Tag Archives: investment
Residential rental prices up 2.5% in UK in 2015
Private rental prices paid by tenants in Great Britain rose by 2.5% in the 12 months to December 2015, according to the latest index from the Office of National Statistics. Private rental prices grew by 2.7% in England, 0.7% in Wales and 0.9% in Scotland with rental prices increasing the most in London at 3.9%. When London is excluded the national year on year growth is 1.8%. Some of the more detailed ONS figures show that since January 2011 England rental prices have increased more than those of Wales and Scotland. The annual rate of change for Wales continues to be below that of England and the Great Britain average. Rental growth in Scotland has slowed to 0.9% in the year to December 2015, from 2.1% in the year for the months of January through to June 2015. The index series for England starts in 2005. Private rental prices in England show three distinct periods: rental price increases from January 2006 until October 2009, rental price decreases from December 2009 to October 2010, and increasing rental prices from November 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. Since the beginning of 2012, English rental prices have shown annual increases ranging between 1.4% and 3% year on year, with December 2015 rental prices being 2.7% higher than December 2014 rental prices. Excluding London, England showed an increase of 1.9% for the same period. In the 12 months to December 2015, private rental prices increased in each of the nine English regions with the largest in London at 3.9% followed by the East at 2.8% and the South East also at 2.8%. Rental price increases have been stronger in London than the rest of England since November 2010. The rental market continued to show signs of strength overall in the fourth quarter of 2015 as prices increased by 2.5% in the year to December 2015 but this was a slowdown of 0.2% in the annual growth rate compared with September 2015. The ONS report says that this slowdown is partly driven by Scotland, where prices increased 0.9% in the year to December 2015, a fall of 0.7% compared with the annual growth rate in September 2015. It also points out that conditions in the housing market as a whole may have been supporting rental price growth. Data from the ONS house price index for November 2015 shows that house price growth has typically been stronger than rent price growth for a number of years. The Bank of England’s Agents’ Summary of Business Conditions for the fourth quarter of 2015 reported that private rental demand continued to grow steadily in the three months to December. Data from RICS’ Residential Market Survey for November 2015 confirmed this growth, noting that national tenant demand continued to grow in the three months to November 2015. The strength… Continue reading
Average prices in England and Wales up over 6% year on year
Average property prices in England and Wales increased year on year by 6.4% in December, taking the average property value to £188,270, the latest index shows. Month on month house prices rose by 1.2% since November 2015, according to the monthly index report from the Land Registry. London recorded the greatest increase in its average property values with annual growth of 12.4% and the biggest month on month rise at 2.1%, taking the average price to £514,097. The North East saw the lowest annual price growth with an increase of 0.8%, taking the average price to £99,069, a considerable difference to the average price in London. Wales saw the most significant monthly price fall with a decrease of 0.8% to take the average price to £121,780. The most up to date figures available, show that the number of completed house sales in England and Wales fell by 8% to 79,960 compared with 86,452 in in October 2014 while the number of properties sold for more than £1 million fell by 2% to 1,231 from 1,258 a year earlier. Repossessions in England and Wales fell by 51% to 431 compared with 888 in October 2014 and the region with the greatest fall in the number of repossession sales was London with a fall of 71% from October 2014. Mark Posniak, managing director at Dragonfly Property Finance, pointed out that with demand strong and supply weak, prices in December defied the usual seasonal slowdown, adding that this is even more pronounced in London. He believes that the construction lag is having a significant impact on the market. ‘On a more positive note, we are seeing noticeably more construction activity at the moment, particularly by smaller developers. But this will take time to trickle through into the market,’ he said. ‘Looking into 2016, it's hard to see anything other than a continuation of the current trend of steadily rising prices, especially with interest rates unlikely to rise in the near future and a robust jobs market,’ he added. According to John Eastgate, sales and marketing director of OneSavings Bank, prolific buyer demand is fanning the house price growth. ‘A strengthening labour market, robust consumer sentiment and a supportive mortgage market all played their part, despite the obstacles provided by the festive period. This strength of demand has been compounded by the record low levels of property on the market at present,’ he said. ‘Uncertainty around economic growth in 2016 provides a reason for caution. The good news however, is that house building starts appear to be at their highest level since 2007. It is not yet strong enough to counterbalance demand. However if this trend of improvement is maintained, it should lead to a healthier property market for investors and buyers alike,’ he added. The lack of supply is also the explanation of what is currently happening with unseasonal growth in the market, said Jonathan Hopper, managing director of the buying agents Garrington Property Finders. ‘Even… Continue reading
UK govt puts public land up for sale for new home building
The UK Government has published details of 600 acres of surplus public sector land for sale as part of its drive to see tens of thousands of new homes built across the country. Housing Minister Brandon Lewis urged developers to seize the opportunity and look at the sites via the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). Some 80 public land sites are now for sale and there will be 40 more over the next 18 months. It is estimated these sites will support more than 5,000 homes as well as land for industry and business. Over 20% of the sites already have outline or detailed planning permission. Lewis pointed out that the Government has embarked on the largest house building programme since the 1970s and said that some 160,000 new homes should be built through the sale of surplus public sector land. ‘Using surplus public sector land for housing has helped us get the country building again with the number of new homes up by 25%. Selling off these sites will allow us to go even further, delivering on our ambition to support a further 160,000 homes, while providing a significant boost to local economies and the taxpayer,’ he said. ‘I now want to see developers getting shovels in the ground as quick as possible and build the homes hard working people want and deserve,’ he added. The HCA is the government’s disposal agency for surplus public land, and using its local market knowledge, commercial expertise and experience of managing large portfolios of land, exceeded its contribution to the government’s last land programme by more than 3,000 homes. In total, Whitehall departments released enough public sector land to support more than 109,000 homes during the last parliament, Lewis also pointed out. ‘The sale of surplus public land helps to meet government priorities to build more homes and business premises, while delivering a financial return to the taxpayer,’ said HCA chief executive Andy Rose. ‘We will use our commercial expertise and local market knowledge to make land attractive to house builders, to help get homes built more quickly and meet local priorities. As the government’s disposal agency for surplus public land, we are well placed to support other departments and agencies in meeting their contribution to the government’s land programme,’ he added. A new Land Development and Disposal Plan sets out some key principles of land disposal, which followed a review of the HCA’s processes and were developed in cooperation with the Home Builders Federation and its members. These include clearer objectives for each site prior to sale, early and meaningful market engagement with a transparent pipeline of sites and clearer commercial terms. ‘Public sector land accounts for a significant proportion of potential residential land and can play an important part in helping the country to boost housing numbers,’ said David O’Leary, policy director at the Home Builders Federation. ‘The role of the HCA is critical in helping the government to meet its ambitious targets for releasing public land for… Continue reading
