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Latest property news
Stamp Duty cut: first-time buyers rejoice, but experts warn of price rises
If Chancellor Philip Hammond thought his Stamp Duty cut for first time buyers announced during yesterday’s Budget would get a unanimous thumbs up, then things definitely aren’t going to plan. Firstly Robert Cote, Chairman of the Office for Budget responsibility, revealed that his organisation thought the tax cut would push up prices by 0.3% and that “the main financial gainers will actually be people who already own properties, rather than first time buyers themselves”. Treasury Chief Secretary has subsequently dismissed the OBR’s prediction and just a “minor increase”. But Mark Hayward, Chief Executive of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) (pictured, left) also sounded a note of caution saying that although overall it was a positive move, it would increase house prices by pushing up demand for first time buyer properties. “We have seen this in areas where Help to Buy is offered, as it attracts a great deal of interest from first time buyers,” he said. Sarah Beeny, TV presenter and founder of online agent Tepilo (pictured, right), also weighed in, saying she thought the measures would not make a huge difference to the market. “Cutting stamp duty for first time buyers is unlikely to do much –…
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Latest property news
A question of property: Katie Griffin, President of the NAEA
Katie Griffin (pictured, right) is the President of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) and only the second woman to have the job in the association’s 50-year history. Half way through her time leading the NAEA, Nigel Lewis interviews her just after she flew in from a week in Chicago representing the UK. What were you doing in Chicago? I was there with NAEA Chairman Mark Hayward as well as two board members – Kirsty Finney and Natasha Rodgers from Belfast (all pictured, below). We spent five days there at the National Association of Realtors’ conference and exhibition, where the NAEA had a stand. It’s fairly intimidating; there are 22,000 delegates at the event; more than the total number of agents in the UK. Sounds like a bit of a jolly. It wasn’t. We attended half a dozen meetings every day, looked after the stand and networked hard on behalf of the NAEA – we were there as part of the Global Alliance, which includes agents from 60 countries around the world. These kinds of connections are going to be increasingly important after Brexit. Did it all go according to plan? The biggest surprise for me was that I thought…
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Latest property news
Gazumping to be outlawed? Government to consider buyer lock-ins
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has launched another call for evidence, this time as part of a government push to reform the buying process which could see gazumping outlawed. Just days after revealing he wanted to make life fairer for leaseholders, Sajid says he wants to hear from estate agents, solicitors and mortgage lenders about how to stop gazumping, reduce time wasting and ensuring buyers commit to a sale. In his call for evidence, the Communities Secretary says mistrust between parties is one of the biggest issues faced by the industry and wants to introduce lock-in agreement to improve it, highlighting how a quarter of house purchases fall through each year. Other measures include ‘encouraging’ sellers to provide more information before they put their property on the market – which sounds like a ‘lite’ version of Labour’s Home Information Packs – and encourage more digital innovation to help speed up the buying process by making more data available online. This refers to more recent innovations such as the blockchain technology developed by Bitcoin that enables processes to move forward automatically without the need for huge amounts of paperwork and human intervention. The first property in the UK – a retail unit –…
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Women fill key positions at Propertymark for first time
ARLA and NAEA Propertymark have revealed who won their recent leadership elections following a secret four-week hustings. Billed as an opportunity that “allows you to shape your organisation and to have your voice heard” the election was for both organisations’ Vice Presidents, whose role is to support the President and President Elect. The elected Vice Presidents are Michelle Niziol for ARLA, who agents will recognise from BBC TV’s The Apprentice from last year, and Lauren Scott for NAEA. It is the first time women have been elected to both positions at the same time. The new line up is: ARLA President Sally Lawson Sally has 27 years’ experience in the lettings industry, and is CEO and Founder of the national lettings franchise Concentric as well as West Midlands lettings agency Lawsons. The two organisations merged recently. President Elect Peter Savage A former professional drummer until the mid-1980s Peter then set up a property business in Spain, which he sold in 1990 and then returned to the UK. He now works as a consultant to an Essex lettings firm and a block management firm. Vice President Michelle Niziol Until recently 35-year-old Michelle was best known as a founder of IMS,…
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Latest property news
NAEA rebuffs calls to halt election for Vice President
An attempt to halt the voting process for the post of Vice President of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has been turned down by Chief Executive Mark Hayward in an email sent to SW-based agent Chris Wood yesterday. In it Mark confirms that he and the NAEA Propertymark board had been made aware of Chris’s request to halt the election process, and that they were also aware of the new processes in place to elect the Vice President, and other posts. The email also says Mark and the board were aware of Chris’s concerns about the process but were “completely satisfied that the process was correct and robust [and that] therefore the election will go forward in the normal manner. Final response Mark also said it would be the NAEA’s final response with Chris prior to the AGM on June 16. On Wednesday Chris had previously written to Mark asking him to confirm whether due processes was adhered to and suggesting that the NAEA appeared to “be playing for time” and wanted to “obfuscate due process”. Chris Wood was one of several agents proposed for the Vice President role but, following a panel interview, not proposed as a…
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Latest property news
