Tag Archives: real-estate
UK stamp duty changes set to boost house building
A leading UK builder has announced that the recent reforms to the Stamp Duty property tax has given it the confidence to bring forward the next phase of a major development. While the stamp duty reform has been widely hailed as a boost for first time buyers trying to get on the housing market the announcement from Crest Nicholson shows it is also going to boost house building. The house builder said it will bring forward the next phase of development at Centenary Quay in Southampton and build 280 new homes, some 128 of them in the next year. New analysis by the company revealed that the reforms will save buyers in Southampton over £1,660 per transaction and increase demand for new homes. In addition, since 2013 some 44% of sales at Centenary Quay were made through the government’s Help to Buy scheme and a further 101 apartments were sold for Build to Rent. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, who announced the stamp duty changes in his autumn statement earlier this month, described it as great news. ‘Not only are Crest Nicholson building more homes quicker but buyers will also see real cash saving when they purchase a house,’ he explained. ‘Stamp duty was one of the worst designed taxes and acted as a real brake on aspiration for those who wanted to get on or move up the housing ladder. As part of our long term economic plan we have made the system fairer so people only pay tax on the part of the property that falls within each band. The average property will pay £4,500 less stamp duty, with 98% of people who buy a home benefiting from the reform,’ he added. Debbie Aplin, managing director of Crest Nicholson Regeneration, said the reforms will undoubtedly boost activity in the housing market, re-stimulating building rates and enable the firm to drive the rate of sales back to pre-recessionary levels. ‘Last year alone we were able to facilitate 571 new home purchases through government backed incentive schemes such as Help to Buy, and now with the addition of stamp duty reform we remain committed to our target of building in excess of 3,000 new homes in the UK in 2015,’ she pointed out. ‘This will in turn support further job creation and have a positive overall impact on the entire economy. Most importantly though, the impact of changes to stamp duty will remove a lot of uncertainty for consumers over the coming months, helping to solve the affordability challenge so many purchasers are facing,’ she explained. ‘This is particularly true for first time buyers struggling to get on the housing ladder. A massive 72% of our purchasers benefiting from Help to Buy were first time buyers, and we hope to see a similar impact from stamp duty reforms,’ she added. The Home Builders Federation has campaigned for the abolition of the stamp duty slab system that caused distortions in the market, penalised buyers… Continue reading
Rents in Scotland reach all-time peak, latest index shows
Rents in Scotland have crept up to an all-time peak, despite an overall cooling in annual growth this year, according to the latest buy to let index. The average residential rent in Scotland now stands at £539 per month, the highest level on record after a 0.2% rise in November, says the data from Your Move, one of Scotland’s largest lettings agent networks. But on an annual basis, rent rises are stabilising after a slowdown in growth. Average monthly rents across Scotland have climbed 2.2% over the past year, consistent with the annual growth recorded last month. The average monthly rent has increased £12 from £527 in November 2013. This shows a considerable slackening from 3.5% annual rise over the year to November 2013. At their fastest pace, annual rent growth reached 4.3% in February 2014, according to Christine Campbell, regional managing director of Your Move. ‘Scottish rents have been steadily edging forwards, and despite only taking baby steps, they reached a new pinnacle in November. Demand and supply are still out of kilter, and in highly sought-after employment and cultural nerve centres like Edinburgh, this overflowing competition for homes to let has topped up rent prices,’ she said. ‘But the outlook has shifted starkly from the start of this year, and annual rent rises have been trimmed back to healthier levels, as usual market forces check the rate of growth. In real terms, average rents across Scotland are only 1.2% higher than they were a year ago,’ she pointed out. She also explained that speculation over how future rental caps or more stringent letting controls may disorientate the stable direction rents are currently moving in and any spike in rents would hurt thousands of households who depend on private rented accommodation. ‘Renters rely on landlords too. Increased investment into the sector is the only way to alleviate the strain of the current housing shortage and soothe competition for rental homes. If buy to let investment dries up, and the pool of properties to let contracts, rents will swallow the shortfall and eat into tenant finance,’ she added. A breakdown of the figures show that rents have increased on a monthly basis in just two out of five regions of Scotland in November. The East saw the fastest monthly uptick in average rents, up 1.1% from October. Edinburgh and the Lothians was the only other area of Scotland to record a rise, with 0.4% growth taking prices to a record of £617 per month. Rental prices dropped over the majority of Scottish regions between October and November. The South saw the greatest monthly fall of 0.3%, with average rents dipping £2 to £485 in November. Average monthly rents across the Highlands and Islands slipped back 0.2%, and have dropped 0.1% in Glasgow and Clyde since October. On an annual basis, rents are higher than a year ago in three out of five regions of Scotland. The biggest year on year… Continue reading
Rapid price growth slowing in many US markets, latest index shows
Rapid property price growth in the US continued to level off in the second half of 2014, but markets hardest hit by the recession are still seeing double digit value growth, the latest data shows. Cumulatively, US homes will be worth $27.5 trillion at the end of 2014, a 6.7% increase overall, according to the latest data from real estate firm Zillow. In November national home values continued to rise at an incrementally slower pace and are up 6% from last year, the third consecutive overall increase. Homes lost $6.1 trillion in value between December 2006 and December 2011. The cumulative increase in home values is slightly smaller than the 8% recorded in 2013 and that kind of gradual slowing is a sign of the times as the market heads for slower expected gains in 2015. Over the second half of 2014 inventory increased in many US markets and, with more homes on the market, home value appreciation slowed. ‘Looking at the total value of the US housing stock proves just how huge and important the housing sector is to the overall economy,’ said Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries. ‘Virtually nowhere else will you see gains of more than a trillion dollars in one year represent only single digit percentages of the total market. As we conclude 2014 and look ahead at 2015 and beyond, housing will play a bigger role in the broader economic recovery,’ he explained. ‘As the job market improves and more households form, more people will search for homes to buy and rent, which will translate into more people buying appliances and home goods and lead to more jobs for home builders and contractors. Housing is well positioned to continue the great strides already made this year,’ he added. Looking ahead, as more homes come on the market, growth in home values is expected to slow to 2.4% in the next 12 months, according to the Zillow Home Value Forecast. There were 11.8% more homes for sale in November 2014 than a year prior, but inventory fell slightly in many major markets from October to November. Among major markets, home values were up the most year on year in Miami with growth of 13.6%, up 12.8% in Atlanta, up 11.9% in Houston, up 11.9% in Orlando and up 11.5% in Las Vegas. Values were higher than last November in almost every major US metro and national rents were up in November from a year ago by 3.4% to $1,342. Continue reading
