Uk
One if five homes for sale in London is priced at £1 million or more
With property prices in London continuing to rise new research shows that one in five homes for sale are listed at £1 million or more. London is one of the most expensive cities in the world for property and the research from estate agent eMoov shows that 20% of all London properties currently listed for sale are priced at over a million pounds. The firm analysed current stock levels across all of the major portals, recording the total levels listed for each London borough, before comparing this to the level of stock listed for £1 million or more and also researched the same percentage of stock across the capital as a whole. The borough with the highest number of properties for sale at over £1 million was Westminster with 63%, followed by South Kensington and Chelsea at 62%. There is a considerable gap to the next highest which is Camden with 43%. In contrast in the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham there are no properties for sale for a £1 million or more and surrounding boroughs have very few. For example in Newham, Bexley and Waltham Forest only 1% of homes for sale are prices at £1 million or more and in Redbridge and Havering it is 2%, in Lewisham 3% and Greenwich 5%. ‘When people think of London they accept prices are through the roof. Even though the average house price in Barking and Dagenham is considerably lower than the London average at £253,000, it still trumps the UK average by tens of thousands of pounds,’ said eMoov chief executive officer Russell Quirk. ‘In a market as inflated as London where stock is scarce and demand is overwhelming, it's quite remarkable that there is still an entire borough without even one property at the £1 million mark or over,’ he pointed out. ‘With prices across London continuing to rise, surely it won’t be long before Barking and Dagenham will see some of its properties priced at £1 million or above. Despite this, our latest research shines yet another spotlight on how unaffordable London is from a property point of view,’ he explained. ‘When you consider that across a city as vast and as populated as London, one in every five properties will cost you a six digit price tag, it really is disheartening for the aspiring London home owner,’ he added. Continue reading
Research reveals a surge in residential investment in Lisbon
Lisbon has seen a surge in residential investment and development activity in the last two years, according to new research. The city is emerging from economic difficulties in a nation which underwent an European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout in 2011 and various initiatives are helping to revive its property markets, says the report from international real estate firm Savills. It points out that reform of Portugal’s residential tenancy laws, coupled with inward investor incentives, has spurred wide scale regeneration of the built environment, helping Lisbon to foster economic recovery faster than other parts of the country. Indeed, some €1.56 billion has been injected into Portugal’s residential markets since the golden visa programme was launched in 2012 and the bulk of this has gone into Lisbon. New apartments are being constructed and historic buildings are being redeveloped to meet modern day occupier demands. The report also points out that Portugal is now emerging from recession and the national economy grew by 1.5% in 2015, and is forecast to grow by a further 1.4% in 2016, just below the Eurozone average of 1.6%. Unemployment now stands at 12%, down from a high of almost 18% in January 2013. As part of its bailout package, Portugal was required to implement structural reforms to improve long term growth, productivity and competitiveness while reducing its deficit. Portuguese companies have increasingly focused efforts to grow their business abroad. This has fuelled exports, which are up 29.3% since 2010. New incentives for inward investment into Portugal’s residential markets were developed, helping to revive the residential sector and one effect of the financial crisis was to foster greater entrepreneurship, and Lisbon has emerged as a centre for tech companies and start-ups. The report explains that historically Portugal’s leasing market was protectionist, pro-tenant and gave little incentive for landlords to enter the market. As a result, Portugal’s home ownership rate is high, with an owner occupation rate of 75%. In 2012, the government introduced reforms to the leasing market, leading to greater flexibility in lease terms and, making the investment market more appealing to investors. This quickly attracted the attention of new developers and institutional investors. Improved market conditions have also fuelled big ticket commercial investment volumes. In total, $1.96 billion (€1.71bn) was invested into Lisbon’s commercial markets in 2015, of which $1bn (€0.87bn) came from the United States. Investors from the UK, Spain, Singapore, Switzerland and Germany, among others, have also been active in the last four years. Portugal launched one of the world’s most successful golden visa schemes in 2012. A minimum investment in real estate of €500,000 grants the non-EU buyer a visa and, in the longer term, a route to an EU passport. Foreigners need only be resident in Portugal for seven days in the first year of residency. By January 2015, the scheme had brought €1.56 billion of new investment into Portugal’s residential markets, the bulk into Lisbon. Some 2,697 golden visa residence permits have been… Continue reading
Landlords in UK divided over whether the country should leave or stay in the EU
One in three residential landlords in the UK are still undecided about whether they will vote to leave or remain in the upcoming referendum on the European Union, according to new research. The landlord panel survey from the National Landlords Association (NLA) is published a little over a week before the referendum on 23 June which will decide whether or not the UK stays in the EU. The findings show that landlords are evenly split, with 35% intending to vote leave and 35% intending to vote to remain with the rest undecided. Landlords were also divided about whether EU membership would be beneficial to their future business prospects, with 53% believing that EU membership would be beneficial and 47% believing it would be harmful. Regionally, more landlords in London intend to vote to remain in the EU than anywhere else in the UK at 45%. By contrast, more landlords in the North East intend to vote to leave than anywhere else in the UK, with 44% saying they will do so. A breakdown of the survey figures show that in Scotland 42% want to remain and 30% to leave while in Wales it is just 20% who would vote to remain and 40% to leave. Elsewhere it is pretty evenly split with 38% in the East of England for remaining and 40% to leave. In the South West it is 35% and 36% respectively, in the North West it is also 35% and 36%, in the South East it is30% and 37%, while in Yorkshire and Humber it is 33% and 29%. In the West Midlands 31% want to remain and 40% to leave and it is even more diverse in the East Midlands with just 24% opting to remain and 40% to leave. And in London some 45% in the central area want to remain and 29% to leave but in outer London it is 37% and 34%. ‘Landlords, much like the rest of the British public, are divided on how they will vote in the EU referendum which means the decision looks to go down to the wire,’ said Richard Lambert, chief executive officer at the NLA. ‘The Remain and Leave campaigns have both had difficulty persuading the public on the benefits or hazards of a Brexit vote, and they have struggled to provide any clear analysis about the impact exiting the EU would have on the buy to let market,’ he explained. ‘As a result, landlords appear more likely to vote in this referendum based on their attitudes to issues such as national security, trade, and immigration, rather than the effect on the UK property market or their businesses,’ he added. Continue reading