UK to set up world’s first property register of properties owned by foreign companies
The government has announced plans to introduced a nationwide register of foreign companies that own properties in the UK in a bid to tackle corruption. In what is claimed to be a world first, the system will reveal the beneficial owners of property controlled by overseas companies and other legal entities such as partnerships. This will end the current and very common practice of foreigners owning UK property through offshore registered companies, as highlighted by Channel 4’s From Russian with Cash documentary in two years ago. Offshore trust During it one of the agents was filmed suggesting how 80% of sales at the time in central London were with international, overseas buyers and that “50 or 60%” of them were carried out in “various stages of anonymity…whether it be through a company or an offshore trust”. Police investigations looking at international corruption within the UK have identified more than £180m of property in the UK that are suspected proceeds of corruption, and that 75% of those involved were using international companies to cover their tracks. “Greater transparency of ownership brings many benefits,” says Margot James, Minister for Small Business, Consumer and Corporate Responsibility. “We know that market transparency fosters confidence…
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NAEA, ARLA and NAVA ‘rebrand’ as Propertymark
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) and National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers (NAVA) have jointly relaunched themselves as Propertymark in a move designed to raise awareness about standards within the industry. All three organisations have changed their names and added Propertymark to their logos as of today. A new website is live at: www.propertymark.co.uk. Agents who qualify to be in the scheme and display the Propertymark Protected logo in their branch window must sign up to a range of regulatory, financial and insurance standards, the three organisations say. This will include participation in a branded client money protection scheme, having properly and regularly trained staff regularly updated on legislative change and best practice, adhering to a code of practice, submitting independently audited accounts each year, being a member of a redress scheme and holding professional indemnity insurance. At present customers don’t know where to go for advice or can’t be sure if they are dealing with a professional. We are changing this.” Agents in most areas of the UK are already Propertymark Protected approved including in London Winkworth, Bairstowe Eves, Pedder, Gales, Cooper Giles, James Alexander, Galloways, Beresford International, Douglas & Gordon…
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Latest property news
Property market’s surprise revival during Xmas run-up
The number of homes sold in the UK unexpectedly increased by 0.2% during the usually quiet run to Xmas last year, the HMRC has revealed. It tracks all residential property transactions over £40,000 and says 220 additional homes were sold during December compared to the month before. The uptick in activity was felt by many agents across the UK as buyers, frightened off buying or moving as the Brexit aftershock rumbled on, returned to the market late in the year. One Winkworth franchisee on the South Coast even considered cancelling its branch Xmas party to cope with demand. More properties were also sold during 2016 than the year before, up by just under 3% to 1,057,340 despite the substantial reduction in sales following the introduction of extra Stamp Duty on second homes and buy-to-let properties in April last year. “Despite the figures showing a slight monthly rise in the number of homes being bought and sold, the housing market remains overshadowed by our nation’s ongoing supply crisis,” says Stephen Smith of L&G Housing Partnerships (pictured, left). “Two key factors are hindering the housing market from reaching its full potential. The first is the ever-expanding gap between supply and demand, and…
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Latest property news
Wales debates what to do with own Stamp Duty in April 2018
The Welsh government is consulting on what to do when it takes control of Stamp Duty with a local version called Welsh Land Transaction Tax, in April next year. Landlord groups including the Welsh arm of the Residential Landlords Association director Douglas Haig (pictured, left) are calling for the 3% levy on buy-to-let and second homes to be scrapped because it will ‘limit supply and push up rents’, it is claimed. The RLA says landlords in Wales have seen the average Stamp Duty bill rise from several hundred pounds to £4,850 since the new rate was introduced across the UK. But the RLA is unlikely to get its way in Wales. A Welsh government spokesman told the BBC that the additional revenue of £58m created by the 3% additional tax will be “essential to the delivery of public services across Wales”. Agents have been represented at the enquiry into the devolved LTT by the NAEA whose MD Mark Hayward (pictured, right) spoke to officials in October last year. He recommended a gradual changeover to allow for a “full discussion and full awareness as to not skew the market”. Welsh Cabinet finance and communities Secretary Mark Drakeford said he wanted to…
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Latest property news
Property market goes into Xmas deep freeze
Latest property market figures from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reveal how much the government’s recent increased Stamp Duty and other measures to put off landlords plus the post-EU referendum slowdown have taken their toll during the run-up to Christmas. Almost all indicators for house sales in the UK are down, its research shows, including asking prices and the supply of and demand for property. And although this can be blamed on the traditional Xmas slowdown, it’s the most severe since records began. Agents sold fewer properties per branch during November than in previous months, down from nine in September and October to eight properties last month. Also, four out of five properties or 84% sold for less than the asking price during November, the highest proportion since the NAEA began gathering data in 2013. Last year the proportion was 76%. Also, during November the number of house hunters fell by a fifth or 22% from 440 to 344 registered per branch. Supply also fell – the number of properties on agents’ books dropped from 43 to 39. As a proportion of sales, first time buyers have eased off slightly from 32% to 29%. “Following the EU referendum earlier…
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