Shows
Mortgage approvals end 2015 on a strong footing, bank data shows
Approvals for home purchases in the UK increased towards the end of 2015 with December being a strong month, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England. The number of loan approvals for buying in December was 70,837 compared to an average of 69,462 over the previous six months while the number of approvals for remortgaging was 41,708, compared to the average of 39,540 over the previous six months But the next few months are likely to be very different, according to David Whittaker, managing director of Mortgages for Business. ‘The next wave of activity will be powered by landlords scrambling to complete transactions before they are hit with extra taxes. This is only just beginning,’ he said. ‘With 01 April marking the point at which Stamp Duty on buy to let properties bites, many investors have been rushing to get their mortgages completed and expand their portfolios before this date,’ he pointed out. ‘Expect this flurry of activity to continue into the first few months of 2016, as investors rush to apply for their buy to let mortgages and lenders do everything in their power to get the good applications completed before the April crunch point,’ he added. Peter Williams, executive director of Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, pointed out that December was the busiest month for remortgaging in over two years, with activity growing more than twice as fast as overall approvals. ‘The continued appetite for remortgaging was likely to be a sign of home owners eager to capitalise on market competition and lock into lower rates, especially with US raising interest rates for the time in nine years and expectations the UK would follow suit in the not too distant future,’ he explained. After the Autumn Statement extensions to Help to Buy, and the rock bottom base rate lasting out the year, first time buyers were feeling decisive, and this was mirrored by a clear upswing in house purchase approvals from November to December, according to Peter Rollings, chief executive officer of Marsh & Parsons. ‘This energy has definitely been carried over into 2016, and January has already seen an impressive influx of motivated buyers, eager to progress up the property ladder,’ he explained, adding that 2015 was also the year of remortgaging for many existing home owners and this momentum is showing no signs of dissipating while cheaper fixed rate mortgages remain available. ‘But in the coming months we can expect strong buy to let lending, as the April introduction of higher stamp duty for second homes gives a new sense of urgency for those looking to invest in property or expand their existing portfolio,’ he added. Continue reading
New home registrations up 7% year on year in UK
The number of new homes registered to be built in the UK increased by 7% year on year in 2015, reaching an eight year high of over 156,000, new data shows. The figures from the National House Building Council (NHBC) show that 75% more new homes were registered in 2015 than at the time of the housing crash in 2009 and there were 156,140 registration compared to 146,359 in 2014. Private sector registrations increased by 7% to 118,611 in 2015 compared to 110,674 in 2014 while public sector registration increased by 5% to 37,529 from 35,685 in 2014. Continuing the trend from 2014, the number of detached homes registered reached 42,173, the highest for over a decade. Additionally, the number of semi-detached homes registered in 2015 at 35,423 was the highest in more than 20 years. NHBC's latest data also revealed that the majority of UK regions experienced notable growth on 2014 levels, with the Eastern region up 23%, the North West up 16% and Scotland up by 15%. In the East Midlands growth was 12%, the South West up 9% and West Midlands also up 9%. While Northern Ireland saw the biggest increase at 30%, the NHBC pointed out that this was from a relatively low base. London is still leading the way in the number of new home registrations. Although the 2015 figure of 25,994 registrations is down 9% on the record 2014 total of 28,518, although 2015 saw the third highest number of registrations on record. Yorkshire and the Humber was down 13% on 2014 and Wales down 2% on 2014. As the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK, NHBC's registration statistics are the lead indicator of the health of the country's new homes market. ‘2015 was a year for continued housing growth in the UK. Both the public and private sectors have performed well and we have seen encouraging levels of house building across most regions of the country,’ said NHBC chief executive Mike Quinton. ‘The detached home continues its resurgence, with our figures showing that house builders are building the highest number of detached properties for over a decade, with semi-detached homes also at their highest level in more than 20 years,’ he pointed out. ‘There is still a way to go before we are building the levels of new homes that were seen before the economic downturn, but 2015 represents consolidation on the growth seen over the last three years,’ he added. However, it would seem that this is not translating into work for smaller builders. According to the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB) workloads for small builders across the country took a downward turn towards the end of 2015. ‘The building industry remains confident of continued growth but the slowdown we saw in the last quarter is a cause for concern,’ said Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB,, who added that despite the growth in registrations both current and expected construction workloads are… Continue reading
Residential rental prices up 2.5% in UK in 2015
Private rental prices paid by tenants in Great Britain rose by 2.5% in the 12 months to December 2015, according to the latest index from the Office of National Statistics. Private rental prices grew by 2.7% in England, 0.7% in Wales and 0.9% in Scotland with rental prices increasing the most in London at 3.9%. When London is excluded the national year on year growth is 1.8%. Some of the more detailed ONS figures show that since January 2011 England rental prices have increased more than those of Wales and Scotland. The annual rate of change for Wales continues to be below that of England and the Great Britain average. Rental growth in Scotland has slowed to 0.9% in the year to December 2015, from 2.1% in the year for the months of January through to June 2015. The index series for England starts in 2005. Private rental prices in England show three distinct periods: rental price increases from January 2006 until October 2009, rental price decreases from December 2009 to October 2010, and increasing rental prices from November 2010 onwards. Of these three periods, 2008 showed the largest rental price increases. When London is excluded, England shows a similar pattern but with slower rental price increases from around January 2011. Since the beginning of 2012, English rental prices have shown annual increases ranging between 1.4% and 3% year on year, with December 2015 rental prices being 2.7% higher than December 2014 rental prices. Excluding London, England showed an increase of 1.9% for the same period. In the 12 months to December 2015, private rental prices increased in each of the nine English regions with the largest in London at 3.9% followed by the East at 2.8% and the South East also at 2.8%. Rental price increases have been stronger in London than the rest of England since November 2010. The rental market continued to show signs of strength overall in the fourth quarter of 2015 as prices increased by 2.5% in the year to December 2015 but this was a slowdown of 0.2% in the annual growth rate compared with September 2015. The ONS report says that this slowdown is partly driven by Scotland, where prices increased 0.9% in the year to December 2015, a fall of 0.7% compared with the annual growth rate in September 2015. It also points out that conditions in the housing market as a whole may have been supporting rental price growth. Data from the ONS house price index for November 2015 shows that house price growth has typically been stronger than rent price growth for a number of years. The Bank of England’s Agents’ Summary of Business Conditions for the fourth quarter of 2015 reported that private rental demand continued to grow steadily in the three months to December. Data from RICS’ Residential Market Survey for November 2015 confirmed this growth, noting that national tenant demand continued to grow in the three months to November 2015. The strength… Continue reading
