Housing Market
News covering issues affecting the UK residential property market, house prices, interest rates and buying and selling trends.
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NLA rebuffs Shelter’s rogue landlords report
The National Landlords Association (NLA) has defended the private rented sector’s track record after a ‘rogue landlords report’ was released over the weekend by housing charity Shelter. It revealed that more than a million tenants in the UK have suffered illegal landlord activity over the past 12 months. The research, which was conducted among 3,250 people by YouGov, revealed that abuses include entering a property without tenant permission, threatening behaviour or harassment, disconnection of utility supplies or changing of locks without good reason, not lodging deposits correctly as well as racial, gender or nationality-based discrimination. But Richard Lambert, CEO of the NLA, says much of the blame for this lies at the feet of councils who are not enforcing the relevant laws or prosecuting landlords who break them which, he says, means “it’s way too easy for the unscrupulous to get away with this kind of behaviour”. “These [Shelter] figures highlight serious issues that are simply unacceptable but our research with tenants shows that 82 per cent say they are happy with their current landlord. Furthermore, Shelter’s figures show the vast majority of landlords to be law abiding.” Lambert also clearly believes that Shelter should also be tackling the problem of abusive…
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How long does it take first time buyers to save up?
Shocking figures just out reveal that it takes five and a half years for the average couple to save up for a deposit while it takes singleton savers ten years. The data from the London market is even more hair-rising. There, couples are taking on average nine years to save up a deposit while single savers require 14 years, says Hamptons International. This is despite recent help for from the Bank of England, which announced a cut in interest rates in early August. This has been passed on by lenders in recent weeks including to first time buyers (FTBs) and, if they shop around, rates for ‘discounted mortgage’ products can be found for under 3% while several two-year fixed rates are available at 3.5%. Overall, August’s 0.25% cut to interest rates, if fully passed on, mean that mortgage payments could on average be £244 a year lower for the average first-time buyer home in England and Wales. In London, the agent says, mortgage payments would be £518 lower. But despite the long wait to gather a deposit, enthusiasm for property ownership is not waning; figures from the National Association of Estate Agents show that the number of sales to FTBs has…
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Post Brexit vote market is still buoyant…but only just
The number of properties on the market has increased by 1% since the Brexit vote but the number under offer has dropped by 2.5% and national asking prices are down by 2% reports Jackson-Stops & Staff. The agent has given its verdict on the post-Brexit vote market after looking at 500,000 properties for sale across the UK. “Three months after the UK’s historic vote to leave the EU, the property market remains alive and active [and] there are more properties on the market today than on the day of the Brexit vote,” says chairman Nick Leeming. Predictions during the EU referendum of a bloodbath in London after the Brexit vote have proved to be inaccurate, the JSS research suggests, as it reveals that asking prices in the capital are down by only 3% since mid-June and that “properties priced below £1m are still seeing high levels of interest”. London’s £2m+ prime market is in less good shape. Only 7% of properties in this price bracket are under agreed offer compared to 36.1% nationally, the JSS research reveals. Leeming says this is down to a range of factors including reduced confidence in the prime property following Brexit and the increased Stamp…
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TDS and Your Move publish rentals research
Half of UK tenants are aged over 46 and average new London rents are now over £1,750 a month.
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We do like to buy beside the seaside…
Most valuable waterside vistas in UK – ocean views attract greatest premium.
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No heatwave for the auction market
The total amount raised from residential auction sales fell by 15 per cent to £325.5million – down £58million on July 2015.
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500,000 homeowners aged 55+ want to move…
One in five (19 per cent) homeowners aged 55 or over considered moving in the past two years but have not done so; equating to more than 2 million homeowners. • 23 per cent of homeowners aged 55 or over who considered moving say lack of suitable housing was the main reason they did not do so. This equates to more than 500,000 homeowners. • The stress and upheaval of moving as well as not wanting to be away from friends, neighbours and community are also obstacles to moving. • Last time buyers may be put off from buying new build homes because they don’t meet their needs. According to the annual Homeowner survey conducted by YouGov for HomeOwners Alliance and BLP Insurance, 6 per cent of homeowners age 55 or older say they have moved in the two past years and a further 19 per cent have considered moving but not done so – the equivalent of more than 2 million homeowners. A lack of the right kind of homes is the main reason for older homeowners deciding to stay put (23 per cent of homeowners age 55+ who considered a move in the past two years say this…
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Countrywide paints a (slightly) gloomy property picture
Economic risks and uncertainty point to house prices falling by 1% in 2017.
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Oh we do like to buy beside the seaside!
Knight Frank’s Waterfront View 2016 report reveals that we Brits really do like to buy beside the seaside, most of all, we like to buy seaside property in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.
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