Tag Archives: crisis
Planning permission for new homes in the UK increased by 6% in 2015
The number of planning permissions for homes in the UK have increased by 6% year on year taking approvals in 2015 to the highest level since 2007. The data released by the Department of Communities and Local Government also shows that number of major applications being processed swiftly by local authorities is also at an all-time high with a record 81% decided within the required time. According to an analysis of Glenigan data published at the same time permission was granted for 253,000 homes during 2015. Government figures show that as well as rising numbers of planning permissions for homes, the number of permissions granted overall between October and December 2015 was 4% greater than a year earlier, with councils granting 92,000 decisions. ‘We’ve brought the housing market back from the brink with more than 700,000 new homes delivered since 2010 and a further one million granted planning permission,’ said Planning Minister Brandon Lewis. ‘These figures are further good news for hard working families and first time buyers wanting to achieve their dream of home ownership with constructions rates up and plenty of homes in the pipeline,’ he pointed out. He added that the reformed planning system and National Planning Policy Framework cut more than 1,000 pages of guidance to around just 50, simplifying the process for obtaining planning permission whilst maintaining safeguards for the countryside. The government is currently moving ahead with its landmark Housing and Planning Bill, which will help deliver on its ambition to build a million more homes. Measures include new affordable Starter Homes and a new legal duty will be placed on councils to guarantee the delivery of Starter Homes on all reasonably sized new development sites, and to promote the delivery of Starter Homes in their area. There will also be permission in principle for sites identified in plans and brownfield registers to give certainty around the sites that are suitable for housing, while protecting the green belt while planning reforms to support small builders will require councils to ensure they have permission shovel ready plots to match the local demand for custom build. Figures released recently as part of the English Housing Survey showed that more than a decade long decline, starting in 2003, in the number of people owning their home has been turned around with more than 14 million owner occupiers in the country last year. Continue reading
Many buy to let property investors not put off by UK tax changes
Most property investors in the UK are undeterred from buy to let despite 2016 tax changes and 56% are planning on purchasing within the next 12 months, new research shows. With changes in tax approaching some 40% plan to set up a limited company for their properties to counter the impact of tax changes, whilst 33% plan to raise rents, according to the latest client barometer survey from specialist lender Shawbrook. However, while the outlook for investors remains positive, new changes to tax relief and stamp duty have caused some investors to check their ambitions. Of the 44% who are not planning on purchasing a new buy to let property this year 37% said it was due to the 20% cap on tax relief for buy to let properties making the proposition unattractive and 16% said the 3% extra stamp duty levy on additional homes was putting them off. The latest figures also revealed that 49% of clients said they considered regulation to be the biggest challenge facing property investors over the next six months, a significant increase on last year’s barometer results, which found that regulation was something only 23% of investors considered to be the biggest challenge they faced. Despite these challenges 61% have a positive outlook for the upcoming 12 months, predicting either a large or small increase in property value. In total 43% of landlords saw an increase in tenant demand in 2015 and 61% saw an increase in their rental income. A further 44% are confident that their business will grow in 2016. ‘As a lender it is always great to see such positivity in the market, and as with our Broker Barometer conducted in late 2015, it seems that there is a lot of optimism amongst property professionals also,’ said Karen Bennett, the firm’s sales and marketing director of commercial mortgages. ‘Obviously the new changes will have an effect and may instil more caution across the market, however, Shawbrook is well placed to adapt to change, and we are expecting the market to remain buoyant,’ she added. Continue reading
Bristol and Cardiff set to see largest rises in office rents in UK
A lack of supply of Grade A space in the UK’s regional cities is currently driving significant demand for value-add office refurbishment opportunities, according to new research. With average take-up across the UK’s regions at 4.6 million square feet, with availability currently down 18% on 2007 levels, there is under a year’s supply of Grade A space coming to the market in the next three years says the outlook report from real estate firm Savills. It explains that speculative development in the regions has risen 129% on the same time last year to approximately 3.5 million square feet, but with 28% pre-let it is expected that this will largely be absorbed in the first and second quarters of 2016. Savills says that the lack of available space has driven demand for value-add office opportunities to help plug the gap, with January 2016 marking the 41st consecutive month of refurbishment activity. With competition for space outstripping supply, the gap between the rents on new build space and the best quality refurbished stock has narrowed, although it is likely to widen once more as new developments are completed later on in the year. New build office rents in Bristol, for instance, currently stand at £28.50 per square foot compared to £27 per square foot for refurbished office space, whilst in Leeds new build rents of £27 per square foot are only £1 higher than those for refurbished space at £26 per square foot. Savills forecasts that Bristol will see the highest growth in rents of 12% by the end of 2016, followed by Cardiff at 9%. The lack of supply has also forced some occupiers to look outside CBD’s at business park locations. Savills gives Birmingham Business Park as an example which has seen its vacancy rate drop from 75 to 15% over the last 12 months. ‘UK wide job creation is driving demand for good quality space in amenity-rich and well-connected regional cities, leading to a squeeze on space and rent rises. By the end of 2015 rents in the M25 office market had risen 10%, Manchester by 6% and Leeds 4%, and we’re set to see strong rental growth in many other regional markets before 2016 is out,’ said Claire Bailey, associate director, Savills commercial research. ‘While speculative development has picked up pace, a lot is already pre-let so we’re going to see a pinch on new build towards the end of 2016 and into early 2017 when occupiers are going to have little choice but to turn to refurbished stock or possibly even pre-letting to meet their requirements,’ she pointed out. Savills reports that in the past year regional offices prime equivalent yields have moved in by 50 bps to 4.75%. The proportion being invested in office markets outside London has also risen over the last two years, with regional volumes in 2015 standing at 31% of market share, compared to just 16% of total… Continue reading
