed. In the UK letting agents are taking 10% longer to find tenants, and 20% longer in London, says Rightmove, as the number of properties available to rent on the portal increased by 12%. Rental market growth halves This has halved the rental growth figure for the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period last year, down from 3.9% to 1.8% across the UK, Rightmove says. And outside London, the average rental price dropped for the first time since 2014, down by 0.4% on the previous quarter, while in London they increased by 1.5% compared using the same comparison. “The supply boost following last year’s buy-to-let frenzy in the first few months of the year has continued through to 2017, introducing more competition in the market for letting agents trying to secure suitable tenants for their landlords’ properties,” says Rightmove’s Head of Lettings Sam Mitchell (pictured, left). Sam, who before joining Rightmove was for a short period CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty and before that worked at Your Move…
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Parents paying £52k extra for homes in Outstanding primary school areas
Agents are used to parents quizzing them endlessly about properties for sale within the catchment areas of the best local outstanding primary schools. And now a price has been put on this fixation. Parents pay an average price premium of £52,000 to live in the successful admission area of an Outstanding Ofsted-ranked primary school, a report from Rightmove has revealed. The figure is based on the cost of moving from the catchment area of a Requires Improvement school to an Outstanding one. The portal, which partnered with school search engine FindaSchool by 192.com to produce the report, also says that to move from an area around a Good school to and Outstanding costs on average £37,000. “Previous studies have shown links between outstanding schools and house prices, however our data is the first data that is based on whether the property would have secured a place at the school,” says Dominic Blackburn from 192.com (pictured, left). Fierce competition Driving the fierce competition for places at the best school are some starting facts. Across England 86% of Outstanding state primary schools are oversubscribed and only 20% of all schools have Outstanding status and 62% are Good. The areas with the biggest premiums…
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Property prices: Are TV series worth all the drama?
When a TV drama announced that it’s going to film in an area, it can be exciting for local estate agents and good for property prices. Or at least that’s the theory. As well as the thrill of famous actors mooching about the local area during filming, the saturation media coverage that a famous TV show brings can only be good for business, agents often hope. Recent examples include Broadchurch starring David Tennant and Olivia Coleman (pictured, above), which was filmed on the West Dorset coast; Poldark in Cornwall, Wiltshire and Bristol; and Downton Abbey in Oxfordshire. And for those longer in the tooth, there’s Inspector Morse in Oxford, the Midsomer Murders in Buckinghamshire and Heartbeat in and around Whitby. But does such televisual fame really help make areas more popular with house hunters? Conveyancing firm MyHomeMove.com reckons it does. After crunching Land Registry data the company says popular shows add between 1.2% and 6.6% more to local house values in surrounding areas within a year of the highest ratings for a show. Period dramas “What is particularly interesting in the findings is the correlation between period dramas and the locations they are filmed in,” says Doug Crawford, CEO of…
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First-time buyer frenzy
First-time buyer activity rose to 36 per cent of market activity in February...
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Hybrid bridging-lender-cum-agent Nested wins £8m of new funding
As if agents needed more competition from digital start-ups, a company called Nested that offers to buy a client’s home if a buyer can’t be found has won a fresh £8 million injection of cash. Launched 14 months ago, Nested promises vendors that it will sell their homes via its own listings on Rightmove and Zoopla within 90 days or provide them with an interest-free loan to buy their next property. Nested is chasing the 40% of home movers in the UK who do not have a mortgage and therefore find it frustrating when they caught in lengthy buying chains. Hefty fee There are some catches to the deal. Nested guarantees to sell a vendor’s property, but only for 95-98% of the asking price in return for a hefty 2.5% sales fee. If the property is sold for more than the valuation range, it splits any ‘profit’ 70/30 in favour of the lender. But if the property does not sell, Nested then takes out a first-charge mortgage on the property and advances the necessary cash to enable the vendor to move home. When the property sells, the ‘bridging’ mortgage is then cleared. “There are lots of people in this situation and…
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Tenants begin to get choosy about who they house or flat share with, report shows
Arguments among tenants over unwashed dishes, late night partying and dirty pants left on bannisters are clearly taking their toll, reveals research out today into the house and flat share market. It shows that 70% of house and flat sharer tenants in the UK are willing to pay on average an extra £112 a month to secure a home with more ideal cohabiters. But some told researchers they would stump up even more; £201 a month, which seems a lot just to avoid unflushed loos, stolen orange juice and waiting ages for a shower in the morning. The research found that being clean and tidy was the most important attribute of being a good flatmate among those polled, that men prefer sharing with three others and females two others. Face-to-face Commissioned by utility company Spark Energy, which is a specialist supplier to the lettings market, the research also reveals that half of all tenants still believe the most effective way to meet people to share a home with is face-to-face, despite the best of efforts of websites such as RoomBuddies.co.uk to convert this into a digital interaction. Spark Energy’s spokesperson Shaun Burnett (pictured) also suggests that a ‘behavioural’ trend may…
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