Tag Archives: housing
Generation of UK home owners stuck due to lack of downsize properties
A lack of suitable homes for downsizing is preventing a large number of home owners in the UK from moving to a smaller property, it is claimed. Some 33% of home owners aged 55 and over are considering or expect to consider downsizing, but a lack of suitable options is preventing them from moving, a new report says. A new YouGov survey for the report found 29% who have already downsized or are considering or expecting to consider downsizing did or expect to release in excess of £100,000 in equity, with the most prevalent way of using the money being to put it in a savings account. The report, Generation Stuck: Exploring the Reality of Downsizing in Later Life, has been written by the International Longevity Centre UK and commissioned by retirement house builder McCarthy & Stone. The report suggests that a 'Generation Stuck' dilemma is being created by a substantial number of older people who want to move and downsize, but can't due to a lack of choice in the market place. A chronic under supply of suitable properties for later life, including purpose built retirement housing, means the UK is running out of homes for its ageing population, leaving them stuck in under occupied properties unsuited to their needs. According to previous research findings some 52% of all people who classify as under occupiers in the UK are aged 55 and over and at current market trends, it would take 20 years for housing supply, at its current rate, to meet the demand of just half of people aged 60 and over interested in downsizing. As part of the report, a new YouGov survey found 48% of the 1,252 home owners surveyed would consider downsizing or have already moved to a more suitable property, making this an area worthy of much greater policy consideration by Government. Of those who have already downsized or are at least considering downsizing some 56% wanted to do so to spend less on property maintenance, 43% wanted to reduce their bills and 43% wanted to move as their children had left home. The finding that almost three in 10 home owners aged 55 or over expect to release more than £100,000 in equity from downsizing is reinforced by McCarthy & Stone's figures which show its home owners released an average of almost £60,000 in equity when downsizing to a retirement apartment, with 19% releasing more than £100,000. The report also details how these home owners used, or plan to use, such equity. Some 35% wanted to put it into a savings account, 30% to enhance their day to day life, and 19% to give it to family members. Of those aged 55 to 59 34% wanted to put it towards a pension. ‘Housing and planning policy should not just be about starter homes. Millions of older people want to downsize to more suitable housing but there is currently little incentive or choice for them to move…. Continue reading
Property tax having a detrimental effect in Australia, says analysis report
Few things have as detrimental an impact as property stamp duty on household finances in Australia, according to the Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australia’s residential building industry. The HIA’s Summer 2015 Stamp Duty Watch report shows that during November 2015, the typical stamp duty bill nationally rose to $19,045 from $17,653 in June, an increase of 7.9%. The cost of stamp duty is equivalent to almost four months’ worth of earnings, with stamp duty causing mortgage repayments to increase by $1,165 per year, or $34,955 over a 30year loan term. ‘The cost of stamp duty has a significant negative multiplier effect causing a downward financial spiral for households. Apart from the immediate effect of being over $19,000 worse off, stamp duty results in mortgage interest payments increasing by about $15,900,’ said HIA senior economist, Shane Garrett. ‘Damage from the tide of stamp duty doesn’t stop there. Home buyers have smaller deposits after stamp duty is paid and must bear larger mortgage debt. As a result, significantly higher LMI charges must then be paid,’ he explained. Garrett pointed out that on a standard home purchase of $527,000, stamp duty can push the LMI premium up by another $7,855. If that’s not bad enough, a further layer of mortgage interest is added on top of the LMI premium if it is capitalised. ‘The end result is that the typical stamp duty bill of $19,045 can snowball up to about $50,000 once LMI and mortgage interest are factored in. This is an unacceptable burden to place on ordinary home buyers,’ he added. Garrett also pointed out that as state governments rely more and more on revenue from stamp duty, they have been blinded to the obvious consequences of these costs have on prospective first home buyers. Indeed, the most recent Productivity Commission report also noted the huge disincentive that stamp duty places on older households wishing to downsize. A breakdown of the figures show that in November 2015, Northern Territory home buyers continued to suffer the highest stamp duty bills at $25,600, followed by Victoria at $24,700 and New South Wales at $23,600. Queensland continued to offer the lowest stamp duty bills by a comfortable margin at $6,300 followed by Tasmania at $9,300. Stamp duty bills are the fourth highest in the ACT at $18,400, with Western Australia in fifth place at $16,300 and South Australia in sixth at $15,400. Continue reading
Builders welcome UK govt plan to commission new homes
The UK Government, which has announced that it will directly commission the building of thousands of new homes, is being urged to offer small sites for the plan. According to the Federation of Master Builders the availability of small sites is the greatest barrier currently faced by SME house builders when it comes to delivering new homes and it hopes the building of 13,000 new homes on public land will alleviate the problem. ‘The Government clearly recognises that we need to bring more small house builders back into the market if we have any hope of addressing the housing shortfall. Directly funding developments on publicly owned land, with planning permission already granted, should encourage growth of smaller builders and new entrants into the market,’ said Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB. ‘The public land that is being made available through direct commissioning must be broken down into small and micro plots wherever possible. As the Housing Minister himself has recognised, the smaller the site, the quicker it will get built out,’ he explained. ‘If the Government wants to truly tap into the potential of SME house builders, it should bring forward a wide range of packages of land, including those attractive to the smallest of developers, thereby improving both capacity and speed of delivery,’ he pointed out. ‘As positive as this development is however, it remains only one piece of the jigsaw. The on-going skills shortage is as pertinent for local firms as it is for larger contractors. We desperately need more skilled tradespeople in the industry, otherwise even supportive plans such as those announced today will be challenging for builders to deliver. Boosting apprenticeship training among construction SMEs will be crucial to this,’ he added. The move has been welcomed by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) but it added that allowing smaller builders to access publicly owned sites must be part of wider set of measures to assist SME builders and get more 'players on the pitch'. ‘Increasing the amount of developable land with planning permission is essential if we are to increase output further. Bringing forward public land more quickly has long been a priority for successive Governments, so concrete measures to achieve this are welcome,’ said executive chairman Stewart Baseley. ‘Direct commissioning will only be successful if it speeds up the release of public sector land and results in more house building than would have happened using the more traditional methods of public sector land disposal,’ he added. He also pointed out that a lower risk model could allow larger builders to increase their output still further, while also enabling smaller house builders to increase output and both have an essential role to play. It is not a question of either/or. ‘We desperately need to increase supply even further and faster than the current rate of increase, and speeding up delivery of public sector sites can play an important role in achieving this. In addition, if Starter Homes… Continue reading
