TSI
Newly let property rents up in the UK while others remain stable
Rents in the UK remain stable for renewed and occupied tenancies but continue to increase for newly let properties in the first quarter of 2015, according to the latest rental index. Overall average rents for newly let properties increased 4.5% in the quarter to £894 per calendar month, up from £853 in the fourth quarter of 2014. Arrears continue to decrease in England, Scotland and Wales, a sign that household income is less stretched than a year ago, the index from Countrywide also shows. A breakdown of the figures shows that average rents increase for one and two bedroom properties in the first three months of the year, up 0.8% and 0.4% respectively compared to the previous quarter to £730 and £817. Three and four plus bedroom properties saw rents remain stable with just a 0.1% decrease to £939 and £1,435 per calendar month respectively. However, when looking at March 2015 compared to February 2015 rent increased for three and four bedroom properties by 1.6% and 16.4%. Two bedroom properties see no change in average monthly rent and one bedroom properties a 1.4% decrease. The average monthly rent in the quarter decreased in over half of UK regions, with the greatest decrease in the South East of England, down 1.9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2014 to £1,097. Average rents remain unchanged in the North but increased in central London, up 3.1% to £2,561. Month on month, rents increased in the majority of regions, with the South East seeing the greatest increase, up 14.8% in March compared to February. Average rent decreased the greatest in central London, down 4.4%. The average UK rent for renewed tenancies in March is £848 per calendar month, an increase of 0.8% month on month and 2.3% year on year. By property size, increases and decreases in average monthly rent for renewed tenancies remained relatively unchanged in March when compared to February, apart from one bedroom properties which saw a 4.3% increase. Two bedroom properties see a 0.6% increase, three bedroom properties see a 0.6% decrease, whilst for four plus bedroom properties the average rent remains unchanged. The only region to see a decrease in rents in March was central London, down 2.3% on February to £2,485. All other regions saw no change or an increase in rents, with Wales seeing the greatest increase, up 13% to £654. Year on year, the East of England is the only region to see a decrease in rents, down 0.9% in March 2015 compared to March 2014. The average rent for all occupied rental properties is £840 per calendar month, an increase of 0.2% month on month and 2.4% year on year. By property size, rents for occupied rental properties see marginal changes in rents month on month, with one, two and three bedroom properties seeing an increase of 0.7% 0.3% and 0.2% to £693, £773 and £879 respectively. Four plus bedroom properties see a small decrease of just 0.1%… Continue reading
Buyers and sellers in UK nationwide not put off by election jitters
The UK property market has seen a surge in buyer and seller activity despite reports of election uncertainty with average prices up 0.9% month on month, latest index shows. It takes the average price in March to £206,726, according to the index from haart estate agents, the highest on record and prices are up 5.6% annually. New buyer demand increased 22% month on month and sellers are not being put off by the election with homes for sale up 27%. The data also shows that London property prices have moved out of negative territory, increasing 0.3% annually and 6.7% on the month after falling in February. This takes the average price in the city to £492,119. ‘Our advice to both buyers and sellers has been to enter the property market before heading to the ballot box in May, if they are considering doing so this year,’ said Paul Smith, chief executive officer of haart which has a network of over 200 branches nationwide. ‘History tells us property prices tend to take a swing upward after a general election and even for those current homeowners upsizing, the increase in price on their new home will be greater than any gains made through sitting tight in their current property,’ he explained. ‘Our latest data indicates that prospective buyers and sellers have put their ducks in a row and are entering the market in high levels this spring, undeterred by the whispers of market uncertainty. This in turn has driven up UK property prices by almost 1% in a single month and 5.6% annually,’ he pointed out. Continue reading
Average prime property prices outside London up 1% in first quarter
Growth figures reveal stability in the prime regional markets in the UK with average prices up by 1% outside of London in the first quarter of 2015, according to data from Savills Research. This means that year on year they have risen by 2.2%, despite the increase in stamp duty on sales over £937,500 that was introduced in the Autumn Statement last year and price growth continued to be strongest in the prime urban markets in the first quarter of the year. The firm’s latest Market in Minutes report also shows that in the 30 to 60 minute commuter band around London, prices of prime property in town and city locations have risen by 5.8% year on year. This is the highest of all of the sub-categories of property within Savills’ prime indices. By contrast, prices in the prime London markets are showing annual price falls of 1.6% marking an anticipated turning point in the market, where the gap between the pricing of prime property in London and the regions begins to narrow. Generally the country markets have remained a little more subdued. In particular, the large houses have had to contend with the biggest increases in stamp duty and the threat of a mansion tax in the run up to a general election. So whereas prime country cottages have seen annual price growth of 4.4%, prices of manor houses have on average fallen by 0.8% over the course of the year. Similar concerns have affected the markets on the high value private estates in the South East, such as St George's Hill and Wentworth. However, across the London suburbs and the inner commuter zone, prices have risen by 2.2% in the past year on average, meaning that they are 6.8% above their pre-crunch levels. In England quarterly price growth also returned to markets beyond the commuter zone with prices rising by just over 1% having softened marginally in the wake of the autumn statement. In particular, markets such as Bath and Cheshire are continuing to benefit from demand from aspiring young families and downsizers. Coastal markets that have generally been much slower to recover due to their dependency on discretionary buyers, also showed encouraging signs of increased activity as prices increased by an average of 4.1% over the past year. The divide between prime housing in urban and rural prime locations is also evident in Scotland, where prices rose marginally in the quarter leaving them up by just 0.4% year on year, compared to the prime markets of Edinburgh which are showing 6% annual growth. All of the regions, from the prime suburban towns in striking distance of London to the prime markets of the Midlands and the North, have seen annual price growth. However, there are significant differences in where prices sit relative to their peak in different sectors of the market. This is likely to shape the market over the medium term, says Savills. ‘In the same way that the value gap… Continue reading
