Tag Archives: housing
New home building in UK needs to address the needs of older people too, says report
New home building in the UK to cope with the country’s chronic shortage of housing should not concentrate just on the needs of first time buyers and younger people, according to a new report A new report from the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC-UK) whilst the Government’s focus on first time buyers is understandable faster progress in helping these younger generations get on the housing ladder would be made if more energy was put into meeting the housing needs and aspirations of their parents and grandparents. The report calls for more housing to be built by local authorities, a wider range of commissioners of new house building, better rental offers for older people with secure tenancies, more shared ownership options for older people and overall greater choice for older people in general needs housing. The authors argue that the lack of new housing supply has contributed to the rampant increase in house prices in recent decades and this in turn has resulted in housing wealth becoming the principal driver of inequality in the UK. It suggests that providing a better choice of options for older people looking to downsize would unlock substantial equity that could be made available to invest in new homes whilst releasing existing family homes into the market. ‘Finding ways in which local authorities can promote, support, finance and commission new homes will be critical to achieve the Government’s house building targets and in ensuring greater commissioning of homes suitable for older people,’ said Sir Michael Lyons, co-author of the report. ‘We need a better rental offer with secure tenancies and confidence of rent stability to encourage older home owners looking to release capital to provide an income in later years and to help fund housing for their children and grandchildren,’ he explained. ‘The increased opportunities for self-build, of self commissioning that government is promoting could be an attractive option for those who have equity but feel there is a lack of choice to meet their aspirations or those for whom retirement settings do not appeal,’ he added. According to Ben Franklin, head of economics of ageing at ILC-UK, supporting the country’s current and future housing needs must be a key pillar of a new social contract between the state and the individual. ‘For more than a decade we have simply not been building sufficient homes to meet demand. This is having a detrimental impact on the livelihoods and wellbeing of people across all ages,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately this is not going to change any time soon unless we make some radical changes to the system. The UK’s population is growing and is ageing which will only exacerbate the current crisis. In this context, supporting the housing needs of older people can be one important component of a strategy to revitalise the nation’s housing,’ he added. Continue reading
More first time buyers boost existing home sales in the US
Boosted by a greater share of sales to first time buyers not seen in nearly four years, existing home sales in the United States maintained their upward trend in June and increased for the fourth month in a row. Only the Northeast of the nation saw a decline in sales in June and sales to investors fell to their lowest overall share since July 2009, according to the latest monthly index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Existing home sales were up 1.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million in June from a downwardly revised 5.51 million in May. After last month's gain, sales are now up 3% from June 2015 and remain at their highest annual pace since February 2007. According to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, the four month streak of sales gains through June caps off a solid first half of 2016 for the housing market. ‘Existing sales rose again last month as more traditional buyers and fewer investors were able to close on a home despite many competitive areas with unrelenting supply and demand imbalances,’ he said. ‘Sustained job growth as well as this year's descent in mortgage rates is undoubtedly driving the appetite for home purchases but looking ahead, it's unclear if this current sales pace can further accelerate as record high stock prices, near record low mortgage rates and solid job gains face off against a dearth of homes available for sale and lofty home prices that keep advancing,’ he pointed out. The index data also shows that median existing home prices for all housing types in June was $247,700, up 4.8% year on year and it means that prices have now increased for 52 months in a row and surpass May's peak median sales price of $238,900. Total housing inventory at the end of June dipped 0.9% to 2.12 million existing homes available for sale and is now 5.8% lower than a year ago while unsold inventory is at a 4.6 month supply at the current sales pace, which is down from 4.7 months in May. The share of first time buyers was 33% in June, up from 30% in May and a year ago and is the highest since July 2012 when it was 34%. Through the first six months of the year, first time buyers have represented an average of 31% of buyers compared to 30% in all of 2015. ‘The modest bump in June sales to first time buyers can be attributed to mortgage rates near all-time lows and perhaps a hopeful indication that more affordable, lower priced homes are beginning to make their way onto the market,’ said Yun. ‘The odds of closing on a home are definitely higher right now for first time buyers living in metro areas with tamer price growth and greater entry level supply, particularly areas in the Midwest and parts of the South,’ he added. The data also shows that all cash sales… Continue reading
Call for funding changes for more homes to rent in UK
New UK housing minister Gavin Barwell is being urged by property industry commentators to support the building of more new homes to rent by relaxing the rules around public funding in the sector. The appeal has been launched in response to an independent report published this week by the Centre for Economic and Business Research and commissioned by the National Housing Federation which predicts that the UK economy could contract by £145 million in the next 10 years if the rate of growth in new housing completions falls at the same rate as it did in 2008. Spokesmen for the National Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute of Housing argue that building more homes for rent or shared purchase would help keep housebuilding and the economy going in a time of economic austerity. Up to 300,000 units could be built by housing associations by 2020, according to the NHF, if funding is made available even in the face of economic uncertainty. CIH statistics show that during the last recession the number of homes built by non-profit housing associations increased by 22% between 2007 and 2009, while private development dropped by 37%. The call from the sector bodies for the government to redirect some of the current funding to allow construction of new housing association homes for rent is likely to be welcomed by would-be occupants, demand from whom currently outstrips supply. Reallocation of the central budget to allow housing associations to build more rental homes would also mitigate the negative effects of a general slowdown in the housebuilding sector, widely anticipated as a result of Brexit, according to James Howard, partner in Clarke Willmott LLP’s social housing development team. ‘A change in funding strategy to switch the balance to building more for rent than for sale should allow for a supply of new homes to continue despite the gap private sector housebuilders might leave behind,’ he said. According to Jonathan Hulley, Clarke Willmott’s head of housing and asset management, the Government’s flagship Starter Homes scheme would lead to the undermining of sales of more affordable shared ownership properties and fails to address the urgent need for more affordable homes to rent. ‘The social housing sector argues that housebuilding is needed now more than ever. People are in need, waiting lists are still growing, so the policy of building more homes for sale only needs to be revised and adapted to allow for the building of more homes for rent,’ he said. ‘There is also a worrying lack of capacity on the ground to deliver which needs to be addressed, and a question mark over what appetite there is for outright purchase of houses on large scale,’ he pointed out. ‘On the other hand the kind of shared ownership offered by housing associations puts… Continue reading
