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UK’s new property redress scheme exceeds membership expectations
The Association of Residential Letting Agents has confirmed that the UK’s new Property Redress Scheme membership meets its membership requirements, as members join daily. The announcement follows compulsory legislation which means that since the beginning of October letting agents must be part of a government authorised redress scheme in order to operate. The redress scheme means that Tenants have a straightforward route to take action should they get a poor deal, while avoiding excessive red tape. ARLA membership guidelines state that all ARLA Licenced agents, or those agents wishing to become ARLA Licensed, must belong to an independent redress scheme in order to be a member. The PRS is one of three authorised redress schemes under the Department for Communities and Local Government, whose role it is to provide fair and reasonable resolutions to disputes between members of the public and property agents. ‘We’re very pleased to have approved the PRS to cover our consumer redress requirements for ARLA Licensed status. We have already received enquiries regarding membership from PRS members,’ said ARLA managing director David Cox. ‘ARLA Licenced agents are provided with the support and advice needed to help them carry out best practice. ARLA agents benefit from client money protection and the assistance that a trade body can offer,’ he added. Sean Hooker, head of redress for the PRS, welcomed the announcement and revealed that the PRS has now seen over 2,000 members sign up to the scheme with new members joining daily. He believes that the decision to do things differently has been a huge supporting factor in the scheme’s success so far. ‘We offer two different membership options so our scheme is both affordable and flexible whilst covering the needs of different types of Agents,’ he explained. ‘Giving Agents the opportunity to decide which model is best suited to them is something that sets us apart from the other two schemes and has contributed greatly to us reaching the 2,000 member target in such a short space of time,’ he added. Tim Frome, managing director of the PRS, said that this surge in membership has really exceeded expectations. ‘Estimates suggested there were 3,000 to 4,000 letting agents who would need to join a redress scheme. To achieve a membership of 2,000 in such a short time suggests that the majority of these agents have chosen to join the PRS or the number of prospective members was underestimated,’ he pointed out. Of the 2,000 members, 78 % of these have selected the Entry Model which is a pay as you go structure where the agent pays a smaller application fee of £95 plus VAT and then pays per complaint should the PRS receive it. The remaining members have opted for an all-inclusive Enhanced model that covers both their application and their complaints (subject to a fair usage policy) and costs £199 plus VAT. So far, over 97% of members have joined as a property agent with nearly 3% joining the scheme on… Continue reading
UK regional office market recovery strong with take up highest for four years
The recovery in the UK’s key regional office markets is proceeding apace with take up in the third quarter of 2014 at its highest in four years and 40% above the five year quarterly average. The latest research report from Knight Frank shows that the majority of the 10 cities covered in its regional report saw take up ahead of their averages, although Aberdeen and Glasgow were the standout performers despite the uncertainty surrounding the recent referendum. Glasgow saw 219,241 square feet of take up underpinned by a flurry of key deals including Network Rail at 151 St Vincent Street and Clydesdale Bank at Granite House while Aberdeen saw a record 647,874 square feet of take up which included two substantial pre-lets. Collectively, 2014 is set to be the most active year for the regional markets since 2008, the report says, adding that for the majority of markets, 2014 take up to date is already above or close to the annual average for each of the previous five years. Aberdeen has already achieved a record year while Manchester is certain to break the one million square feet mark for 2014. Birmingham, while arguably the one underachiever thus far in 2014, saw a substantial 80% rise in demand in the third quarter of the year. Leeds is also expected to end 2014 strongly. ‘Developers are responding cautiously to the growing shortage of Grade A supply which characterises the majority UK’s key regional markets. Collectively, speculative development activity climbed to a six year high of 2.2 million square feet by the end of the third quarter,’ the report says. It also shows that prime headline rents remain under upward pressure. Two markets saw headline rents increase during the third quarter, with Glasgow rising to £29.50 per square foot and Leeds to £26.00 per square foot. Rental growth is expected to take place across the majority of markets over the next 18 months, with new development completions securing higher prime rental levels in Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester. The report describes investment activity in the regional office markets as ‘exceptional’ in the third quarter with £1.3 billion of assets changing hands, the highest seen in a single quarter since the third quarter of 2007. Total volume for 2014 to date now stands at £3.1 billion, already eclipsing the annual total for each of the last six years. ‘The third quarter’s impressive turnover reflects an increase in buying opportunities since summer, as some investors have sought to capitalise on significant price increases over the past 12 months,’ the report explained. ‘While major lot sizes were key to turnover with the largest 10 deals accounting for 75% of turnover, the quarter saw 40% more transactions than the five year quarterly average and this is indicative of the ongoing depth of investment demand,’ it adds. Despite a substantial weight of money continuing to target regional office stock, evidence in the market suggests that pricing was broadly stable in the third quarter. Across the 10 key regional markets,… Continue reading
House sales falling in Canada, latest data shows
House sales in Canada are falling nationally, seeing the first monthly fall since the beginning of the year, according to the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The figures reveal that national home sales fell 1.4% from August to September but actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity stood 10.6% above September 2013 levels. The data also shows that the number of newly listed homes declined by 1.6% from August to September and the national average sale price rose 5.9% on a year on year basis in September. A breakdown of the figures show that activity was down in about 60% of all local housing markets in September, led by monthly declines in Calgary, Edmonton, Central Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, London and St. Thomas, Windsor-Essex, and Ottawa. Home sales rose on a month on month basis in Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, the Okanagan region, Mississauga, Durham and York regions of the Greater Toronto Area, Sherbrooke, and the Northern region of Nova Scotia. ‘Affordably priced single family homes are in short supply in some of Canada’s hottest housing markets, which contributed to the monthly decline in national sales activity in September,’ said CREA president Beth Crosbie. ‘That said, there are other markets with ample supply but sellers there are holding firm on price. There is a lot of variation in housing market trends depending on the type of housing, neighbourhood and price segment,’ she added. September sales were up from year ago levels in about 80% of all local markets, led by Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, the Okanagan region, Calgary, Greater Toronto and Montreal. The increase reflects activity in September 2013 that was handicapped by the occurrence of five Sundays, since that day is the lowest volume trading day for home sales. Sales activity for the year to date in September was 5% above where it stood in the first nine months of 2013, and remains broadly in line with the 10 year average for the period. The number of newly listed homes declined by 1.6% in September compared to August. New supply was down in just over half of all local markets, led by Calgary, Edmonton, Greater Toronto, Kingston and Ottawa. The number of months of inventory is another important measure of the balance between housing supply and demand. It represents the number of months it would take to completely liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity. There were 5.9 months of inventory nationally at the end of September 2014, up slightly from 5.8 months in August and slightly below the six months reported in May, June and July. Price growth has been steady at about five to 5.5% since the beginning of the year and year on year price growth accelerated slightly for two storey single family homes and slowed further for apartment units. Price gains for one storey single family homes and townhouse/row units were little changed compared to August. Two storey single family homes continue to post the biggest year on year price gains with… Continue reading
