Paul SMith haart
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Latest property news
Interest rate rise – will it turn the dials in the housing market?
The decision by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to introduce an interest rate rise of 0.25% a percent to 0.5% in order to keep inflation in check was applauded in most business circles as a prudent first move to ‘sensible’ interest rates after nearly eight years of rock bottom rates. The move is intended to dampen down the economy mildly and rein-in inflation, which currently stands at 3% and is expected to peak higher than that before the MPC’s measures kick in. Bank of England Mark Carney said the inflation increases were due largely to the weakening of Sterling following the Brexit vote. “The decision to leave the European Union is having a noticeable impact on the economic outlook,” he said. “We need to support the economy during this adjustment process.” But what does the property industry think of an interest rate rise? Russell Quirk of eMoov, who was first out of the blocks into the news studios yesterday, said the rise would only add £16 a month the average mortgage holder and would be “water off a duck’s back for those with a fixed rate security blanket”. But what did the rest of the industry think.…
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Latest property news
Millennials on the move as housing market shifts
Millennials, (that’s anyone aged between 25 and 34, born between the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, according to the Government), make up 13.9 per cent of the total of the UK population and we hear a great deal about the challenges they face in terms of housing. Now, a new briefing paper from the House of Commons measures the demographic components of the ‘Millennials’ group, providing some interesting statistics around their wealth, work and housing, compared to that of older generations. Twenty years ago, households led by people aged 25-35 were more likely to own than rent. In 1996 the trend was almost the reverse as it is today, with 55 per cent of households led by a 25-29 year old person and 68 per cent of those led by 30-34 year olds were owner occupiers. Now 55 per cent of millennials are renting. City living Millennials like city living – 20 per cent of this age group live in London, compared to 14 per cent of the UK as a whole. Their favourite haunts are Battersea (32%), Vauxhall (31%) and Bethnal Green and Bow (30%). Clearly Millennials aren’t too keen on the South West, Wales and the South East, with each area…
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Latest property news
Will Hammond rescue faltering London market?
Haart today revealed that its branches within the M25 recorded an increase in sales activity of just 1.1% month-on-month during September compared to a 75% increase for its branches 100 miles or more outside the capital, painting a worry picture of the struggling London property sales market. “The evidence from our branches is that areas around 100 miles from the capital are where the market is reviving, and this is spreading towards the South East and London – a complete reversal of the traditional ‘London first’ pattern we’ve grown used to,” says Haart CEO Paul Smith (pictured). Land Registry data shows that the number of homes sold in London reduced by two-thirds between March and June this year, before the Brexit vote. The slump has been blamed by agents such as JLL squarely on the recent increases in Stamp Duty and Land Tax (SDLT) at the top end of the market. Homes for sale over the SDLT threshold of £925,000 now make up 34% of all homes for sale in London so the changes have been keenly felt in this price band, plus many agents blame the extra 3% SDLT for hammering the number of landlords buying property there too.…
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