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New accreditation standard for London lettings hailed a success
More than 115,000 rented homes across London are now badged under the Mayor's Rental Standard accreditation system launched last year to improve the experience of landlords and tenants. Less than a year since its launch in May 2014, the London Rental Standard is going from strength to strength with 307 letting agent firms signed up and eight accrediting bodies licensed under the scheme. It has been adopted by 10 of the biggest names in the lettings industry, including Spicerhaart, Andrews, CBRE, Chestertons, Douglas and Gordon, Savills, Knight Frank, Leaders, Foxtons and Stirling Ackroyd. Londoners either letting or renting through every London branch of these firms are assured that they, and every landlord or agent displaying the London Rental Standard badge, have met the Mayor's set of core commitments and training levels to offer tenants a better, more professional service. These include transparent fees, better property conditions, better communications between landlords and tenants, improved response times and repairs, and protected deposits. Some 30% of London's households now live in rented homes, and by the middle of the 2020s the number of renters is predicted to overtake the number of home owners in the capital. In the last 10 years the number of families with children renting in London has risen 10% to almost a third yet 85% of landlords are not aware of core legislation that protects renters and 61% have no professional management training. The London Rental Standard is fast becoming an important feature of London's lettings industry, helping Londoners to pick between the huge array of landlords and agents on offer in the capital. It helps landlords and agents to understand their responsibilities to their tenants and to equip them with the knowledge they need to protect themselves from mistakes which can incur hefty costs and leave tenants disgruntled. The standard is one of a raft of measures the Mayor Boris Johnson has supported to improve the experience of London's two million private rented sector tenants. This includes successfully lobbying for legal changes to make it compulsory for letting agents to join an independent consumer complaints scheme to help protect tenants and landlords, and banning retaliatory evictions. He has also created a search engine where Londoners can compare average market rents, secured significant sums from the Government to help provide greater enforcement against criminal landlords including those who rent out beds in sheds, and pioneering thousands of new high quality, purpose built homes to rent with large scale schemes on public land in Elephant and Castle and the Stratford, supported by long term institutional investment. The Mayor is also helping renters who want to buy through his First Steps scheme, with more than 46,000 Londoners already supported to buy their home through shared ownership and other products. The Mayor is now calling on all remaining letting agents and landlords to sign up to the London Rental Standard, and help to stamp out rogue agents or landlords in every corner of… Continue reading
UK house price optimism rebounds, latest index suggests
House price optimism in the UK rebounded in February as inflation continued to fall and the expectation of an interest rate rise receded further. According to the Halifax Housing Market Confidence Tracker report last month saw a rallying of house price optimism among consumers, from an 18 month low of +52 at the start of the year to +60 in February. It was +62 December 2014. This optimism is reflected in the outlook for both buyers and sellers, with buying sentiment up to its highest level since the Confidence Tracker launched in 2011 at net +35. At the same time selling sentiment has reached an all-time high and now stands at +27. However, this still this doesn’t tell the whole story as the underlying picture is a cautious one, with 57% predicting flat or modest house price increases of less than 5% at best over the next 12 months. And despite inflation falling to 0% in February and various MPC members saying the next interest rate move is as likely to be down as it is up, 43% of consumers believe mortgage interest rates will be higher than they are now in a year’s time. ‘With inflation now at its lowest level since records began and the chances of the next interest rates change reportedly just as likely to be down as up, consumers are feeling more optimistic about the housing market again,’ said Craig McKinlay, mortgages director at the Halifax. ‘The traditional slow start to the year for the housing market has already begun to give way to increased activity, but consumers remain relatively cautious. For sustainable long term growth we need a period of stable growth and a more comprehensive house building programme,’ he added. Continue reading
Irish property prices fall for second month in a row
Residential property prices in Ireland fell by 0.4% in February, the second monthly decline in a row, the latest index data shows. The fall last month comes on the back of a 1.4% decline in January amid concerns that the country’s real estate recovery could be stalling. In Dublin, the decline was more pronounced, with average prices falling by 0.7%, according to the data from the Central Statistics Office. However, despite this fall, residential property prices remained up 14.9% on an annual basis. In Dublin property prices were still 21.4% higher than in February 2014. A breakdown of the figures shows that Dublin house prices fell by 1% in February whilst Dublin apartment prices increased by 2%. However, a spokesman said that it should be noted that the sub-indices for apartments are based on low volumes of observed transactions and consequently suffer from greater volatility than other series. In the rest of Ireland residential property prices were unchanged in February. However, prices were still up 8.2% compared with February 2014. At national level residential property prices were 38.7% lower than their peak level in 2007. Dublin house prices were 37.6% lower than their peak, Dublin apartment prices were 43.3% lower than their peak and Dublin residential property prices overall were 39.3% lower than their highest level. Outside of Dublin residential property prices were 41.9% lower than their highest level in 2007. ‘With prices continuing to rise more quickly than earnings affordability constraints are beginning to have an impact. This has removed some of the heat that was evident in the market in the middle of last year,’ said John McCartney of Savills. ‘Agents are now reporting that buyers are no longer in a frenzy to buy for fear that prices will run beyond their means. This is a very positive development as expectations of rapid price growth can become self-fulfilling and can quickly lead to overheating,’ he added. It is a welcome slowdown in Irish house price inflation rather than a collapse in prices, according to Conall MacCoille, chief economist at Davy Stockbrokers, who said at over five times average incomes, house prices no longer look cheap. ‘This slowdown is not surprising or undesirable. Ideally, Irish house prices will now rise in line with nominal wages so affordability is not stretched further,’ he explained, adding that it was too early to say what kind of dampening effect new central bank restrictions on mortgage lending will have. The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), an independent think-tank partly funded by the Irish government, said that while the measures may slow down house price growth, this could come at the expense of rising rents and fewer houses being supplied amid major shortages of supply in Dublin. Continue reading
