Uk
Councils to crackdown on mega basement extensions in London
Councils in London are starting to crackdown on wealthy property owners who want to extend their properties underground to create several storeys of living space as well as swimming pools, gyms and car parking. Basement extensions several storeys below the ground have become increasingly popular in some of the capital's most expensive neighbourhoods in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea but often result in complaints from neighbours. Indeed, other home owners are not just worried about the noise and disturbance caused by what can amount to years of work, but also raise concerns about the effect of all this underground work on surrounding properties. These so called ‘iceberg’ homes where more of the living space is underground than above ground have been used by owners to get round strict planning rules but now some councils are changing the regulations which could result in it being harder to get permission to go underground. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is about to introduce restrictions on basement extensions which will limit them to a single story and they will be banned completely from listed buildings. Now Westminster Council has confirmed that basement extensions will require full planning permission and will also be limited to one storey apart from in exceptional circumstances. This means that neighbours will have the opportunity to object to basement extensions through the normal planning process. ‘Residents have been facing an underground epidemic on their quiet residential streets, and I want to help stop the horror stories of people living next to mega basement construction,’ said Robert Davis, Westminster Council's deputy leader. ‘All basements will now go before the council’s planning department, allowing neighbours and local communities to have their say and for developers to demonstrate they will not cause undue harm to neighbours or the character of the area,’ he added. Continue reading
New home building in Australia reaches record high but stamp duty also up
New home building in Australia bounced back in the second quarter of 2015 but overall all home owners are paying more in property tax, new figures show. The number of detached houses beginning construction held steady at a relatively high level, while a rebound in multi-unit dwelling commencements provided the overall lift to reach the highest level for any quarter on record, according to the figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The figures show there was a 0.7% increase in detached home commencements while others, predominantly multi-unit dwellings, jumped by 19.2%, driven by a surge in the state of Victoria. The state recorded over 9,000 multi-unit commencements, which is a record high. In the 12 months to March, almost 205,000 new dwellings were commenced, the first time the 200,000 mark has been breached. According to the Housing Industry Association (HIA) leading indicators suggests that the number of commencements in the June quarter will be even higher. ‘When we get the final result for the 2014/2015 fiscal year it is likely to show more than 210,000 new dwellings were commenced during the year,’ said HIA economist Geordan Murray. A breakdown of the figures show that new home starts increased by 1.9% in New South Wales, by 18.8% in Victoria, 20.9% in Queensland and by 12% in the Northern Territory. But elsewhere, there were sizable declines, most notably in South Australia where the strong result in the December quarter was reversed by an 18% fall. They were down 4.8% in Western Australia, 14.7% in Tasmania and down 14.4% in ACT. However, the HIA is warning that for the whole of the housing market the burden of stamp duty payable on house sales is becoming more of a burden, especially for new builds. Its latest Stamp Duty Watch analysis shows that the property tax has increased across the country. In New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory, the typical stamp duty bill now amounts to over $20,000. Stamp duty bills have increased particularly sharply in NSW and Victoria since late last year, according to Shane Garrett, HIA senior economist. ‘Clearly, stamp duty is a major impediment to housing affordability. It is a particularly onerous tax on new housing. In many instances stamp duty is paid multiple times as transactions occur during the new dwelling’s life cycle. This is one example of the inequitable tax treatment of new housing relative to existing property,’ he explained. ‘Independent research conducted for HIA last year provided compelling evidence of the benefits to Australian living standards and economic growth from the replacement of stamp duty with more efficient, broad based revenue raising measures,’ he added. The highest tax on a typical home is in the Northern Territory at $23,128, followed by New South Wales at $22,490, Victoria at $21,790, Western Australia at $17,053, ACT at $16,350, South Australia at $15,080, Tasmania at $8,735 and Queensland at $5,950. Continue reading
Average property prices in Scotland up 3.5% year on year
Average property prices in Scotland increased by 3.5% to £167,765 in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous year, according to the latest data from the Registers of Scotland. It means that the average price of a home is now at its highest for this quarter since Registers of Scotland began compiling quarterly statistics in 2003. The highest rise was 10.1% recorded in West Dunbartonshire, taking the average price to £120,822, while Edinburgh recorded the highest average at £237,286, a rise of 4.4% compared with the same quarter the previous year. The largest percentage fall in price was in East Renfrewshire, with a drop of 7% taking the average price to £216,565. Sales of property across Scotland increased by of 1.6% on the same quarter the previous year, the highest volume of sales for this quarter since 2008. Glasgow saw the biggest rise in the number of sales with an increase of 17.6% compared to the same period in the previous year. This increase brought Glasgow above Edinburgh in terms of volume with 3,035 residential house sales compared to 3,002 in Edinburgh. This is the first time that the volume of Glasgow sales have exceeded those in Edinburgh since quarter four of 2012. Aberdeenshire sae the biggest decrease in the number of sales with a fall of 18% as in Aberdeenshire, and the total value of sales across Scotland increased by 5.1% compared to the previous year to over £4.14 billion, the highest value of sales for this quarter since 2008. Edinburgh was the largest market with sales of over £712 million for the quarter, an increase of 6.4% on the previous year. West Dunbartonshire recorded the highest increase in value with sales of over £45 million, an increase of 27% compared with the same quarter last year. In terms of type, flats showed the biggest increase in average house price in this quarter, up 4.7% to £133,790. Semi-detached properties also showed an increase of 1.8% on the previous year. Meanwhile detached and terraced properties saw decreases in average house prices of 0.2% and 0.3% respectively. Semi-detached properties and flats both showed an increase in sales volumes, with flats showing the biggest increase at 6.9%. Detached and terraced properties showed a decrease in sales volumes with terraced properties showing the biggest decrease of 3.7%. Property consultancy, CKD Galbraith, said that its own research shows a similar pattern and Simon Brown, partner and head of residential sales at CKD Galbraith, said it is an encouraging picture for the Scottish property market as a whole which has witnessed steady growth over the first half of 2015. ‘The market has improved somewhat post-referendum and we have witnessed a surge in viewings being conducted, the numbers of prospective buyers registering with us and the number of properties coming onto the market, all highlighting a real boost in market confidence both from sellers and buyers alike,’ he explained. ‘We believe this will continue as… Continue reading
