Tag Archives: london
Rents in England and Wales up by 3% in 2014, latest index shows
Rents in England and Wales increased by 3% over the course of 2014, despite falling on a monthly basis between November and December, the latest index data shows. The average residential rent across England and Wales now stands at £767 compared to the £745 recorded in December 2013, according to the buy to let index from Your Move and Reeds Rains. The firm said that this ‘strong annual growth’ comes despite falls on a monthly basis, with average rents 0.1% lower than they were in November 2014. ‘Recent months have shown a divergence from usual seasonal norms. Historically, there is a tendency for rents to ease in the winter, particularly December. With fewer tenants willing to relocate in the festive period, landlords usually compete to fill empty properties and agreed rents tend to dip as a result. Last month that happened and rents fell compared to November but by much less than the usual extent,’ said Adrian Gill, director of estate agents Reeds Rains and Your Move. ‘In particular a jobs boom across the eastern regions of England has seen a larger than usual number of people relocating in the winter months. This has pushed up rental prices in these regions even further,’ he added. Indeed, rents are higher than a year ago in eight out of 10 regions of England and Wales. This is led by the East of England, with a 7.6% annual increase. The East Midlands has seen rents rise by 6.2% on an annual basis, followed by London where rents are up 4.1% over the last 12 months, and Yorkshire and the Humber with a 3.4% annual increase. As a result, these four regions have seen a new record for rents in December. By contrast rents in two regions are lower than a year ago. Average rents in the North East fell by 2.1% over the course of 2014, while rents in the South West are 1% lower on an annual basis. Most recently, three regions have seen rents continue to rise between November and December, despite an overall drop on a monthly basis across England and Wales. This is led by London with rents 0.9% higher in December than in November, followed by a 0.7% rise in Yorkshire and the Humber and a 0.2% month on month increase for the East of England. By contrast the South East has seen the sharpest month on month fall in the cost of renting, down 1.5% between November and December. This is followed by a 1.3% monthly drop in the North West and rents in Wales which are now 1.1% lower than in November. The monthly index report also shows that tenant finances deteriorated in December, as is often seen over the festive period. The proportion of all rent in arrears stands at 8.9% as of December… Continue reading
British buyers returning to the French property market
British buyers returned to the French property market in 2014, buying homes for holidays and investment, according to a leading overseas estate agency. Last year Leggett Immobilier says it saw a 43% increase in French properties sold with buyers from 33 different nations. It believes that this diversity demonstrates the global appeal of the property market in France. British buyers top the sales table for 2014 followed by buyers from Belgium, the United States, Australia, and then the Netherlands. ‘British buyers came back to the French market with a bang and our sales pipeline shows that 2015 will see more of the same. We have seen a 43% increase in transaction numbers over the last 12 months, fuelled mainly by confidence levels in the UK and continued low interest rates,’ said Trevor Leggett, chairman of Leggett Immobilier. ‘We have been making sales throughout France and Middle England is buying again. In 2013 the average purchase price for a British buyer was €269,000, we think that in 2014 this will have risen to around €300,000 and that in 2015 it will rise further still,’ he added. The firm has seen a lot of activity in the Alps and Cote d'Azur and pointed out that buyers tend to want properties that are finished to a reasonably high standard and that are in good locations. ‘We're still selling plenty of renovation projects but there is a definite trend towards just furnish to your own taste style properties,’ added Leggett. He also pointed out that the UK general election in May hasn't yet had any effect on enquiry levels. ‘Traditionally buyers of second homes tend to be cautious in the run up to an election but we currently have over twice as many ongoing sales, between exchange and completion, as we did at the start of the year, the bulk of these to buyers from across the channel,’ said Leggett. Continue reading
Price growth and new buyer demand declines in UK housing market
House price growth and new buyer demand in the UK both tailed off in December 2014 but stamp duty reforms are still expected to support market activity in the months ahead. Overall, the number of potential new house buyers dipped for the sixth consecutive month in December and price growth fell to its slowest pace since May 2013, the latest residential survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors shows. Across the UK, 10% more surveyors saw the number of potential new buyers decrease in December and London saw the weakest demand, with 45% more surveyors reporting a decline in enquiries, the eighth consecutive monthly decline. The North of England and the South West saw strong rebounds in demand, albeit the underlying picture remains most upbeat in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Despite the slowdown, there is optimism that the stamp duty reforms will deliver a 2% to 5% boost in both sales and prices over the next 12 months, despite members in London expecting sales to decrease by between 5% and 10% and prices to decrease by 2% to 5%, with larger properties and/or those in prime areas expected to see the biggest price decreases. Nationally, as a result of the weaker trend in buyer interest, sales expectations slipped to a net balance of 21%,down from 27% in November, and just 11% more surveyors saw prices rise in December, rather than fall. The volume of agreed sales during December was little changed, while the average number of sales per chartered surveyor slipped to 19 compared to 21.2 in the preceding December. In the month that also saw mortgage approvals fall to their lowest in 18 months, December’s data showed that perceived Loan to Value ratios across properties for first time buyers and existing home owners remained stable at 84.9% and 77.6%, although they are lower compared with the early part of 2014 following the adoption of a more cautious approach to lending as a result of the introduction of the recommendations of the Mortgage Market Review. ‘The changes to stamp duty are expected to provide a timely boost to activity in the housing market across most of the country but there remain significant challenges particularly for first time buyers seeking to take an initial step onto the property ladder,’ said Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist. ‘Critically, the stock of property on the market continues to hover close to historic lows with new instructions to agents falling in ten of the last twelve months. Indeed, there is a risk that with so little housing available any pick-up in demand could rapidly feed through into higher prices rather higher sales,’ he explained. He pointed out that the RICS lead indicators do provide some encouragement that the level of housebuilding will continue to increase over the course of this year but even with further growth, the volume of home starts will still fall well short of the number of new household being formed… Continue reading
