TSI
Two thirds of buyers in England and Wales to benefit from stamp duty tax change
More than two thirds of buyers in England and Wales will benefit from the stamp duty changes announced last year and it is set to stimulate housing market activity. According to a new analysis of land registry prices by the Nationwide Building Society some 86% of housing transactions in London and the South East should benefit and 85% of transactions in Cardiff North will see a reduction in stamp duty payable. This comes as the slab structure of the tax was completely abolished, with purchasers paying the marginal tax rate on the relevant elements of the purchase price. Overall some 98% of buyers will pay the same or less tax and only those purchasing homes costing between £937,500 and £1 million or more than £1,125,000 are set to pay more. The Nationwide report says that the new marginal SDLT should help to remove the distortions caused by the slab structure, which led to a clustering of transactions. The greatest impact is likely to be for homeowners looking to buy property just above £250,000, who could save around £5,000 in tax or around 2% of the purchase price. Based on 2013/2014 transactions data from the Land Registry, nearly 590,000 purchasers in England and Wales would benefit under the new regime, with an average benefit of around £1,600. The benefits tend to be greater in areas where average house prices are higher and thus a higher proportion of transactions are liable for stamp duty. The report estimates that 86% of transactions in London and the South East regions would benefit from the changes, compared with around 50% across the North East, North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber. A further breakdown of the figures show that only a small number of sales would see people paying more while a large number would see no change. In England and Wales as a whole 71% would benefit, 28% see no difference and 2% would pay more. So, in London 86% would benefit, 7% would see no change and 7% would pay more. In the South East 86% would benefit, 13% would see no change and just 2% would pay more while in the East of England 81% would benefit, 18% see no change and 1% pay more. Elsewhere no one would pay more. In the South West 81% would benefit and 18% would see no difference. In the West Midlands it is 61% and 39%, in the East Midlands 58% and 42%, in Yorkshire and the Humber 53% and 43%, in the North West 51% and 49% and in the North East 45% and 54%. While in Wales it is 53% and 47%. Continue reading
Plans for over 400,000 new homes in London announced
The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has set out plans to help London meet its need for over 400,000 homes, including the establishment of a London Land Commission. The new commission, based at the Greater London Authority, will be tasked with identifying public sector brownfield land that is no longer needed in London, to help ensure that all of the capital’s brownfield sites are developed by 2025, and help meet its target of over 400,000 new homes by 2025. The Land Commission’s work will pave the way for hundreds of thousands of new homes in the capital on brownfield and public sector land and the Chancellor and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, also confirmed the creation of nine new Housing Zones on brownfield land. The Housing Zones will be in Greenwich, Bexley, Barking and Dagenham, Wandsworth, Harrow, Hounslow, Lewisham, Ealing and Haringey and will have access to funding set aside to deliver affordable housing. Osborne explained that the Housing Zones are a new approach being used by the government, to get new homes built quickly and this investment will support and accelerate the construction of up to 30,000 new homes, of which around a third will be affordable homes. ‘We face massive demographic pressures in our city and it is absolutely vital that we build the high quality stock of housing we need to cope. We will not solve the problem without massively expanding the supply of housing and the plans confirmed today will help do that, which is fantastic for our city,’ said Johnson. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said that the measures for London will help regenerate brownfield land, provide more homes and protect the Green Belt around the city. Continue reading
Quarter of UK lettings agents report higher rents in first month of 2015
One in four letting agents in the UK have seen private sector rents rise at the beginning of 2015, according to the first of a new monthly report from the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). The index tracks key market trends within the private rented sector and also found that London has the highest demand for rental property in the UK and on average it takes five viewings for a property to be let. The January report, which was conducted among ARLA members, reveals that on average 27% of licenced branches saw an increase in the cost of monthly rent for tenants from December 2014 to January 2015. The East of England, which includes Bedford, Cambridge and Norwich, saw the highest number of landlords increasing rent per calendar month, with 35% of ARLA letting agents reporting an increase in the New Year. Welsh agents on the other hand only saw 11% of landlords increasing monthly rent, leaving less tenants facing rising costs. ‘The new ARLA Private Rented Sector Report is designed to gain invaluable insight on the lettings market month to month from ARLA member agents,’ said David Cox, managing director of ARLA. ‘With house prices still high, along with stricter lending criteria for mortgages, the rental market is currently a much more accessible and affordable option to buying. Due to this, the demand for rental property is increasing, which impacts the cost of renting and people are willing to pay more to secure their desired property. If house prices continue to rise in 2015, we expect this trend to continue in the rental sector,’ he explained. Despite rising rent costs, on average, ARLA letting agents reported it takes around five viewings for a property to be taken off the market. Whilst rent increased the most in the East of England, ARLA letting agents revealed it also only takes an average of three viewings for a property to be let in the region. This is less than half the viewings it takes for properties in London, which take an average of seven viewings. ‘With rental properties in the East of England being quickly snapped up off the market, people don’t appear to be put off by the rising cost of rent in the region. Clearly property in the area is popular and this will be an interesting trend to watch,’ said Cox. ARLA licensed agents reported an average of 38 prospective tenants registered per branch in January. Unsurprisingly this was the highest in London, with an average 45 registered prospective tenants per branch. However, it seems that unlike the sales market, there is more supply in the rental market. The average number of managed rental properties per branch was 184. The highest was recorded in East Midlands at an average of 266 per branch, while the lowest was recorded in London at… Continue reading
