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UK govt to change planning rules to free land for new homes
Planning rules on brownfield sites in the UK are being removed to free up land for development with more homes being built for first time buyers, the government has announced. The housing budget is to be directed towards new low cost homes for sale for first time buyers and housing association tenants are to be given the right to buy, Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed. He also announced that the government will bring forward sales of land, buildings and other assets the government bought or built, raising up to £5 billion over the course of this Parliament with the funds from these sales being recycled to help fund new infrastructure projects. Osborne added that a new independent National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) is being created charged with offering unbiased analysis of the UK’s long term infrastructure needs. The NIC will begin work immediately with Lord Andrew Adonis as its first chairman. It is likely that up to 40 towns and cities in southern England could be doubled in size to deal with the country’s housing crisis as Lord Adonis has spoken about bold initiatives needed to deliver the huge number of new homes required. He is known to favour the idea of building a new generation of garden cities or garden extensions to existing towns. Indeed, in an article written just weeks before his appointment, he said central government should intervene to massively extend towns including Guildford, Norwich, Reading, Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon. He is also known to back the idea of a new requirement on local authorities to use more of its public land for housing. His vision is likely to be bold and include central and local government leading development in partnership with the private and voluntary sectors. Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, welcomed the announcements. ‘In order to create places where people will live as well as work, we would hope to see discussion as to whether large scale housing schemes could be considered within significant infrastructure projects. This would enable the development industry to deliver a large number of homes, quickly,’ she said. Continue reading
More foreign developers are entering the Australian apartment market
Foreign buyers are fuelling higher density development sites sales across major Australian cities, according to a new analysis report. As state governments have encouraged higher density living by re-zoning key sites around infrastructure hubs, opportunities for developers have been ample over recent years, according to the report from Knight Frank. With the outlook for the Australian Dollar lower than originally forecast, more foreign developers are now taking this opportunity to enter the Australian market, it adds. Sales of major sites likely for higher density residential development in the four major capital cities of Australia totalled $7.30 billion in the year ending August 2015, down 5.7% on the previous year’s volume. However, Greater Sydney is still experiencing upward growth in sales volume, although the prior steep upward trajectory achieved in the year to 31 August 2014 is flattening out. A total $4.61 billion sales were recorded over the year to August 2015, when almost 63%, by value, was sold to foreign purchasers. Across Greater Sydney, development sites sales with potential for higher density ranged from $60,000 to $400,000 per apartment, excluding the Central Business District, while the range extended out significantly in the CBD to $350,000 to $1,000,000 per apartment. Site sales volumes have fallen over the course of the past year for the remaining major capital cities after strong results over the two years to August 2014. Sales volume in Greater Melbourne totalled $1.79 billion in the year to August 2015. Site sales averaged $35,000 to $200,000 per apartment, excluding the CBD, where 47.6% of these sales, by value, were sold to foreign purchasers. The volume of site sales in Greater Brisbane at $685.85 million and Greater Perth at $213.36 million saw foreign investment, by value, at 58.6% and 64.6%, respectively. Both cities have a similar sales rate range when excluding the CBD starting from $30,000 to $110,000 per apartment for Greater Brisbane, while Greater Perth ranges slightly wider from $20,000 to $120,000 per apartment. Since January 2011 some 123,815 new apartments have been added to the major capital cities residential stock, led by Greater Sydney with 46,490 and Greater Melbourne with 41,045. In total across the major cities, there are currently 80,135 apartments under construction, with another 125,060 with DA approval which have the potential to be online by the end of 2018. The report suggests that apartment numbers could grow further when approval is granted for the additional 86,430 apartments currently submitted in these cities. ‘As determined by pre-sales, the market dictates when new apartment projects get underway, so for most local developers, there is a strong chance that these projects may be pushed beyond this timeframe, the report explains. Prices for new apartments can vary considerably, with the most disparity seen in Greater Sydney with a range from $9,000 to $22,000 per square meter for a standard finish up to $32,000 to $45,000 per square meter for prime. A standard finish apartment in Greater Melbourne will range from $6,500 to $13,500 per… Continue reading
British still confident about house price growth, latest sentiment report shows
British households are still confident about the outlook for house price growth even although there has been a sharp increase in the proportion of who are expecting an interest rate rise in the next 12 months. Continued talk over the likely timing of an interest rate rise has seen a spike in the number of people who expect both mortgage and savings rates to be higher in 12 months’ time, according to the quarterly Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker report. The data shows that 58% now believe mortgage interest rates will be higher in 12 months compared to 48% the second quarter of the year and 35% expect savings interest rates will be higher, up from 26% in the previous quarter. Alongside annual house price inflation running at 9% and the average house price standing at £204,674, house price optimism remains high at +63 in the third quarter compared to +64 in the second quarter with 68% now expecting the average property prices to be higher in 12 months’ time and just 5% expecting it to be lower. The figures from the report also shows that there has been a further fall in the proportion of who think it will be a good time to buy in 12 months’ time, from 56% in the second quarter to 53% in the third quarter. But despite the apparent stability in house price expectations, there has also been a drop in selling sentiment, with the proportion who believe the next 12 months will be a good time to sell, falling seven percentage points to 52% from 59% in the second quarter. This brings positive selling sentiment back down to the levels seen in early 2015 and it is now at its lowest level for a year. Regionally, lower levels of people in London report a positive buying sentiment as just 40% said they thought the next 12 months would be a good time buy compared to Scotland at 77% and the North of England at 58%. Conversely, in terms of positive selling sentiment, London sees 64% saying ‘the next 12 months will be a good time sell, compared to 48% in Scotland, 47% in the North of England and 43% in the Midlands. ‘While economic optimism appears to have tailed off in the last quarter, house prices have continued to increase and the underlying pace of house price growth is strong. This has helped to maintain the expectation that house prices will continue to rise, despite more people expecting interest rate rises in the next 12 months,’ said Craig McKinlay, Halifax mortgage director. ‘The factors behind the upward pressure on house prices include the continued lack of second-hand properties for sale on the market and the availability of low mortgage rates. Without an increase in supply it’s likely to mean that house price growth continues to be robust in the short term, even if interest rates eventually begin to increase,’ he added. The research also found… Continue reading
