Tag Archives: london
TSI’s London Housing Market Overview
Over the past few years, the surge in house prices have been shocking Londoners from Shepherd’s Bush to Stratford. Many potential buyers have hoped that signs of a slowdown that emerged in the summer would continue, and so it has … Continue reading
Asking prices up across UK led by Scotland and East Anglia
Asking prices have risen across all regions in England, Scotland and Wales over the last month, reflecting widespread positive sentiment across the UK, the latest index suggests. However, higher prices are also tempting vendors to put their properties on the market and the supply of property for sale in London, for example, has overtaken demand, according to the latest index from Home.co.uk. This is shown by a steep rise in the typical time on market which is currently 71 days, some 24 days longer than in March 2014, the report points out, although supply rises in other regions are much more muted. Asking price rises are led by East Anglia and Scotland, both with a monthly rise of 1.4%, and annual rises of 6.2% and 8% respectively. The report also says that an optimism abounds as even in the least well performing areas of the North East and Wales, prices have risen 0.4% and 0.3% respectively since February. A breakdown of the figures show that asking prices in London prices increased a further 2.1% despite rising supply and are up 31% year on year. While asking prices have increased by 1.1% overall in England and Wales during the last month but the average annual appreciation has fallen to 6.8%. Overall, the current mix-adjusted average asking price for England and Wales shows that properties on the market are valued 6.8% higher than they were in March 2014. The typical time on market for England and Wales is now 119 days, which is eight days less than this time last year, and shows that the market continues to gain momentum overall. ‘House prices are surging again, over and above seasonal expectations. The key market drivers of low mortgage interest rates and low supply remain very much in place,’ said Doug Shephard, Home.co.uk director. He pointed out that so far, the market correction in prime central London has not affected sentiment elsewhere in the country, and the flow of mortgage credit to homebuyers and property investors alike continues unabated. ‘We maintain that the best prospects for stable growth this year and next probably lie in regions such as East Anglia, East Midlands, the South West, West Midlands and perhaps Yorkshire. It may be argued that these regions are still in the throes of the recovery phase, as supply remains low and prices have not yet risen out of reach,’ he explained. ‘There are also further indicators that the recovery will, at last, lift the northern regions out of the misery of price stagnation. Those markets are gaining momentum and above inflation price rises look highly likely over the coming months,’ he added. He also pointed out that while prospects for price growth are poor for prime central London this year as an abundance of unsold stock has been whittling away at property values, for the time being, prices do appear to be stabilising. ‘The investment outlook for Greater London remains mixed but will slowly turn… Continue reading
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to be legal requirement in rental properties
Landlords in the UK will be required by law to install working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in their properties from October 2015, it has been announced. According to Housing Minister Brandon Lewis the move will help prevent up to 36 deaths and 1,375 injuries a year after a consultation showed strong support for the measure. Fire and rescue authorities are expected to support private landlords in their own areas to meet their new responsibilities with the provision of free alarms, with grant funding from the government. Lewis explained that it is part of wider government moves to ensure there are sufficient measures in place to protect public safety, while at the same time avoiding regulation which would push up rents and restrict the supply of homes, limiting choice for tenants. ‘In 1988 just 8% of homes had a smoke alarm installed but now it’s over 90%. The vast majority of landlords offer a good service and have installed smoke alarms in their homes, but I’m changing the law to ensure every tenant can be given this important protection,’ said Lewis. ‘But with working smoke alarms providing the vital seconds needed to escape a fire, I urge all tenants to make sure they regularly test their alarms to ensure they work when it counts. Testing regularly remains the tenant’s responsibility,’ he added. According to Communities Minister Stephen Williams it will help to create a bigger, better and safer private rented sector. ‘A key part of that is to ensure the safety of tenants with fire prevention and carbon monoxide warning. People are at least four times more likely to die in a fire in the home if there’s no working smoke alarm,’ he said. ‘That’s why we are proposing changes to the law that would require landlords to install working smoke alarms in their properties so tenants can give their families and those they care about a better chance of escaping a fire,’ he added. The proposed changes to the law would require landlords to install smoke alarms on every floor of their property, and test them at the start of every tenancy. Landlords would also need to install carbon monoxide alarms in high risk rooms such as those where a solid fuel heating system is installed. Those who fail to install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms would face sanctions and could face up to a £5,000 civil penalty. This would bring private rented properties into line with existing building regulations that already require newly built homes to have hard wired smoke alarms installed. New regulations will be laid in Parliament to require landlords to install smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in their properties, and are expected to come into force, subject to Parliamentary approval, on 10 October 2015. The allocation of funding to fire and rescue authorities to offer free smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to local landlords will be announced shortly. The British Property Federation said the crackdown was necessary to force the small number… Continue reading
