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New UK housing zones widely welcomed
Twenty areas across the UK have been selected as the country’s first Housing Zones amid a pledge to build hundreds of thousands of new homes in the next five years, including more affordable properties. In the annual Budget Statement it was also announced that in London there will be nine new housing generation areas with the aim of building 28,000 new homes on brown field and public sector land. A London Land Commission will be created and tasked with identifying the best places to build and there will be strong incentives to dispose of public land for housing use. The government also announced that it wants communities to have a strong say over how their local area is developed. It confirmed it will support locally led plans for two more Garden Communities at Basingstoke and North Northants. The British Property Federation, an early supporter of housing zones, welcomed the plans. ‘Spending cuts have meant that support for brown field development all but disappeared during the recession. Housing Zones are welcome recognition that we can deliver significant amounts of desperately needed housing on brown field land, but that this will often need both central government support and clarity of purpose at local level,’ said chief executive Melanie Leech. Any building that takes place on brown field sites, rather than in open countryside must be welcome, according to Edward Heaton of Heaton and Partners property search agency who pointed out that around the UK and even in London it is surprising how many potential sites remain unlocked because of planning policy. But he pointed out that extra funding for new homes will not completely solve the housing crisis. Alison Platt, chief executive of Countrywide, one of the largest property services group in the UK, wants the government to go further. ‘Our analysis shows that there is land for 500,000 homes within walking distance of the train stations in the greenbelt around our cities. We ask the government to review the greenbelt with a vision to freeing up appropriate land for development,’ she said. ‘Last week we put forward 10 proposals to make the property market work better. We believe there is not yet enough clarity in the debate to impact policy and see structural shifts in both the residential and commercial property markets. We want to encourage debate around these proposals and any other solutions to our property market troubles, to get to a position where real positive change is possible,’ she added. According to Rick de Blaby, chief executive of London developer United House Developments, said that cutting the red tape strangling London development is key to this announcement. ‘The Chancellor and the Mayor need to ensure that the delivery of public sector land and brownfield sites to developers is backed by an efficient, lean machine to free up this land to avoid the delays currently snarling up the system,’ he explained. Nicholas Leeming, chairman of national estate agents,… Continue reading
Property stamp duty revenues up over 20% in England and Wales
Stamp duty revenues in England and Wales raised on residential properties are projected to have risen by over 20% in 2014/2015 to a record £8 billion, according to new research. Three quarters of all home buyers are liable to pay stamp duty, ranging from nearly all sales in London to around half in northern England and Wales, says the study from the Halifax. London’s share of all revenue raised in the UK increased from 28% in 2006/2007 to 42% in 2013/2014 and two thirds of all first time buyer purchases in London are above £250,000 compared with only 1% to 2% in many regions. The research also suggests that there is no evidence so far of a dampening in activity at the very top end of the market following the recent reform of stamp duty. The Halifax estimates that the increase in revenues from stamp duty on residential sales from £6.45 billion in 2013/2014 to a record £8 billion comfortably exceeds the previous high of £6.68 billion at the peak of the last housing market boom in 2007/2008. This is more than a 15 times as much as the £520 million raised by residential stamp duty 20 years ago’ in 1994/1995. Under the new progressive structure of stamp duty introduced at the beginning of December 2014, no tax is paid on any of the value of a property below the starting threshold of £125,000. Above the first threshold, tax is charged at the relevant rate on the amount by which the selling price exceeds the threshold. This is continued through the various thresholds to the top rate. Based on the current average house price in England and Wales of£259,708, a typical home buyer pays a total of £2,985 in stamp duty. Under the old flat structure, a buyer paying this price would have been subject to stamp duty payments of £7,791, a saving of £4,806. In all regions, buyers are often making large savings. In cash terms the largest savings are in London at £4,830 and the South East at £3,843. The ‘tipping point’ price is £938,000, at which point the buyer is worse off under the new structure. The Halifax says that while it remains very early days, so far there are no signs of any marked changes in behaviour as a result of the changes made to stamp duty at the start of December. Indeed, the proportions of all sales in each of the bandings in December 2014 and January 2015 are almost identical to those in the preceding three months of September to November 2014. This equally applies at the top end of the market where the proportion of sales in London above £925,000 is unchanged at 9%, suggesting that the increase in stamp duty on such sales is not significantly deterring purchases in this market segment. Continue reading
Second phase of UK custom build fund announced
The second phase of a multi-million pound fund to help aspiring custom and self builders in the UK get their projects off the ground more quickly has been announced. The second phase of the £150 million fund is now open to bidders and will create up to 10,000 so-called ‘serviced plots’ which is land prepared for house building and connected to utilities such as gas and water, so builders can go straight in and build. According to Housing Minister Brandon Lewis the average self build takes two years but those using serviced plots can cut this by up to a year and he believes it will help further unlock the massive potential the custom build industry has to expand. The custom and self build industry currently accounts for around 10,000 new homes every year but the government is backing industry led efforts to double that by 2020. The £150 million fund is open to small builders and community groups as short term loans to help get the land ready for housebuilding. The land can then be sold as individual plots to people looking to build their own home. Lewis said he was determined to ensure as many people as possible could fulfil their custom build ambitions so he has given the green light for the first three bids to proceed to the next stage of assessment. Subject to successful completion three small builders in St Helens, South Norfolk and West Lindsey will receive a share of £850,000 to help provide 41 plots. ‘Custom build should not be something that’s confined to a small and select group of people. Anyone who aspires to build their own home should have the opportunity to do so. We want to see the industry grow significantly and this £150 million fund will help further unlock the massive potential it has to help even more people achieve their ambitions,’ said Lewis. ‘This fund will help create shovel ready serviced plots so small developers and custom builders can get on and build, finishing their projects more quickly,’ he added. Continue reading
