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London Mayor announces new £10 million loan for affordable housing in London
The Mayor of London is forming a partnership with Big Issue Invest to renovate empty properties into much needed new affordable homes in the UK’s capital city. Boris Johnson has awarded a £10 million loan from his Housing Covenant to Big Issue Invest who help small community organisation's to renovate empty homes or buildings to convert them into good quality affordable housing for Londoners to rent or part buy. The funding will revolve over a 10 year period and result in up to 400 empty homes being transformed into good quality low cost housing. In addition it will provide long term unemployed people, veterans and out of work young people from across London the opportunity of employment and training in construction. The Mayor's Housing Covenant supports organisations proposing innovative ways of delivering affordable housing through a Revolving Fund and is one of a number of housing schemes the Mayor is delivering to boost affordable housing, stimulate building and fast track the delivery of thousands of much needed new homes. The proportion of empty homes in the capital has fallen dramatically under the Mayor, and at 0.7% is now at the lowest level since the 1970s. Over 5,000 empty homes have been brought back into use through GLA housing programmes since 2008. ‘With the huge demand for housing it's essential we get empty properties back into use, which is why I'm helping innovative projects renovate them back into much needed affordable homes,’ said Johnson. ‘Big Issue Invest are masters of boosting community social enterprise and delivering key employment and training skills to the homeless and unemployed people who need our extra support. This funding sits alongside my affordable home programme which is on track to deliver 100,000 new low cost homes across the city,’ he added. The Big Issue Group's chairman, Nigel Kershaw, described it as an exciting opportunity. Big Issue Invest is a specialist provider of finance to social enterprises. It provides investment from £50,000 to £1.7million and develops innovative financial solutions which help organisations tackle poverty and create opportunity. Since 2005 Big Issue Invest has invested over £27 million across the UK in more than 330 social enterprises, directly benefitting over 1.8 million people. The new loan will allows Big Issue Invest to finance and support more innovative housing projects undertaken by social enterprises and charities. These projects will serve to increase the volume of affordable housing available in London. The Mayor's commitment to getting empty homes back into use and boosting affordable housing is part of a package of wider measures he is promoting to stimulate house building. Continue reading
New home building set to remain strong in Australia, it is claimed
Lending figures shows that new home building activity in Australia is set to remain at a strong level, according to the Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australia’s residential building industry. During November 2014, the number of owner occupier loans for the construction or purchase of new dwellings declined by 1.4% but lending was 4.6% higher than the same month in 2013. Furthermore, new home loans increased by 0.7% in the three months to November and were 7.3% higher than the same period a year earlier. Comparing the total number of owner occupier loans for new housing in November 2014 with November 2013 shows the strongest increases was in the Northern Territory with growth of 63.9% and in Tasmania with growth of 14.3%. There were also increases in Victoria where growth was 3.3%, Queensland up 1.6% and South Australia up 1.7%. However, new loan volumes fell in in New South Wales by 6.9%, in Western Australia by 4.6% and in the ACT by 2.3% over the past year. HIA senior economist Shane Garrett pointed out that building approvals reached an all-time high during November, and the lending figures add further to the evidence that Australia’s new home building industry will start 2015 on a strong footing. But he also warned that although the number of loans remains high there is little sign of further growth. ‘The number of loans for new home purchase has fallen over the past year. Fortunately, the flow of loans for new home construction is very solid,’ he explained. ‘Indeed, the number of new home construction loans in November was 7.6% higher than a year ago. Healthily functioning housing markets should see a substantial turnover of homes in any given month,’ he pointed out. ‘However, the total volume of loans for home purchase has been falling consistently over the past few months. As home prices have risen, so too have the stamp duty bills paid by ordinary home owners. Excessive taxation is hampering the efficient operation of Australia’s housing market. The issue requires immediate attention,’ he added. Continue reading
Singapore and Hong Kong are most expensive for foreign property investors
Singapore and Hong Kong are the most costly places for a foreigner to invest in real estate as they are subject to more property taxes, new research has found. They are more expensive as they are locations where the disparity between the tax burden on foreign and local investors reflects a ‘foreigner premium’, according to an analysis from international real estate firm Knight Frank. Cooling measures in Hong Kong amount to a 15% Buyer’s Stamp Duty and in Singapore there is also a 15% Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty and a higher tax for foreign investors. Australia, Malaysia and Thailand also work out more expensive due to taxes which effectively amount to higher real estate tax levels for foreign buyers. In Australia, Thailand and Singapore foreign buyers acquiring a property for investment are subject to more taxes than if they were buying for their own use. On the other hand, Cambodia, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea do not impose such premium on both foreign and local investors. In the analysis, the Special Stamp Duty and Seller’s Stamp Duty in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively are found to be the most potent policies to deter property flipping. The report explains that following the global financial crisis and its significant impact on fiscal revenues for countries around the world, the global tax landscape has been rapidly changing. ‘Not only has there been more aggressive clamping down on loopholes and a pressure to improve tax governance, we are seeing more cooperation between countries on an international scale,’ it explains. The tax burden ranges between 12.6% and 15.5% in Australia mainly because stamp duty varies among states. In Cambodia, if the investor opts for a ‘hard title’ registered with the national Land Office, as opposed to a ‘soft title’ issued by local authority, he will incur the 4% transfer tax which accounts for the huge cost difference. Some markets effectively charge an investment premium, according to the report. For example, a foreigner buying a property in Australia for investment is subject to 7.4% more taxes than if he purchases it for self use, excluding income tax on rents which is not applicable to an owner occupier. For a local buying a second property for investment purposes, the premium varies considerably depending on the reference point. If the second home is for self use instead, he pays only slightly less in tax. The huge difference in premium implies that Australia taxes more on the purchase of a second property per se than on the purpose of the purchase. Similarly, the cooling measures in Hong Kong and Singapore target the number of properties owned but do not distinguish between investment and self use homes. In contrast, Thailand taxes on investment properties, regardless of the number of houses possessed. Even though Australia and Cambodia do not tax according to holding period, average annual tax burden is lower for long term ownership mainly because one off costs, namely stamp duty and… Continue reading
