Tag Archives: europe
UK properties with an address in a lane are much more expensive, new research shows
UK home owners in a street with the name ‘lane’ have a property worth over £100,000 more than those on a ‘street’ according to new research. The data, generated by findings provided by property market specialists Hometrack shows that the first line of an address really can say something about the value of a home. The results of the research by Barclays Mortgages show that while homes on lanes have an average property value of £245,906, some 22% higher than the national average while homes on streets come towards the bottom of the list with properties averaging £142,374 or 29% under the national average and 42% below lanes. After lanes the next most expensive addresses are found in ways and roads with average values of £218,742 and £212,717 respectively, followed by closes and avenues at £204,964 and £192,344. Regionally, there’s also some significant variation revealed by the figures. The biggest divide in direct cost between street name prices occurs in the South East, where properties on lanes are an average of £137,145 more expensive than those on streets. The most pronounced gap in price in relative terms is actually in Wales, with properties on streets barely reaching half the value of those on lanes with a price difference of 53%. By contrast, the region with the least fluctuation in price is the East of England, where prices vary between the above street names by just 36%. Comparing this to data released in 2001, all of the street names have massively increased in average value in the last 15 years. The average price for a lane property has doubled, from approximately £123,000 in 2001 to the £246,000 of last year, while even streets have jumped up from £92,000 to £142,000. ‘As this data highlights, the last few years have been incredibly buoyant for the housing market and economy, and this is great news for buyers and sellers across the nation,’ said Craig Calder, Barclays Director of Mortgages. ‘While this data paints a clear picture of victory for ‘lanes it’s interesting to see the varying statistics from around the country, and a huge growth in value overall,’ he added. Continue reading
Good design could help make Build to Rent popular in the UK, says a new report
Good design is the secret for the future success of the build to rent sector in the UK with developers needing to look beyond traditional layouts, says a new report. Britain is on the verge of a rental revolution with around £30 billion of institutional investment earmarked to build and manage homes for rent, but success means creating homes that foster a sense of community, according to the report. Indeed, the report ‘Funding Britain’s rental revolution’, by Addleshaw Goddard, a law firm and the British Property Federation, a trade body, says Build to Rent could bring in substantial additional finance for housing. For example, it says that getting tenants to know their neighbours will help encourage them to stay for the long term, saving operators money on costly voids. The key to this will be creating user friendly living areas that encourage circulation within the buildings. It points out that much of the concept around Build to Rent is borrowed from North America’s multifamily sector where listed companies own much of the housing stock. Many of the Build to Rent schemes coming forward will include a range of communal space throughout the buildings and the report suggests this could include top floor amenity decks in the place of penthouse flats allowing all renters to benefit from the views and additional space. Others will be simpler, such as a lobby area with shared seating but the report says that crucially, all schemes need to be of a decent quality. Overall it suggests that the shift towards a professionally run rental market with developments owned by single companies rather than multiple speculators and buy to let investors, promises to offer Britain’s nine million renters higher standards, better value and greater transparency with homes purposefully designed for renters. Institutions such as APG, Hermes, and Legal & General, together with companies such as Grainger, Essential Living and Fizzy Living are spearheading the new sector and the report says that the growth of Build to Rent is good for the economy, communities, investors and consumers. It also points out that extra finance for housing is unlikely to surface through existing house builders or council funded development so Build to Rent could bring in more than £30 billion over the next five years. The positive includes that fact that it allows investors to match to long term liabilities such as annuities or pensions with stable returns delivered from rent and it reduces the amount of debt held by individuals at a time where record low interest rates are set to rise. On top of this Build to Rent investors can take a long term view and residents will be offered long term tenancies since the homes will not be sold off. Also, landlords will encourage tenants to stay by offering onsite amenities and good customer service. In America, this is the way companies seek to beat their competition. Build to Rent has emerged as a separate new asset class, distinct from… Continue reading
Development land prices in England and Wales down 0.9% in second quarter of 2015
The average price of greenfield land in England and Wales fell by just under 1% between April and June, according to the latest sector index. The 0.9% fall was a more moderate decline than the 1.8% fall recorded in the first quarter and it takes the annual fall in prices to 2.4%, the residential development land index from Knight Frank shows. However, the market remains localised. Development land prices in prime central London, for example, are up by 0.9% in the second quarter of the year and up 12.1% on an annual basis. Prices have returned to levels last seen in Autumn 2013. The firm’s index report says that prices reflect the fact that house builders have had access to relatively higher levels of consented land in the last few years because of the National Planning Policy Framework which has allowed them to top up their supply of land. As a result, house builders and developers are more selective about the sites they are now choosing to buy. There is a shortage of supply of consented greenfield land in some areas of the Home Counties due to the planning system for example, and a resulting premium for the sites that do come on the market. The report says that in central London there is still good demand for development land, although buyers are applying more detailed criteria before making offers, with a bigger consideration being paid to build cost inflation. ‘The sales market has returned to more normal conditions, along with absorption rates, and this is being reflected in a slowing in the growth of development land prices,’ said Gráinne Gilmore head of UK residential research at Knight Frank. ‘While there are also signs that build cost inflation, which has risen sharply over the last 18 months, is now levelling off, developers are still having to factor these higher costs into their offers. In addition, house builders are generally maintaining their margins, and this is weighing on land prices,’ she explained. ‘However there is still strong competition in areas which are considered to have real opportunity for growth, these include areas in outer London, and particularly for sites where completed units can be delivered for less than £1,000 per square foot,’ she added. Continue reading
