Tag Archives: crisis
Sharp increase in house building boosts UK construction market
A sharp rise in private housing and private commercial construction activity has pushed up workloads at the fastest rate since 1994, according to the latest RICS survey. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors third quarter construction market survey also shows that the shortage of quantity surveyors continuing to grow with 57% of respondents citing this issue as a problem. Despite this industry workloads continue to make a strong recovery, with 46% more surveyors reporting a rise in activity, up from a net balance of 41% in August. This marks the eighth consecutive quarterly rise in workloads. The private housing sector grew robustly across all parts of the UK, with the London and the South East regions seeing the strongest growth. In the private commercial sector, workloads also reached a series high, with a net balance of 59% more surveyors reporting an increase in activity. However, while still positive, workloads in infrastructure saw much more balanced growth with 27% more surveyors seeing activity levels rise. Significantly for Northern Ireland, for the fourth consecutive quarter, infrastructure and private industrial sector growth in Northern Ireland remained flat, 0% net balance. Across the whole of the UK, the main factors which were found to be limiting building activity were a shortage of labour, followed by access to finance and a shortage of materials with both at a net balance of 58%. RICS says that it is significant that demand for bricklayers increased strongly on the previous quarter, with 71% of respondents now saying that this is an issue compared to 59% in the second quarter of the year. Also, planning and regulation factors were the fourth highest limiting factors with a net balance of 51%. However, despite these concerns, the strength and breadth of the growth that is being reported is promising and feeding expectations for further growth over the coming year. As a result, 47% more surveyors expect to see profits increase, rather than decrease, and 58% more respondents expect to take on more people in response to the rising workloads. ‘Unprecedented housing demand, the bounce back from a very deep recession and government's commitment to invest £36 billion in over 200 infrastructure projects is driving much-needed confidence across the industry, translating into UK workload sentiment now standing at its highest level in two decades,’ said Alan Muse, RICS director of Built Environment. ‘Of course factors impacting construction activity, such as skill shortages and material shortages, must be addressed if we are to avoid capacity constraints and promote productivity and efficiency in the workplace, but it is equally important that the underlying framework for effective planning and delivery of projects is in place to ensure long term construction growth that is evenly spread across the UK,’ he explained. ‘Government must now ensure it builds on these foundations of confidence with the mechanisms to get house building and infrastructure projects out of the pipeline and into the ground. RICS believes a National Infrastructure Delivery Plan and enforced local planning are… Continue reading
Farm land values in England up 2% in 2014 as price growth slows
The average value of English farm land has risen by 2% to £10,100 per acre in 2014 with supply remaining at historic low levels, according to the latest data. But the rate of growth has slowed and there has been no change in values in since June, the figures from Smiths Gore show. They also reveal that values have risen by 5% in the past 12 months and by 20% in the past three years. ‘While demand for farms with houses and buildings has increased in the last year as non-farmer buyers return to the market for these types of farms after the recession, the strongest demand is from farmers buying bare land for purely farming purposes,’ said Giles Wordsworth, national head of Farms and Estates Agency at the firm. The data shows that bare land values average £7,400 per acre and have risen 4% in 2014, an increase of 2% in the past 12 months and by 27% in the last three years. Farms with houses and buildings, known as equipped land, have risen by 2%, 7% and 20% over the same periods and now average £11,000 per acre. And the value of arable land is increasing more than grassland at 8% compared with 6% in the past 12 months. Values are continuing to be supported by the lack of farmland available to buy, according to Smiths Gore. Some 10% less land has been marketed so far in 2014 compared with 2013. The 97,700 acres marketed so far is the second lowest amount marketed historically, with 79,200 acres in 2012 being an overall low point. There are significant variations between regions. The South West and East of England are the most active, with 19,300 acres and 18,000 acres marketed respectively in the year to date. The least active regions are the North East and North West, with 4,500 acres and 5,800 acres marketed respectively in the year to date. Continue reading
New online services launches to help UK landlords with immigration checks
A new service for UK landlords has been launched to help them cope with the new legislation that means they must check the immigration status of potential tenants before agreeing a rental. The first groups of landlords will be required to undertake the checks from December 2014 under a pilot scheme in the West Midlands with the requirement being rolled out across the rest of the country in 2015. The new online Ready Rentals system has been created to help landlords who will have to ask those applying to live in one of their properties for proof of their right to reside in the UK such as a passport, right of abode certificate, or alternative documents that confirm their immigration status. Under the Immigration Act a landlord failing to comply could receive a fine of up to £3,000 and the new rules have already stirred up much feeling amongst the private rented sector, making it a controversial topic, with some questioning whether it is the landlord's place to act as 'immigration officer' in this way. Others fear the additional weight of responsibility on private landlords might negatively affect the industry, putting people off renting out their properties as they struggle to cope with the changing legislative demands. ‘The immigration issue is a hot topic at the moment, with the government and opposition openly debating their approach to the nation's growing problem, but I don't see this new legislation merely having been presented as a vote-winner. Checking a tenant's immigration status is not only beneficial to the country as a whole, it also helps the landlord to feel more assured that they will receive their rent successfully,’ said Neil Woodhead, founder of Ready Rentals. ‘For some it can feel as though the legislation that private landlords have to follow is constantly changing, and this can be daunting for many. Yet it is important that private landlords face this, and other legal demands placed upon them, in a thorough manner. The result is legal compliance and a professional service for tenants, a win-win for all,’ he added. Just one of the issues that Ready Rentals will address, the new immigration laws will be fully supported by the service, providing landlords in the West Midlands and further afield when it is rolled out, with access to all the advice and referencing systems needed to ensure that they meet the new demands of the immigration legislation. Woodhead explained that the online system will be available for an affordable annual fee and aims to make the life of a private landlord easy and the service they offer legally compliant and seamless, addressing concerns and providing invaluable answers to problems faced by individual landlords. This is achieved by providing access to all the documentation needed to become a private landlord, a tailored system to suit individual needs; continually updating advice on statutory regulations and letting a property; providing the ability to market online to major portals; giving information on general marketing and advertising;… Continue reading
