Tag Archives: british
Call for owners of British estates to release land for new homes in the countryside
Local authorities should work with rural estate owners to create new affordable homes, according to a new report into issues affecting the UK’s land and countryside communities. Major estates should be encouraged to release land for eight or more affordable homes and the Government should extend its city devolution agenda to include rural market towns, says the report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). It is urging landowners behind England’s 5,000 largest rural estates to release land for affordable housing and the report sets out a number of recommendations as to how central and local Government could better manage rural land and support countryside communities. These include offering measures to encourage large landowners to release space on their estates for eight or more affordable houses and that this might include partial inheritance tax exemptions, allowing heirs to avoid paying taxes on any affordable properties within the estate. It points out that at the turn of the last century, owners of Britain’s largest estates took a more patriarchal approach to the provision of affordable housing. This wasn’t entirely philanthropic as there was a common sense business motive as it resulted in a settled and readily available workforce. But affordable rural housing is fast becoming a thing of the past, the report explains, pointing out that there is a reported 76% shortfall in rural affordable housing. It argues that if rural towns and villages are to thrive, there needs to be action to ensure that workers are available to drive local economies. ‘Without becoming rose tinted, there are elements to the philanthropic approach to estate management that could benefit future generations of workers and apprentices,’ the report says. It also points out that there are some countryside communities where the average cost of a house can outstrip average annual wages 11 times over and rural poverty is a serious issue that threatens to hamper regional growth. ‘We would like to see local authorities work sympathetically with estate owners to encourage the release of land for eight or more affordable houses, based on long leaseholds, which would allow estates to retain long term interests,’ said Jeremy Blackburn, RICS head of UK policy. He explained that a similar scheme has been pioneered this year in East Devon, where Lord Clinton, the largest private landowner in the county, worked with Cornerstone Housing Association to develop 19 affordable homes in the town of Budleigh Salterton, made up of both rental and shared ownership properties. ‘To provide affordable housing for local people is an important step towards building sustainable communities. From the outset we worked with the Exeter based housing association, Cornerstone to provide the right mix of affordable homes for rent and shared ownership to enable young families to stay in Budleigh Salterton and allow this seaside town to thrive for generations to come,’ said Leigh Rix, head of property and land for Clinton Devon Estates. Blackburn added that the report also calls for a further boost for… Continue reading
Commercial property debt in UK set to fall to 10 year low
Outstanding commercial property debt in the UK is on course to fall to a 10 year low during 2015, declining by 1% in the first half of 2015 to £163.7 billion, according to a new report. However, strong levels of new loan origination in 2015 mean that the total amount outstanding may actually increase for the first time since the recession, the report from academics at De Montfort University also says. The half year edition of the De Montfort Commercial Property Lending Report, the most comprehensive study of the UK’s commercial property lending market, concludes that the continuous decline in total real estate debt since 2008 appears to have almost halted and may subsequently be reversed by the end of the year. The value of new loan originations in the first half of 2015 was £24.7 billion, the highest half year value reported to the research since £49.2 billion recorded for the first half of 2007. In a further sign of commercial property market health, the value of distressed loans fell from £23.2 billion at the end of 2014 to £15.7 billion by the middle of 2015. The report also show that the proportion of loans with a loan to value (LTV) ratio of less than 70% has continued to grow in the first half of 2015, representing 80.5%, or £135.5 billion of outstanding debt of the traditional lenders and allocated to investment projects. Outstanding debt with a LTV ratio of between 71% and 100% fell from 14.3% of the total of £20 billion at the end of 2014 to 12% or £16 billon by the middle of 2015. The first half of the year also showed an encouraging pick-up in development finance, particularly for speculative or partly pre-let projects, where more non-traditional lenders now feel comfortable providing finance against such schemes. At the same time, the research suggests that banking regulation may be having an adverse impact on development finance by the traditional lenders. At the middle of 2015, only 2.8% of debt was allocated to commercial development projects by these lenders. Interest rate margins for senior debt continued their three-year long decline but the pace of decline has moderated considerably. By the middle of 2015, the average margin for senior loans secured by prime office property was recorded at 214bps, down from 218.7bps recorded at the end of 2014. The report suggests that that the floor in interest-rate margins may have been reached. Following a surge in non-traditional lenders in 2014, Banks and Building Societies remained the dominant lenders in the market, holding 76% of all loan originations at the middle year point compared to 75% at the end of 2014. The level of new lending by UK Banks and Building Societies remained stable at 39% of all loan originations. ‘We seem to have reached a turning point in the amount of commercial property debt in the market, with the impact of post-crisis deleveraging almost totally… Continue reading
UK home buyers make their mind up about a property quickly, research suggests
Britain is a nation of decisive home buyers who are quick to fall in love with a home and act fast to buy it, according to a new survey. Some 61% of home owners were able to buy the home they originally fell in love with and 25% were lucky enough for this to be the first home they viewed. This highlights the decisive nature of British home buyers, according to the survey report by conveyancing services firm My Home Move. The research also found that house hunters know extremely quickly whether they like a property with 26% making the decision to buy their home even before viewing the whole property. It also found that 18% make the decision within 30 seconds of entering the property and 8% knowing the property is for them before even entering. In contrast, 17% needed a second viewing to decide it was the home for them. On top of this the survey shows that 45% of buyers did not have to make any sacrifices or compromises when buying their home and are therefore living in their dream home. However, first time buyers and those in London are more likely to come to a compromise when buying a home with 11% finding it much harder to find their dream home and having to view 10 or more properties before finding the right one. The research also found that 39% had a perfect home that ‘got away’ and were not able to buy the property they originally fell in love with, and this was more likely to happen in London were 60% were disappointed in this way. Buyers in London were also more likely to make sacrifices or compromises when choosing their home and 70% said their current property did not have everything they wanted, compared to only 55% for Britain as a whole. The report suggests that this is due to the high demand and shortage of properties for sale in the capital, alongside rocketing prices, meaning buyers in London have fewer options to choose from. This also contrasts with other parts of the country, such as the North West, which saw only 44% having to make any sacrifices or compromises. First time buyers were worse hit by this reality when buying their home, with a significant majority of 83% aged 30 or below saying they had to make sacrifices or compromises when buying their home. In comparison, only 43% of home buyers aged above 51 said their home did not have everything they wanted. The most common reason home owners were not able to buy a property was being outbid by another buyer. This happened to 27% of buyers, and is much more likely among first time buyers than older home owners, with 41% of those aged under 30 being outbid, dropping to 26% or less for those aged above 51. Continue reading
