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UK home owners should be aware of new building safety rules
New Construction Design and Management (CDM) regulations due to come into force in the UK next month could affect the sale of a property if any renovation or other work is carried out by a builder who does not comply with the rules. The CDM legislation which to reduce accidents during construction projects also specifies legal requirements on site safety standards that cover work including that carried out for home owners who live in the property after work has been completed. Louise Hosking, managing director of health and safety environmental specialists Hosking Associates, pointed out that the legislation recognises that large construction sites are no longer where most people are being badly injured or killed, and as a result focus is shifting to smaller projects including those within the domestic sector. ‘The way a building project is organised can reduce risks to workers significantly. It is imperative that everyone involved including architects, engineers, builders and the homeowner, work together to meet the new standards,’ she said. She also pointed out that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) commissioned a report last year that showed very few home owners consider safety when they choose their contractor and this may have to change. ‘For some projects a health and safety file, which outlines how the work was undertaken and what was installed, will be required at the end of the work and if this isn’t provided it could affect the future sale of the property,’ she added. Under the rules, from 06 April all builders, whatever their size, working in the domestic sector, will have to create a construction phase safety plan for all building projects and all domestic projects will have to meet the same basic standards for the provision of welfare facilities as commercial projects. Any domestic projects finishing after 06 April where there has been more than one contractor must have a health and safety file presented at the end which is in effect a handover pack that should include ‘as built’ drawings or specifications of components that have been installed. Conveyancing solicitors are likely to request this when property is bought and sold. For home owners, CDM duties are passed to the contractor where there is only one or the principal contractor for more than one. Where there is more than one contractor, a principal designer must also be appointed and they coordinate all matters relating to health and safety. Also, if the principal designer changes or is not engaged to the end, the responsibility for the file moves on and may rest finally with the principal contractor and the principal contractor is responsible for operational site safety and passing information to the principal designer for the health and safety file. ‘I would anticipate the HSE will start visiting home improvement sites more routinely and it will probably focus on the provision of welfare facilities and safe working practices… Continue reading
UK property prices up 8.4% year on year, but annual growth still slowing
UK house prices increased by 8.4% in the year to January 2015, down from 9.8% in the year to December 2014, according to the latest index. House price annual inflation was 8.5% in England, 4.9% in Wales, 7.8% in Scotland and 7.3% in Northern Ireland, the data from the Office of National Statistics show. Overall it means that annual house price growth is beginning to show signs of slowing across the majority of the UK. Annual house price increases in England were driven by an annual increase in London of 13% and to a lesser extent increases in the East at 9.9% and the South East at 7.6%. However, excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 6.5% in the 12 months to January 2015. On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices fell by 0.2% between December 2014 and January 2015. The data also shows that in January 2015, prices paid by first time buyers were 9.7% higher on average than in January 2014 while for existing owners prices increased by 7.8% for the same period. Scotland is seeing strong recovery with house prices up by 7.8% in the year to January 2015, up from 5.5% in the year to December 2014. It means that the index for Scotland is just 0.9% below the record level witnessed in August 2014 and prices are 1% higher than the pre-economic downturn peak of June 2008. Adrian Gill, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, believes that more needs to be done to keep the property market recovery on track as it is clear that rates of annual growth have slowed across the board in England and Wales. ‘After storming ahead of the rest of the country in the whirlwind of 2014, conditions have calmed in London and the South East. The capital has already had the first taste of added pressure placed on prime property in the form of revised Stamp Duty, and the £1.5 million to £5 million slice of the market has also been hit by cold feet in the run up to the general election with the threat of a potential mansion tax,’ he said. ‘This let up of high end activity has brought down the average London house price, but it is regions with the lowest average property prices which are dragging their feet. The housing shortage may be propping up property price growth, but more needs to be done,’ he explained. ‘Measures like the Help to Buy scheme and reforming Stamp Duty have airlifted support to the bottom end of the market, but unless more new homes are built, the government are practically playing a zero sum game,’ he added. Nicholas Leeming, chairman of national estate agents Jackson-Stops & Staff, said it shows that the popular Help to Buy schemes must continue. ‘The ONS figures show that, while there is still some pre-election nervousness amongst buyers of higher value properties, the majority of the UK housing market… Continue reading
Vast majority of UK tenants don’t think they can afford to buy
Over 90% of tenants in the UK don’t think they will be able to afford a property as rents continue to escalate and property prices stay firmly out of their reach. The study shows that just 7.5% of tenants feel confident that they will be able to afford to buy their own property in the future despite the government’s recent initiatives like the Help to Buy scheme, the stamp duty changes and the recent Budget announcement on ISA savings. Indeed, according to the research from Property Let By Us, two thirds of tenants believe the government is still not doing enough to help them onto the property ladder. A further 62% of tenants aspire to owning their own home but a massive 87% of tenants feel trapped in their rental accommodation. ‘These stats show that many tenants are still unable to afford to buy a property and believe more should be done to help them,’ said Jane Morris, managing director of Property Let By Us She pointed out that recent research from the Halifax shows that homes in a fifth of local authority districts across the UK have increased in value by more than the average employee's annual wages over the past two years. The vast majority of these areas are in London, the South East and the East. ‘In eight local authority districts across the UK, the increase in house prices over the last two years has outstripped the amount someone would have typically earned over the period by more than £80,000,’ she explained. And she added that according to Rightmove, the average new seller asking price across England and Wales in March was £281,752, some 1% higher than the previous month and £30 below an all-time high recorded in June last year. ‘These price rises have made it much tougher for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder in areas where they are renting. Many tenants are stuck in a difficult cycle of saving just enough for a deposit, only to find that prices have risen out of their reach again,’ Morris concluded. Continue reading
