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North West of England named as most lucrative region for PRS landlords
The North West of England is the most lucrative region in the UK for private rented sector landlords with Manchester and Liverpool coming out top for rental yields. The latest quarterly report from online property marketplace LendInvest also shows that Cardiff, Coventry and Oldham come next, followed closely by Sunderland, Blackburn and Durham The report, which tracks changes in trends in rental yields, capital gains and landlords’ total return on investment, also shows that London and the South East lead house price growth. Indeed, all of the top 15 performing postcode areas for capital gains are located in London and the surrounding area. However, inner London takes only 18th place for rental yield, but is top for capital gains Overall, capital gains continue to track average house price and 80% of the 15 best postcode areas for capital gains also feature in the top 15 for average house prices. However, the report points out that rental yields are no indication of average house price. Only one of the top 15 postcode areas for rental yield also features in the top 15 for house prices. Christian Faes, chief executive officer of LendInvest, believes that tax changes could impact the market next year. ‘There could be some weakening in London’s dominance of capital gains tables if house price growth does soften slightly as forecast, and as new buy to let stamp duty hikes take effect,’ he said. ‘Inner London margins may narrow slightly, creating opportunities for house prices in other postcode areas, particularly those in the south of England, to better compete,’ he added. But he also explained that changes to mortgage interest tax relief and stamp duty for landlords will help to professionalise the buy to let market and this would benefit tenants and aspiring home owners. ‘Landlords whose tax payments under the new regime make letting their properties unsustainable, may make arrangements to leave the market. In turn, we will see fewer highly geared rental properties that push up prices and take stock out of the housing supply for aspiring owner occupiers and first time buyers drawn to densely populated urban area for work,’ explained Faes, He also said that across the country there is still no one place for market leading yields and capital gains and 2016 could be the year of the ‘cross country landlords’, professional landlords who live in one city and rent out houses in another. ‘We could expect to see more landlords letting property in the North and Midland’s major urban areas for more immediate upside, without moving from their family homes in which gains can be longer to materialise,’ he added. Continue reading
UK buyer deposit now at lowest level for six years
Raising a deposit, which has been the single biggest barrier to home ownership in the UK since 2010, is now at its lowest level for six years, new research shows. However, it still presents a barrier to over half of consumers with 52% saying it is a hurdle to overcome, according to the latest Property Tracker report from the Building Societies Association (BSA). But it points out that this figure is down from 59% in September 2015 and lower than the high of 69% recorded in September 2011. From September to December 2015, access to mortgage finance as a barrier to home ownership dropped from 41% to 38%. The affordability of monthly mortgage repayments fell from 35% to 33% and lack of job security is now at 26%, down from 28%. The BSA says that results indicate that people are feeling reasonably confident about home ownership as an option for them. This could partially be as a result of the focus on housing in the Autumn Statement in November and is evidenced by the strong lending by building societies and other lenders across the market this year. ‘This snapshot of sentiment in the housing market shows that consumers are feeling reasonably optimistic about getting on or moving up the property ladder,’ said Paul Broadhead, BSA head of Mortgage Policy. ‘Awareness of Government schemes, such as Help to Buy and the new Help to Buy, London plus the availability of higher loan to value mortgages helps to bring choice and competition to the market. Housing generally needs to remain a top priority for the Government,’ he pointed out. ‘Now is the time to focus on building more homes, supported by appropriate investment in infrastructure, in order to begin to address the long term imbalance of housing supply with demand,’ he explained. ‘Innovative mortgage products and intermediate forms of tenure must also be championed, not just by building societies, but by all lenders, the regulators and government. This will go some way to delivering a sustainable housing market which caters to the needs of a wide range of credit worthy consumers, not just those with ‘vanilla’ borrowing requirements,’ he added. Continue reading
First time buyer valuation activity up by over 30% year on year
First time buyer activity in the UK jumped in November to a rate 31% higher than in the same month last year and up 2% month on month. The data from Connells Survey & Valuation also shows that first time buyer valuations were 2% above the annual increase for the overall housing market and 26% greater than the year on year increase for home mover activity. According to John Bagshaw, corporate services director of Connells Survey & Valuation, many first time buyers may be eager to get on the housing ladder now to avoid any potential rate rise by the Bank of England in the New Year. ‘While any increase to the base rate will likely be slight, it could be enough to persuade cash limited and price sensitive first time buyers to act sooner rather than later,’ he said. He believes that first time buyers are also looking to take advantage of Government backed schemes such as Help to Buy while they last. ‘Although the Government has given no clear indication these packages will end anytime soon, they could be gradually phased out as housing market confidence continues to improve,’ he explained. ‘These two factors are reinforced by an economy that currently boasts a golden combination of growth, low inflation and rising household incomes, an appealing economic environment for typically cautious first time buyers,’ he added. The data also shows that the buy to let market experienced similarly strong, if less pronounced, annual growth, with activity in the sector up 26% between November 2014 and November 2015. The strong performance comes despite the market contracting slightly by 4% on a monthly basis. Valuation activity for all purposes also remains strong, climbing 29% between November 2014 and November 2015, while registering no change compared to last month. ‘The buy to let sector continues to be an attractive proposition for property investors. But while the prospect of high returns is driving some of the activity in this sector, much of the energy is also being fueled by a desire to out manoeuvre the Treasury’s attempts to take more money from buy to let business,’ said Bagshaw. ‘With the Chancellor imposing more fees and regulations on landlords in his most recent Autumn Statement, many would be landlords are hurrying to get into the market before these changes kick in from April next year,’ he explained. He also pointed out that the housing market’s overall performance remains positive. All sectors are reporting healthy yearly growth and he said this is a reflection of a positive combination of economic growth, rising consumer confidence and improving real terms wages. The remortgaging market continues to expand rapidly on an annual basis, with the number of remortgaging valuations carried out in November 2015 representing a 46% increase on November of last year, while also representing a 5% increase on October 2015. However, progress for the home mover market was more gradual. Valuation activity for those seeking to progress further… Continue reading
