ONS
-
Latest property news
Brexit pushes London house prices into freefall
Official ONS figures show a 2% drop during February and a 3.8% year-on-year drop as the capital's buyers hold off until Brexit is solved.
Read More » -
Latest property news
‘Brexit limbo’ continues except in lively Midlands newbuild housing market, official index reveals
Read how stamp duty and brexit limbo are being blamed for a continuing sluggish housing market around the UK, except in Midlands where prices are rising by 6%.
Read More » -
Latest property news
Commons committee measures up property industry for Brexit risk
The effect Brexit is likely to have on the property industry has been revealed by a House of Commons committee. Its research, published today, shows that 3% of the UK’s 43,000-strong sales, lettings and property management related workforce are EU nationals and 1.5% are non-EU nationals – or nearly five percent of the workforce in total. Based on ONS figures, the committee therefore concludes that if many of these people were to leave the UK and return to their home countries, it would not pose a threat. “The work of UK-based estate agents is primarily domestic and is generally not highly dependent on EU labour,” the report by the House of Commons Committee on Exiting the European Union says. Brexit: EU renters More problematical is the high number of ‘other nationalities’ who rent properties in the UK, the Brexit report suggests. It quotes the most recent English Housing Survey, which points to nearly a quarter of all privately rented accommodation being inhabited by EU nationals or those from outside Europe. The ‘other nationalities’ highlighted in the report also own 3.4% of all owner-occupied properties, although this is much higher in central London’s prime districts, and 8.4% of local authority –…
Read More » -
Latest property news
House sales have slumped this year – or have they?
The number of house sales in England has dropped by 12% compared to a year ago, according to latest figures from the government’s statisticians, the ONS. The figures are for August and are based in part on the latest set of sales results to be released by the Land Registry. The data also reveals that the number of homes sold dropped elsewhere too – by 15.8% in London and by 3.4% in Wales, both by the same measure. But the house sales report is entirely contradicted by figures from HMRC which reveal it believes that the number of homes sold in the UK increased by 9.2% during the year to October 2017, and by 1.7% over the past month. We spoke to the Land Registry, who were unable to explain the difference between the two house sales numbers and, we are told, neither is the ONS. So baffling is the difference between the HMRC data, which is based on Stamp Duty receipts, and the Land Registry data, that the Negotiator has been told analysts at Savills have spent a lot of time and energy on finding out why. “I would back the ONS figures every time because they are the…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Official house price index highlights sales slide in London and beyond
The total fee slice taken by London estate agents each month dropped by over £20 million between 2015 and 2016, the latest house price index reveals. Today’s figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) reveal that the number of completed sales during November 2016 compared to November 2015 fell from 9,800 to 6,400. This, based on an average fee of 1.5%, saw agents’ total revenue for the two Novembers dip from just over £67 million in 2015 to £47 million last year. Completed house sales across England also reduced during the same period, down by 21.2% to 62,500 from 79,300. This reduction in supply is the main driver behind buoyant house price figures, most commentators agree. The figures for completed sales, also released today, show prices rising by 6.2% over the past year. The average price for a property in London is now £490,700 compared to £234,800 in England and £145,900 in Wales, the index says. “With only a week to go until Article 50 is triggered, house prices remain indestructible as the average person is paying £13,000 more to own a home than the same time last year, reflecting the health and buoyancy of the UK economy seen in…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Property sales level out after summer of slump
The number of property sales in the UK increased by one percent between September and October this year, latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show. But compared to October last year, the volume of house sales dropped by 8% across the UK. London is taking the brunt of the slow down. Sales there fell by 39.3% latest figures from August reveal, while in England volumes dropped by 20.3% compared to the year before. This is an improvement on July’s figures, when house sales were down by 28.1% year-on-year. Wales also experienced lower sales volumes, down by 11.6%. The figures reflect other market indicators including lower levels of lending, fewer first time buyers as well as fewer buy-to-let investors around following the April Stamp Duty change. “As a result of Brexit, earlier this year we found one in five [people] were less likely to sell their home. Now, with a lack of willing buyers, there has clearly been a shift from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market,” says Stephen Jury, Spokesperson for Plentific.com. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors says the supply of homes coming on to the market remains tight, which is helping keep house prices buoyant. The October data for…
Read More » -
Latest property news
House price index: April 2016
A new House Price Index (HPI) has been launched by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which replaces the previous House Price Indices separately published by ONS and Land Registry.
Read More » -
Guest Blogs
The new ONS house price index: is it a ‘Trojan horse’ for revaluation of council tax?
Analysis from Maskells Estate Agents reveals that the new ONS official house price index (HPI), which launches in June, could be used to revalue council tax bands. The new house price index has been described as a way for Government to create a single ‘official index’ on house prices and avoid the confusion created by the many existing indices. In fact, it could have far more reaching consequences, which fundamentally change the way UK property is taxed, says Maskells’ Principal and Data Analyst, Charles Curran. Currently, council tax is calculated on bands based on house prices in 1991 and makes no allowances for house price increases over the past 25 years. Average council tax on a Band D home in England over the last ten years (Source: ONS) However, Maskell’s analysis has found the new HPI uses data from the Valuation Office (VOA), which has details of each property in the UK. Previously, revaluing property for Councils would have required an army of surveyors, which would have been prohibitively expensive. In theory, the new index will make it possible to appraise every home in the country at the touch of a button. Charles says, “Council Tax no longer has any…
Read More »
