TSI
New home building in Australia reaches 20 year high
New home building in Australia has reached a 20 year high, heralding a recovery in the industry, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA), the voice of Australia’s residential building industry. According to HIA senior economist, Shane Garrett, back in early 2012 when activity was so low, the prospect of breaking through 180,000 starts within a couple of years was beyond almost everybody’s most optimistic expectations. But the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics are not all good news as the multi-unit dwelling segment saw a sharp fall during the second quarter of this year, with detached house building also nudging down a little. On the renovations side, the volume of work done also fell, with a 3% reduction in activity during the June 2014 quarter. But overall new housing starts totalled 45,527 in seasonally-adjusted terms. Despite representing a 6.9% decline on the previous quarter, these figures mean that total starts during 2013/2014 was 180,833, the highest 12 month total since March 1995. Detached house commencements slipped by 1.1% during the quarter while other dwellings saw a 15% slide in seasonally adjusted terms. The new HIA Economics report Housing Australia’s Future estimates that about 186,000 new homes will be required annually between now and the year 2050. ‘Even in such a strong upturn, we are still short of this requirement today. This is a stark illustration of the serious supply side issues which will need addressing,’ said Garrett. ‘A number of factors continue to plague the capacity of the new home building sector. These include high taxation, stamp duties, planning restrictions, and delays in making residential land available,’ he explained. ‘Failure to tackle these constraints will mean that the ability of the industry to provide for Australia’s long term housing requirements will continue to be seriously undermined,’ he added. A breakdown of the figures show that new home starts in the June quarter fell by 12.3% in New South Wales, by 3.3% in Victoria, by 1.3% in Queensland, by 1.7% in South Australia and by 48% in the ACT. Three states saw building commencements rise during the quarter. They were up 2% in Western Australia, by 28.7% in Tasmania and by 18.3% in the Northern Territory. Continue reading
New online services launches to help UK landlords with immigration checks
A new service for UK landlords has been launched to help them cope with the new legislation that means they must check the immigration status of potential tenants before agreeing a rental. The first groups of landlords will be required to undertake the checks from December 2014 under a pilot scheme in the West Midlands with the requirement being rolled out across the rest of the country in 2015. The new online Ready Rentals system has been created to help landlords who will have to ask those applying to live in one of their properties for proof of their right to reside in the UK such as a passport, right of abode certificate, or alternative documents that confirm their immigration status. Under the Immigration Act a landlord failing to comply could receive a fine of up to £3,000 and the new rules have already stirred up much feeling amongst the private rented sector, making it a controversial topic, with some questioning whether it is the landlord's place to act as 'immigration officer' in this way. Others fear the additional weight of responsibility on private landlords might negatively affect the industry, putting people off renting out their properties as they struggle to cope with the changing legislative demands. ‘The immigration issue is a hot topic at the moment, with the government and opposition openly debating their approach to the nation's growing problem, but I don't see this new legislation merely having been presented as a vote-winner. Checking a tenant's immigration status is not only beneficial to the country as a whole, it also helps the landlord to feel more assured that they will receive their rent successfully,’ said Neil Woodhead, founder of Ready Rentals. ‘For some it can feel as though the legislation that private landlords have to follow is constantly changing, and this can be daunting for many. Yet it is important that private landlords face this, and other legal demands placed upon them, in a thorough manner. The result is legal compliance and a professional service for tenants, a win-win for all,’ he added. Just one of the issues that Ready Rentals will address, the new immigration laws will be fully supported by the service, providing landlords in the West Midlands and further afield when it is rolled out, with access to all the advice and referencing systems needed to ensure that they meet the new demands of the immigration legislation. Woodhead explained that the online system will be available for an affordable annual fee and aims to make the life of a private landlord easy and the service they offer legally compliant and seamless, addressing concerns and providing invaluable answers to problems faced by individual landlords. This is achieved by providing access to all the documentation needed to become a private landlord, a tailored system to suit individual needs; continually updating advice on statutory regulations and letting a property; providing the ability to market online to major portals; giving information on general marketing and advertising;… Continue reading
HMRC figures shows UK property sales cooling
Sales of properties in the UK fell by 4.8% between August and September but are still 5% higher compared to the same period in 2013, the latest data shows. The figures from HMRC show that the provisional seasonally adjusted sales count reached 97,450 residential sales and 7,880 non-residential. The pattern since the beginning of the 2013/2014 financial year has been of a general month on -month increase in transactions for the seasonally adjusted data until February 2014, then a gradual decrease followed by a flattening out of transaction numbers. According to David Newnes, director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, the figures show that the property market is settling back into a period of steadier growth after toning down the temperature in the last few months. ‘Price growth has cooled, with September seeing the lowest monthly increase in property prices so far this year and transactions have also dipped on a monthly basis. Some of that energy loss is a consequence of lower lending levels, which dipped in July and August,’ he explained. ‘Some is down to a drop off in demand at the higher end of the market, as foreign investors rein back their purchases while sterling stays strong. Uncertainty over rate rises completes a trio of hesitation, although it has been made clear that eventual rate rises will be brought in gradually,’ he added. He also pointed out that while the market may appear to rebalancing, demand at the lower end remains positive, with sales of typical first-time buyer properties like flats stable. ‘Greater availability of higher LTV loans enables more new buyers to get onto the housing ladder,’ said Newnes. ‘Help to Buy has played a vital role in this regard, and has inspired much more confidence in the lower end of the market, confidence which is now being translated into a sustained demand for first time buyer property,’ he added. Continue reading
