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The big buy-to-let bounce
Designs on Property tracks and summarises the monthly property indices. Kate Faulkner says, “The Chancellor’s increase in Stamp Duty for buy-to-let properties caused a massive leap in activity.”
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UK rents continue to rise
Rents on new tenancies rose across most parts of the UK over the three months to February, led by gains in the capital, fresh figures show.
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Regional rents close the gap on London
Private rents in London are rising at their slowest rate for two years, the HomeLet Rental Index reports, prompting questions over whether tenants are close to reaching an affordability ceiling in the capital. The average new tenancy monthly rent in London signed over the three months to January 2016 was £1,510, HomeLet’s data shows, 6.2 per cent higher than in the same period 12 months ago; the slowest rate of rental inflation seen since March 2014. Rents in other areas have increased more quickly. Across the South-East (excluding London), rents on new tenancies rose by 7.2 per cent over this period. In the East Midlands, rents rose by 6.8 per cent. The slower rental inflation in the capital means the gap between the rate of increase in the capital and in the rest of the UK, where rent rises averaged 5.5 per cent over the three months, has narrowed to just 0.7 percentage points, the smallest gap since last April. In October, when London rents were rising at 7.5 per cent a year, this gap stood at four per cent. This convergence between London and the rest of the UK may suggest that the much faster rental inflation seen in…
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Crowded house
Designs on Property tracks and summarises the monthly property indices. Kate Faulkner says, “Supply is probably the single most feared issue in the property market. Buyer demand is strong, but the supply simply isn’t coming through. Agents may have to find ways of attracting new instructions.”
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UK rents increase
Rents on new tenancies rose across most parts of the UK over the three months to January, led by gains in the South East of England and the East Midlands, but growth continued to slow in the capital, new figures show. Fresh data from the latest HomeLet Rental Index reveals that rent prices for new tenancies in Greater London increased by 6.2 per cent in the three months to January 2016 compared to the corresponding period in 2015, marking the slowest rate of growth seen in Greater London since March 2014. “It’s notable that there has been a further fall in the rate at which average rents in the Greater London area are rising. In recent years, the capital has seen much faster rates of increase than the rest of the country, but it may be that an affordability ceiling has now been reached in London,” said Martin Totty (left), Barbon Insurance Group’s Chief Executive Officer. In contrast, rent prices in other regions continue to increase steadily with the South East of England and the East Midlands witnessing the highest rent price rises in the three months to January 2016, at 7.2 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively. In…
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National figures mask regional variations
Rents rose in 10 out of 12 regions last year, the latest data from the monthly HomeLet Rental Index reveals, but the headline figures mask some very significant regional variations, with certain towns, cities and regions registering much greater increases than others. Rents on new tenancies signed outside of London in Q4 were 4.9 per cent higher than in the same period of 2014, HomeLet’s figures show; the figure for the capital was 8.0 per cent. As a result, the average rent on a home outside London now is £739; at £1,523 in the capital – it is more than twice as high. As in previous years, Greater London saw faster rent increases than any other region, though the South-East wasn’t far behind, with a rise of 7 per cent. Rents on new tenancies signed in the East Midlands, the next best performing region, were up 6.4 per cent. On the other hand, average rents fell by 5.1 per cent last year in the North-West and by 0.6 per cent in Northern Ireland. HomeLet has also studied rent increases in leading towns and cities across the UK, finding that Brighton and Bristol saw higher rent rises than any other locations…
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Frozen Britain
Report Headlines Rightmove: “Home-owner confidence sets the scene for higher prices in 2016.” NAEA: “Sales to first time buyers highest in six years.” RICS: “No easing in supply constraint.” Nationwide: “Slight softening in house price growth in November.” Home.co.uk: “Stock of property for sale hits new low.” Hometrack: “Prices accelerate in large regional cities.” Land Registry: “October data shows a monthly price increase of 0.4 per cent.” Kate says: “The property market used to be relatively easy to predict from a business perspective. Things were often quiet for the first few weeks of January then the rush began to the end of May, quiet-ish summers, a flurry of activity post summer holidays and a quietening down to Christmas. Not anymore! Since the credit crunch, from one month to the next, we are never quite sure what is going to happen. This difficulty in forecasting the short and long term future of the property market from an industry perspective is now exacerbated by one government housing announcement after another, many of which are being made at too short notice, causing mayhem in the market! The main game changer though, is that both George Osborne (Chancellor) and Mark Carney (Governor of the…
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The market’s hot…warm…cold
Report Headlines Rightmove: “First-time buyer prices surge nearly 10 per cent in a year.” NAEA: “Sales to first time buyers rise.” Nationwide: “Slight pick-up in house price growth in October.” Halifax: “Annual house price growth rises to 9.7 per cent.” Agency Express: “October’s property market bucks seasonal trends.” LSL: “Fastest annual rise in house prices for six months.” Hometrack: “City level house price growth tentative slowdown.” Land Registry: “September data shows a monthly price increase of 1.0 per cent and the annual price change now stands at 5.3 per cent.” KATE SAYS: “The market clearly had a bit of an unexpected ‘up-tick’ this month, as until now, price growth seemed to have been slowing ‘on average’ each month. An odd statement though from Rightmove suggests that buy to let investors are “competing” with first time buyers. This shouldn’t really be happening as smart investors should secure a property at a discount, with cash, for example and find a way to add value. First time buyers on the other hand have the advantage over investors of needing a much lower deposit, essentially ‘gearing’ their purchase with a five per cent deposit or accessing schemes such as new build Help to Buy.…
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Rent growth slows
Rents on new tenancies remained flat or dropped marginally over the three months to November in 10 out of the 12 UK regions compared to the three months to October, according to research from HomeLet. The latest index data shows that the average UK rent, excluding London, on a tenancy signed during the three months to November was £743 a month, down 0.7 per cent on the previous three month period. In Greater London the average rent was £1,544, down 1 per cent. Only two regions saw rents rise over the three months to November. In Yorkshire and Humberside, rents on new tenancies rose by 0.8 per cent to £626 a month, while in the East Midlands rents were 1.2 per cent up at £635 a month. The study by Homelet also revealed that 91 per cent of landlords do not plan to increase rents in the next six months, while over the next 12 months, just around a third of landlords are planning to increase the amount they charge on their homes. “The research reveals the vast majority of landlords enjoy strong relationships with their tenants and are keen to keep them,” said Martin Totty, Barbon Insurance Group’s Chief…
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Patchy forecast for sales
Report Headlines Rightmove: “Biggest September rise for 13 years to new record high benefits the property-rich.” Home.co.uk: “Average London house price up £60,000.” NAEA: “Supply of available housing dwindles to eleven year low.” RICS: “Sales growth picks up speed as solid demand begins to filter through.” Nationwide: “Annual house price growth picks up to 3.8 per cent whilst regional divergence grows.” Halifax: “Annual house price growth eases to 8.6 per cent.” Agency Express: “UK property market gains momentum in September.” LSL: “The most frequently paid property price across England and Wales is just £125,000. Hometrack: “City level house price inflation is running at 8.3 per cent per annum, up from 6.6 per cent in May.” Land Registry: “August data shows a monthly price increase of 0.5 per cent and the annual price change is now 4.2 per cent.” KATE SAYS: “Property price inflation is reported to be between +3 per cent through to just under 9 per cent year on year depending on which index you look at. The higher rates are being applied to mortgage lending via Halifax and Hometrack’s City Index. But despite talks of affordability issues, LSL’s data shows that more houses are sold at £125,000 than…
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