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UK affordable housing target exceeded as next five year target is announced
More than 260,000 affordable homes have been delivered in the UK since April 2010 and a further 275,000 will be built in the next five years, it has been confirmed. In the last 12 months some 60,000 affordable homes were delivered, a rise of 63% on the previous 12 months, according to UK Housing Minister Brandon Lewis. He said that there will be £38 billion public and private investment for the Affordable Homes Programme between now and 2020 and he added that the 2011 to 2015 programme has exceeded expectation with 186,000 affordable homes since it started, some 16,000 more than originally planned. ‘This government is determined to ensure anyone who works hard and aspires to own their own home should have the opportunity to turn their dream into a reality. Our affordable housebuilding efforts are exceeding our ambitions and delivering more than 260,000 affordable homes,’ said Lewis. ‘It’s a boost to families across the country, providing them with new quality homes that are available at an affordable rent or to buy through our shared ownership scheme. This is real progress but we know there is more to do. That’s why £38 billion of public and private investment will be made available over the next five years to deliver 275,000 extra affordable homes, the fastest rate of delivery for 20 years,’ he explained. The Affordable Homes Programme includes social rented homes, affordable rented homes and affordable home ownership schemes, and is a key part of the government’s long term economic plan. The data shows that nearly a third of affordable homes delivered last year were in London. Council areas that have seen some of the biggest numbers of affordable homes delivered since 2010, include Cornwall with 3,750, Birmingham with 3,460, Wiltshire with 3,420, Leeds with 2,360, Liverpool with 2,270 and Manchester with 2,160. Continue reading
New report reveals housing issues in parts of the UK
Parts of the UK are facing major housing challenges that include not enough smaller homes for young people or those wishing to downsize, according to a new national report. Among the other issues identified are mortgage debt, the cost of looking after a property, rising rents, being unable to sell in the current market and a higher cost of living in rural areas. The report from national charity Citizens Advice says there needs to be a wider debate about the housing challenges in England and Wales and it is calling for a debate beyond getting people onto the property ladder. Particular problems mentioned include the fact that 1950s and 1960s new town planning decisions in places like Crawley has resulted in not enough small homes for young people or those wanting to downsize and home owners in County Durham struggling to keep up mortgage payments and meet the costs of looking after their home. Young seasonal workers in Blackpool are trapped renting in crumbling bed and breakfasts, whilst owners are unable to sell and people in Conwy, Enfield and Dorchester face spiralling private rents, up-front costs of moving and sub-standard homes rented out by private landlords. Also the growing student population in Exeter has had a major impact on the local infrastructure and people are being driven out of towns in Pembrokeshire by poor housing standards and antisocial behaviour, but struggling with the higher costs of rural living. ‘People's housing challenges vary by where they live. Across the country too many people are living in homes that don't meet their needs from private renters in a damp property or home owners who can't afford to move. Housing is one of the top issues people turn to us for help with, but within this we see a huge range of different problems,’ said Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice. ‘We need a broad-ranging debate about the different housing challenges facing the nation, one that moves beyond just trying to get people onto the property ladder. The new Government has the opportunity now to look at housing problems in the round and consider how best address the range of challenges faced by renters and home owners alike,’ she added. Continue reading
House prices drop in Scotland due to new property tax bands
House prices in Scotland fell 1.6% in April, the largest monthly fall since 2009, but sales were up 18% month on month and are 4% higher than a year ago. It means that prices fell £3,000 in April taking the average house price to £184,970 but prices are still 14.6% higher than in the same month in 2014, according to the latest Your Move/Acadata monthly index. The index report points out that much of the change could be due to the introduction of the new Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) in April which saw a lot of sales in the higher price brackets pushed through to avoid paying a higher level of property tax. Indeed, buyers rushed through 83 sales in the £1 million plus sector in March, compared to an average of 12 in a typical month, to beat higher tax. Some 46 were sold in just three days, but no million pound homes were sold in April. The most significant monthly downturn was found in East Lothian, where values dropped 7.2%. The islands of Orkney, Eilean Siar and the Shetlands saw the highest price increases during the month, of 9.1%, 4.8% and 4.4% respectively. Property values also reached a new peak in the Scottish Borders, Highland, and West Dunbartonshire in April. While year on year the biggest increase in prices has been in Edinburgh with growth of 25.5%. ‘Reforming Scottish stamp duty was always going to ruffle a few feathers in the market. After a spectacular 9.4% leap during March ahead of the LBTT, average Scottish house prices subsequently fell by the sharpest fall we’ve seen since March 2009, when the housing market was at the lowest ebb of the housing crisis,’ said Christine Campbell, Your Move managing director in Scotland. ‘The Scottish housing market put on a high-octane performance in March, as high end buyers raced against the clock to snap up million-pound property before the higher rates of stamp duty came into play. This magnified the average price paid in March, but now the market is re-focusing,’ she explained. She pointed out that the drop in prices has cooled annual growth, which slipped from 16.3% in March to 14.6% in April. ‘However, with double digit growth still pervading, the housing recovery doesn’t appear too shaken, and this short-term hiccup has been concentrated in higher priced areas,’ added Campbell. The data shows that there were 8,203 home sales during April, and overall, Scottish sales in both March and April have grown on 2014 levels, bucking the trend across England and Wales, where sales have been consistently falling behind on a yearly basis over the past six months. The figures also show how the change in stamp duty in Scotland has clearly accelerated purchasing decisions to the beginning of the year. For instance, there were 237 more homes sold in Edinburgh during the first quarter of 2015 than the first quarter of last year, of which 130 were larger, detached properties…. Continue reading
