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Housing supply in UK fell significantly in July, new index shows
The number of UK home owners putting their properties on the market fell dramatically in July, down 13.2% across the UK and almost 15% in London, according to the latest property supply index. The majority of locations have seen new stock levels fall in the past month with Glasgow and Edinburgh seeing new property listing fall by 30.3% and 29.7% respectively while supply was down 28.2% in Milton Keynes and 28.1% in Sunderland The index from online estate agent House Simple, which used new listing on Rightmove in July compared to the previous month of more than 100 major towns and cities and all 32 London boroughs, also shows that while Swindon saw a 40.5% rise in new property listings in June, they fell 25.2% in July. Meanwhile, a quarter of the towns and cities that saw the biggest falls in new property listings in July were in the south west of England. A fifth were each in the south west of England and the West Midlands. In London new property listings fell 14.9% in July and only the borough of Bromley saw increase in new stock, but this was still less than 1%. Bexley saw new property listings fall by 31.4%, while new stock levels in Kensington and Chelsea, a favourite with foreign buyers, fell by 24.5% ‘Any hope that sellers were finally returning to the market seems to have been a vain one for the time being,’ said Alex Gosling, chief executive of House Simple, adding that the reasons are not easy to ascertain but it could be due to prices rising. ‘Or maybe they’re not confident about market conditions, despite the strength of the economy and the highly competitive mortgage rates on offer at the moment. Somehow, sellers need to be encouraged back to the market because there are buyers galore waiting when they do. It’s a very attractive market right now for motivated sellers,’ he pointed out. ‘The next few months are going to be important as the property market looks to gather momentum heading into the last quarter of the year. We fully expected activity to drop off in the summer months, but come the Autumn the market needs to replenished with stock to realign the supply versus demand balance,’ he concluded. Continue reading
Good design could help make Build to Rent popular in the UK, says a new report
Good design is the secret for the future success of the build to rent sector in the UK with developers needing to look beyond traditional layouts, says a new report. Britain is on the verge of a rental revolution with around £30 billion of institutional investment earmarked to build and manage homes for rent, but success means creating homes that foster a sense of community, according to the report. Indeed, the report ‘Funding Britain’s rental revolution’, by Addleshaw Goddard, a law firm and the British Property Federation, a trade body, says Build to Rent could bring in substantial additional finance for housing. For example, it says that getting tenants to know their neighbours will help encourage them to stay for the long term, saving operators money on costly voids. The key to this will be creating user friendly living areas that encourage circulation within the buildings. It points out that much of the concept around Build to Rent is borrowed from North America’s multifamily sector where listed companies own much of the housing stock. Many of the Build to Rent schemes coming forward will include a range of communal space throughout the buildings and the report suggests this could include top floor amenity decks in the place of penthouse flats allowing all renters to benefit from the views and additional space. Others will be simpler, such as a lobby area with shared seating but the report says that crucially, all schemes need to be of a decent quality. Overall it suggests that the shift towards a professionally run rental market with developments owned by single companies rather than multiple speculators and buy to let investors, promises to offer Britain’s nine million renters higher standards, better value and greater transparency with homes purposefully designed for renters. Institutions such as APG, Hermes, and Legal & General, together with companies such as Grainger, Essential Living and Fizzy Living are spearheading the new sector and the report says that the growth of Build to Rent is good for the economy, communities, investors and consumers. It also points out that extra finance for housing is unlikely to surface through existing house builders or council funded development so Build to Rent could bring in more than £30 billion over the next five years. The positive includes that fact that it allows investors to match to long term liabilities such as annuities or pensions with stable returns delivered from rent and it reduces the amount of debt held by individuals at a time where record low interest rates are set to rise. On top of this Build to Rent investors can take a long term view and residents will be offered long term tenancies since the homes will not be sold off. Also, landlords will encourage tenants to stay by offering onsite amenities and good customer service. In America, this is the way companies seek to beat their competition. Build to Rent has emerged as a separate new asset class, distinct from… Continue reading
Development land prices in England and Wales down 0.9% in second quarter of 2015
The average price of greenfield land in England and Wales fell by just under 1% between April and June, according to the latest sector index. The 0.9% fall was a more moderate decline than the 1.8% fall recorded in the first quarter and it takes the annual fall in prices to 2.4%, the residential development land index from Knight Frank shows. However, the market remains localised. Development land prices in prime central London, for example, are up by 0.9% in the second quarter of the year and up 12.1% on an annual basis. Prices have returned to levels last seen in Autumn 2013. The firm’s index report says that prices reflect the fact that house builders have had access to relatively higher levels of consented land in the last few years because of the National Planning Policy Framework which has allowed them to top up their supply of land. As a result, house builders and developers are more selective about the sites they are now choosing to buy. There is a shortage of supply of consented greenfield land in some areas of the Home Counties due to the planning system for example, and a resulting premium for the sites that do come on the market. The report says that in central London there is still good demand for development land, although buyers are applying more detailed criteria before making offers, with a bigger consideration being paid to build cost inflation. ‘The sales market has returned to more normal conditions, along with absorption rates, and this is being reflected in a slowing in the growth of development land prices,’ said Gráinne Gilmore head of UK residential research at Knight Frank. ‘While there are also signs that build cost inflation, which has risen sharply over the last 18 months, is now levelling off, developers are still having to factor these higher costs into their offers. In addition, house builders are generally maintaining their margins, and this is weighing on land prices,’ she explained. ‘However there is still strong competition in areas which are considered to have real opportunity for growth, these include areas in outer London, and particularly for sites where completed units can be delivered for less than £1,000 per square foot,’ she added. Continue reading
