Tag Archives: investment
UK tenants can now request energy improvements to their rented property
Tenants in the UK now have the right to request energy improvements to the homes that they rents and landlords need a good reason to refuse. From the beginning of April they can request consent from their landlords to make energy saving improvements for the properties they rent and landlords will not be able to refuse their consent without good reason. But tenants will need to ensure that they have a way of funding improvements at no cost to the landlord, unless otherwise agreed. This may prove difficult, as it was originally expected that the Green Deal, which was closed down in July last year, would provide much of the funding for this initiative. Making these improvements can be beneficial to both tenants and landlords, saving on costs and having a positive impact on the environment, according to the National Association of Landlords (NLA). It pointed out that a property that is energy efficient can also be an attractive prospect for potential tenants. Indeed, according to a recent NLA survey some 35% of tenants said they considered the energy efficiency of a property to be an important factor when choosing a place to live. ‘We encourage all landlords to think about how they may benefit from making energy efficiency improvements, as many can be made with little or no upfront cost, and can have a positive impact on the lives of tenants, their lettings businesses, and the environment in general,’ said Richard Lambert, NLA chief executive officer. ‘Lower fuel bills and more comfort mean that tenants may be inclined to stay for longer, thus reducing void periods,’ he added. He also pointed out that the NLA offers various ways for landlords to improve their property and has access to different Government funding incentives to provide financial support. Continue reading
House price gap between north and south widens in UK
UK annual house price growth increased to 5.7% in March, taking the average price to £200,251 but the latest index also shows that the gap between north and south continues to widen. Annual house price growth recorded its strongest pace since February 2015 up from 4.8% the previous month while month on month home prices increased by 0.8%, according to the data from leading UK lender the Nationwide. Average house prices in England increased by 1.8% in the first quarter of 2016, and were up 7.7% year on year. This means that in cash terms, the gap in average prices between the South and the North of England now stands at nearly £163,000. Prices in the North are now less than half those in the South, a record low. ‘There has been a pickup in housing market activity in recent months, with the number of housing transactions and mortgage approvals rising strongly. This is likely to have been driven, at least in part, by upcoming changes to stamp duty on second homes, where buyers have brought forward purchases in order to avoid the additional tax liabilities,’ said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist. ‘This temporary boost to demand against a backdrop of continued constrained supply is likely to have exerted upward pressure on prices and helped to lift the pace of annual price growth out of the fairly narrow range of 3% to 5% that has been prevailing since the summer,’ he explained. He pointed out that the pace of house price growth may moderate again once the stamp duty changes take effect in April. ‘However, it is possible that the recent pattern of strong employment growth, rising real earnings, low borrowing costs and constrained supply will keep the demand/supply balance tilted in favour of sellers and maintain pressure on price growth in the quarters ahead,’ he said. Gardner also pointed out that according to Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the stock of houses on estate agents’ books remains close to all-time lows on data extending back 30 years. The quarterly index, published at the same time, shows that regional house prices maintained the same broad trends prevailing in recent years with southern regions continuing to record significantly stronger rates of annual price growth, further widening regional disparities. The Outer Metropolitan was the strongest performing region in the first quarter of 2016, with average prices up 12.2% year on year. London was close behind, though it did record a slight moderation in its annual rate of growth to 11.5% from 12.2% the previous quarter. The North was the weakest performing region in England and the UK overall, with prices down 1.1% year on year. House price growth slowed sharply in Northern Ireland, with annual growth moderating to 1.8%, even though the price of a typical property is still 45% below the pre-crisis peak. Wales saw a lacklustre 1.7% year on year increase in prices, a slight pick-up compared with the previous quarter while Scotland recorded… Continue reading
UK first time buyer home market resilient in first months of 2016
First time buyers in the UK are resilient despite a month on month dip in property sales to this group, according to the latest first time buyer tracker index. It shows that people buying their first home increased by 6.6% year on year but month on month fell by 1.4% between January and February 2016. The data from Your Move and Reeds Rains also shows that total monthly volume of first time buyer transactions was 21,100 in February but on a seasonally adjusted basis it is considerably higher at 25,900. According to Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Your Move and Reeds Rains, February is a traditionally quiet period for the first time buyer market but the figures demonstrate the strong, steady underlying growth that comes with growing first time buyer confidence. ‘This optimism may begin to reveal itself more clearly in March, when an Easter uplift may sweep away any residual doubts among some first timers. While the more general mismatch between buyers and sellers will continue to exert upwards pressure on prices, a combination of pluck and poise from first time buyers will ensure that this does little to impact the overall trend of growing demand at this end of the market,’ he explained. The figures also show that the costs of buying and owning a first home have remained broadly stable in February, with lower borrowing costs balancing larger prices and deposits. Average mortgage rates for first time buyers have improved, down 0.56% on a 12 month basis and by a much slighter 0.03% between January and February 2016. February’s average mortgage rate also represents the lowest mortgage rate for first time buyers in over five years. Similarly, the average LTV ratio remains high, meaning first time buyers have been able to borrow more against the value of the home they wish to purchase. February’s average loan to LTVs recorded in 2014/2015 and represents only a 0.1% fall on February 2015. While first time buyer property prices have risen significantly on an annual basis, mortgage lending levels have kept pace. In February, the average purchase price for a first time buyer home stood at £168,539, an increase of £21,320 or 14.5%, on February 2015’s average of £147,219. However, over the same 12 month period, the average size of a first time mortgage grew from £121,534 to £139,088, an increase of 14.4%. Larger deposit costs represent the other side to this balance of affordability, the report points out. In February the average deposit put down by a first time buyer stood at £29,451, an increase of 14.7% or £3,766, on an annual basis. The report suggests that this uptick has been a factor in the growing proportion of first time buyer income which is consumed by deposit costs. In November 2015, a deposit ate up 67.4% of an average first time buyer’s annual income, whereas in February of this year the average deposit consumed, on average 74.9% of their income. However,… Continue reading
