Tag Archives: british
Most UK borrowers reach mortgage freedom day
Home borrowers in the UK have reached the time of year when they will have earned enough to pay off the annual cost of their mortgage, research shows. Based on the average annual mortgage repayment cost of £7,584 and the average net annual income of £26,023, lender the Halifax has calculated that home owners with a mortgage will have today earned enough on average to cover their mortgage payments for the rest of 2016. Mortgage Freedom Day this year occurs just a day later than in 2015 and is the result of average annual mortgage repayment edging up by £17 during the year. Rental Freedom Day, on the other hand, comes 16 days later on the 05 May, again a day later than in 2015. However, there is a wide variation in Mortgage Freedom Day across the country, with home owners in Scotland and Northern Ireland achieving this on 12 March, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber on 25 March, the North West 26th and the North the 27th. Mortgage Freedom Day for Londoners doesn't arrive until 26 June, three months later than in northern England. Regionally, the North was the first to achieve Rental Freedom Day on 05 April this year, just ahead of Yorkshire and the Humber on 09 April and the East Midlands on the 13th April. Tenants in London have to wait until 13 July. ‘For most home owners mortgage payments are the biggest outgoing every month. Knowing they’ve earned enough to pay off their mortgage for another year should be a reassuring thought. On the other hand, those who rent will need to work a further couple of weeks to have earned enough to cover their annual rental cost,’ said Craig McKinlay, Halifax mortgage director. At local authority district level, new borrowers in West Dunbartonshire recorded the earliest Mortgage Freedom Day in 2016, on 21 February. Eight of the 10 earliest Mortgage Freedom Days this year take place in Scotland, including Inverclyde and East Ayrshire, both 23rd February, and North Lanarkshire on the 25th February. The remaining two local areas are Copeland in Cumbria on the 27th February and Blaenau Gwent on 02 March. Home owners in South Bucks have to wait until the autumn for Mortgage Freedom Day which will be the 12 September, followed by Hammersmith and Fulham on 21 August, Brent in North West London on 19 August and Ealing on 08 August. Continue reading
Research shows over 35,000 high end home to be built in London in next decade
Over 35,000 prime homes are set to be built in London over the next decade, a rise of 40% compared to 2014, new research shows. The combined sales value of these properties is estimated at over £77 billion, and when combined the total floor space of these homes comes in at over 40 million square feet, far greater than the area of the whole of the City of London at 30.7 million square feet. These new homes, well out of the affordable range, will be built on 196 sites that span the breadth of the city, according to a report from global design and consultancy firm for natural and built assets Arcadis. It says that this ‘significant growth’ on the previous year demonstrates the extent to which the capital’s high end residential market is still viewed favourably in spite of the rapidly evolving UK housing market. The report also says that rising construction costs and growing land values have seen input costs rise, while a softening in demand due to successive stamp duty reform combined with economic slowdown in countries such as China has seen buyer interest ease. As a consequence, some investors may eventually reposition these assets away from prime housing and into premium office space, mixed use or even a greater number of smaller homes as they look to markets that offer a greater margin, it suggests. In terms of location, it is Chelsea and Fulham that have seen the greatest level of investment, followed by the Southbank and around the City, and the report says that this is evidence that the prime London property market is not confined to the West End but is now widely diffused across the capital. Some 10,914 homes are due to be built in Chelsea and Fulham, followed by 8,863 in Southbank, 5,898 in City and Fringe, 1,960 in Victoria and Pimlico, 1,754 in Midtown, 1,600 in Docklands, 1,104 in Kensington, 933 in Bayswater and Paddington, 589 in Mayfair and 427 in St John’s Wood. The total sales value of the homes to be built in Chelsea and Fulham is estimated at £20 billion, in City and Fringe at £7.3 billion, in Mayfair at £6 billion, in Belgravia at 5.6 billion, in Victoria and Pimlico at £5.1 billion, in Midtown at £4.7 billion, in St John’s Wood at £4 billion, in Kensington at 3.7 billion and in Knightsbridge at £2.4 billion. ‘Since around 2009, the value of prime residential property in central London has seen dramatic rises, making it one of the hottest markets in recent memory. So, it is hardly surprising that we have seen ongoing interest from investors all over the world,’ said Mark Cleverly, Arcadis head of commercial development. ‘What is interesting, though, is the continuous geographical spread we are seeing. Prime housing is springing up around regeneration areas and on the outskirts of the financial district, suggesting the days of the West End… Continue reading
Poll reveals how British people think their homes will be powered in the future
A wind turbine in the garden and electronic devices driven by exercise equipment are some of the revolutionary changes home owners in the UK can look forward to according to a new poll. Home owners certainly see homes being powered in a very different way from the current reliance on electricity from the national grid. A survey conducted by Gocompare Energy reveals that people think that in the future there will be wind turbines in gardens creating a personal power supply and little water turbines in gutter pipes and bathroom drains to harness further power. Other ideas that could become a reality include homes being roofed with tiles that have inbuilt solar technology while some of the more whacky ideas include floorboards that harvest energy as you walk across them. The poll asked if people thought that there would be changes in the way homes are powered in the future and the vast majority, 91%, stated that they thought there would. Of these, 84% believed power would come from ‘more sustainable sources’, with a further 61% believing that UK homes will become more ‘self-sufficient and independent’. Some 9% believed that homes will not be powered by any mains gas or electricity at all in the future. Some 55% thought appliances will be powered by exercise devices in the home, 51% believed that energy could be harnesses from water flowing through household drains and 43% thought gutters could generate power when it rains. Another 39% could believe that all roof tiles will automatically harness power from the sun and 22% could foresee a future with a wind turbine attached to every home while 14% thought flooring could be used to generate energy. In addition to these, 8% of respondents believed that certain modern gadgets that require a lot of energy would be banned in the future, including appliances such as kettles and washing machines and overall a third of respondents believed that these predictions could come into effect as soon as 2020. ‘It’s been fascinating to see what energy innovations people think we could see in our homes in the future. It’s no wonder that we are starting to see more people considering the sustainability of our power sources but that’s not to say that washing machines are going to be outlawed any time soon. If anything, they will just become more energy efficient,’ said Ben Wilson, an energy expert at Gocompare Energy. ‘What’s particularly interesting is that some of these predictions aren’t necessarily that farfetched. I could well envisage a workout station where you can charge your mobile phone while you work up a sweat, or the advance of solar technology to make it all a little more aesthetically pleasing for UK rooftops,’ he explained. ‘The industry is fast paced and alternative and renewable energy providers are constantly looking for new ways to generate power, so I could see some of these coming to British homes very soon,’ he… Continue reading
