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Home purchase lending up just 1% in final month of 2014, CML data shows
House purchase lending to home buyers increased slightly by 1% month on month in December but compared to December 2013, the number of loans fell by 5%, according to the latest CML data. However, the figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders also show that first time buyers saw a month on month lending increase, up 3% on November, but still 3% down on December 2013. By value, £3.8 billion was advanced to first time buyers in December, 6% up on November but unchanged compared to December 2013 while the number of loans advanced to home movers was 29,500, the same as November but down 8% on December 2013. By value, lending to movers totalled £5.5 billion, up 2% on November but 2% down on December 2013. Remortgage lending activity also saw a decline with the number of remortgage loans 7% down on November and 13% down on December 2013. The value of these loans at £3.4 billion was down 6% on the previous month and down 11% on December the previous year. Buy to let loans totalled 17,300 in December, unchanged from November but up 18% compared to December 2013. The total value of these loans at £2.5 billion was up 4% month on month and up 32% compared to December 2013. On a quarterly basis home owner house purchase lending fell 5% and was down 3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The value of these loans at £28.8 billion declined compared to the third quarter by 8% but was up 2% compared to the same period in 2013. First time buyers in the fourth quarter of 2014 saw minimal change compared to the previous quarter and the same quarter in 2013. There were 80,100 loans advanced to first time buyers in this period, down 2% on the third quarter and unchanged compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. The value of these loans totalled £11.6 billion, which was down 5% on the third quarter but 5% up on the fourth quarter of 2013. Home movers were advanced 93,100 loans in the fourth quarter, a decline of 8% compared to the third quarter and 5% down year on year. These loans totalled £17.2 billion in value, 10% down on the previous quarter, but unchanged compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. Remortgage lending declined this quarter with 73,100 loans advanced, down 3% on the third quarter and 13% down on the fourth quarter 2013. The value of these loans at £11.1 billion declined 4% quarter on quarter and 10% year on year compared to the fourth quarter 2013. Buy to let loans totalled 54,000 in the fourth quarter of 2014, up 4% on the previous quarter and up 16% on the same period in 2013. This totalled in value £7.7 billion, an increase of 5% on the third quarter and up 26% on the fourth quarter 2013. Overall for 2014, home owner house purchase totalled 676,900 loans, up 11% on… Continue reading
Proposals published on improvements for buyer and seller protection in Scotland
The Law Society of Scotland has published a report following an independent review of consumer protections for people buying and selling property in Scotland. The review, by former Sheriff Principal Edward Bowen, examined the current consumer protections in place as well as conveyancing practice and the existing legal framework. It followed high profile and complex cases in Aberdeenshire and West Lothian where clients were left without proper title to land bought through residential property transactions. The Law Society provides a number of consumer protections for people using Scottish solicitors. This includes its Guarantee Fund, a fund of last resort which seeks to compensate clients who are the victims of a solicitor’s dishonesty. The Society also arranges for the Master Policy, a single policy of professional indemnity insurance, to ensure firms are covered for cases involving negligence. Bowen concluded that the cases in Aberdeen and West Lothian arose for very different reasons and were highly complex and unusual, and did not suggest a fundamental problem with conveyancing practice. His report makes a number of recommendations, including consideration of the widening of the scope of the Guarantee Fund, and a possible change to the name of the fund to avoid confusion. Some changes would be likely to require changes to the legislation governing the fund. It also recommends amending the guidelines for discretionary powers for the Guarantee Fund to provide discretionary assistance in restricting continuing losses in certain circumstances and the possible introduction of a new system of protection for purchasers of newly constructed houses to protect from insolvency. This would have to be brought forward by Scottish Ministers. ‘We have an important duty to protect the interests of the consumers of legal services, a responsibility which we take extremely seriously. The vast majority of Scottish solicitors provide an excellent service for their clients, but we need to ensure that we have a robust set of consumer protections to help clients in those very few occasions when things go wrong,’ said president of the Law Society of Scotland, Alistair Morris. ‘These difficult and very complicated conveyancing cases in West Lothian and Aberdeenshire left some questioning if the existing protections are sufficient. That is why we commissioned an independent review to look at the issues arising from these cases, current conveyancing practice and existing Scots law, to see what lessons can be learned for the future,’ he explained. ‘Overall, the report provides reassurance that there are no fundamental or underlying problems with Scots property law and solicitors’ conveyancing practice. It is notable that Sheriff Principal Bowen has concluded that the cases in Aberdeen and West Lothian arose for very different reasons and were highly complex and unusual,’ he added. He also pointed out that these findings are reassuring for both the legal profession and members of the public who rely on the knowledge and expertise of their solicitor when buying a new home. ‘We fully appreciate however, that it does not provide much comfort for the people… Continue reading
Australian office market sees record breaking end to 2014
A record breaking finish to 2014 has kick started momentum in the Australian office market in 2015 with demand and deals on the rise, according to a new report. Indeed, enquiries for the December 2014 quarter were up 75% compared to the December 2013 quarter and the greatest demand was for space 3,000 square meters and above, with this market up a record 173% on the December 2013 quarter. For the full calendar year, Australian business enquired about 2,256,814 square meters of office space in 2014 compared to 1,813,540 square meters in 2013, a national increase of 24%. Simon Hunt, Colliers International managing director of Office Leasing, said this points to improving business confidence and 2014 also proved to be a successful year for transacting deals, with the number of leases negotiated up by 28% on 2013 and the amount of space transacted also up from 2013 by 34%. ‘All markets, with the exception of the ACT, saw an increase in the number of deals and area transacted compared to 2013, with Victoria adding almost 100 extra deals to its 2013 tally,’ he explained. Throughout 2014, a standout performer for number of enquiries and amount of space enquired for was the information technology sector. This sector is expected to also be at the forefront of white collar employment growth in the year ahead, along with the business services and financial services sectors. ‘In 2015, white collar employment forecasts indicate that business services and financial services will show strong demand for office space over 1,000 square meters, pointing to strong short term demand for larger, open plan workplace environments and less decentralisation of employees occurring,’ added Hunt. Tenants returning to CBD markets was an emerging trend in 2014, and is anticipated to continue as corporates seek central locations, close to amenities to house their administration staff. According to Deloitte Access Economics’ respected White Collar Employment forecasts, the top five growing office sectors that will lead tenant demand nationally in 2015 will be Business Services, IT, Financial Services, Health and Accommodation services. ‘Based on the net growth in jobs for these sectors, of between 10,000 to 14,000 employees, over 150,000 square meters of space will be required to meet space demand,’ Hunt said. Simon Crouch, Colliers International national director of tenant representation, agreed that the IT would be a sector to watch in 2015 as while the majority of corporate tenants would remain cautiously optimistic, IT would be one sector which was in expansion mode. ‘This will continue in 2015 until there is some more certainty in global markets. In the year ahead, we are likely to see a continued restructuring or consolidation of space, in particular in the professional service sectors,’ he explained. ‘Some businesses will grow, but pressure on margins is going to ensure that the leaders of these firms will continue to look for opportunities to reduce their overheads and, as a result, cost of space,’ he added. Continue reading
