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Private rental prices in Britain up by 1% year on year, latest index shows
Private rental prices paid by tenants in Great Britain rose by 1% in the 12 months to September 2014, the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show. A regional breakdown of the figures show that rental prices grew by 1% in England, by 1.4% in Scotland and by 0.2% in Wales. Since January 2014, the annual rate of change in Wales has fallen below that of England and the Great Britain average. The annual growth rate in Scotland continues to be higher than both England and Wales. Rental prices increased in all the English regions over the year to September 2014, with rental prices increasing the most in London with growth of 1.5%. Private rental prices in England show three distinct periods: rental price increases from January 2006 until November 2009, rental price decreases from December 2009 to November 2010, and increasing rental prices from December 2010 onwards. Of these three periods, 2008 showed the largest rental price increases. When London is excluded, England shows a similar pattern but with slower rental price increases from around January 2011. Rental prices excluding London grew by 0.8% in the same period. The ONS said that the difference is due to the higher inflation in rental prices experienced in London when compared to the rest of the country and its large weight in the Great Britain index. The large weight that London has in the overall index reflects its high average rental prices and its large volume of private rented property. The Index of Private Housing Rental Prices (IPHRP) measures the change in price of renting residential property from private landlords and is currently an experimental index. The index is published as a series of price indices covering Great Britain, its constituent countries and the English regions. IPHRP measures the change in price tenants face when renting residential property from private landlords, thereby allowing a comparison between the prices tenants are charged in the current month as opposed to the same month in the previous year. The index does not measure the change in newly advertised rental prices only, but reflects price changes for all private rental properties. Continue reading
UK home owners set to spend £6 billion on property upgrades in next three years
Nearly a third of UK home owners are looking to carry out work on their home in the next three years, with up to £6 billion in projected works planned annually over the next three years. According to a new study from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) over a million home owners (1,050,000) are looking to build extra space to accommodate grown up children who can’t afford to leave home. Families up and down the country are seeking to be more creative with the space in their property with 22% of home owners investing because of a property plateau which sees them unable to afford to move in to a bigger property despite having a growing family. Almost 40% of home improvements are set to be major refurbishments, including new kitchens, new bathrooms and home extensions, while smaller works such as loft conversions and conservatories account for 38%. Home owners are putting families first, as wider motivations to invest in their property include planning for having a family and parents wishing to boost their children’s’ future inheritance. ‘We have seen a rising trend of multi-generational households with grown up children opting to stay with their parents while they save money for their own homes,’ said Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB. The study also revealed that half of home owners feel their properties are in urgent need of modernisation to increase its value and a quarter of home owners in London wish to upgrade in order to let out their spare bedrooms or whole properties. Home owners in London, followed by Wales and Yorkshire are most likely to upgrade for stay at home kids who haven’t been able to move out and almost half of home owners in Northern Ireland feel compelled to upgrade their current homes as they cannot afford to move. The study also shows that when it comes to choosing a builder, one in four home owners feel out of their depth. Word of mouth remains essential, with 82% relying on personal recommendations to choose a builder, followed by 36% consulting trade association websites. When prioritising how to choose a builder, 63% say reliable references are the most important followed by 61% citing the cost of the quote, and 59% the professional manner when quoting and estimating. Some 55% said the most important thing was whether the firm is a member of a professional trade association and 54% rated knowledgeability as a top priority when discussing the project. Fear of being ripped off was the top worry, cited by 55%, while 29% were worried that a workman would make a major mistake and the same percentage cited anxiety that builders would disappear before finishing the work. Berry pointed out that the FMB has a Find a Builder matching service that is a simple, easy to use online tool to ensure home owners have absolute confidence when choosing a builder. ‘Our members have a minimum of 12 months’ trading history and have passed credit checks, public… Continue reading
Australia’s office market recovers with strong growth in 3,000 square meter sector
Strong demand for 3,000 square meter plus office space is driving healthy activity and growth across Australia’s office sector as the market looks towards 2015, according to new figures. The Colliers International Office Demand Index quarter three report has recorded a 51% increase in enquiry for office space nationally at 626,237square meters, compared to the September 2013 quarter figure of 413,538 square meters. According to Simon Hunt, Colliers International managing director of Office Leasing, the growth in office demand, a barometer for the state of the market, was being driven by enquiries within the 3,000 square meter plus market, which increased 126% from only 147,301 square meters in the September 2013 quarter to 332,500 square meters this year. Some 47% of all enquiries recorded for September year to date was for 3,000 square meters or more. Breaking the figures down further shows the greatest spike in demand for office was in Sydney where space enquired for more than doubled from 102,486 square meters in the third quarter of 2013 to 235,660 square meters in the third quarter of 2014, an increase of 130%. ‘These Sydney numbers have been driven by a significant rise in demand for office space in the above 3,000 square meter market where only 29,601 square meter was enquired for in the third quarter of 2013 compared to 114,800 square meters in the third quarter of this year,’ said Hunt. Demand for office space also doubled in Canberra, with 112,600 square meters in the third quarter of 2014 compared to 58,090 square meters in the third quarter of 2013, again driven by enquiry in the 3,000 square meter plus market. The Office Demand Index also recorded positive signs of increases in demand in Adelaide, up from 29,251 square meters in the third quarter of 2013 to 49,920 in the third meter of 2014 and Brisbane, which rose, quarter on quarter, from 47,095 square meters to 53,687square meters. Enquiry in Melbourne was down from 166,785 square meters in the third quarter of 2013 to 150,851 square meters in the third quarter of 2014, primarily driven by increased activity at the smaller end of the market, where 65,063 square meters was recorded in the under 1,000 square meter market in the third quarter of 2013 compared to only 51,001 square meters In the third quarter of 2014. The over 3,000 square meter market, however, saw an increase from 53,500 square meters in the third quarter of 2013 to 61,700 square meters in the third quarter of 2014. Hunt said the growing enquiry levels nationally for space over 3,000 square meters pointed to a strong period of business expansion driven by white collar employment growth in the corporate sector. White collar employment growth was set to be strongest in the Financial Services, IT, Communications and Healthcare sectors, with national forecasts indicating that over 10,000 new jobs would be created in these sectors in 2015. It was anticipated that the mining, government and manufacturing sectors would have slightly weaker… Continue reading
