Tag Archives: css
London’s Midtown saw highest levels of commercial rental growth in first half of year
Midtown experienced the highest levels of rental growth of any central London office market in the first half of 2014, according to new research by IPD and Farebrother. Offices rents in Midtown increased 5.9% in the six months to June 2014, ahead of the West End and The City, which posted growth of 5.6% and 4.7% respectively. Data from IPD and Farebrother shows that rents in Midtown, which exceed £70 per square foot at prime buildings, now exceed pre-2008 levels by 1.3%. The unparalleled rental growth in Midtown, driven by a strong occupational market, is pushing capital forwards and the data shows they grew 9% in the first half of the year alone. This was comfortably ahead of the central London average of 8%, albeit marginally behind the West End, where values increased by 9.5% over the same period. Capital values have been the key driver of performance in the Midtown office market, where returns surged to 11.1% in the first half of 2014, almost double the performance posted in the same period last year. This is set against a backdrop of central London Offices delivering a return of 10.6% for the same period, with only the West End, perennially Europe’s best performing market, delivering superior returns at 11.4%. ‘Midtown is central London’s most over-subscribed office market. The demand/supply imbalance means that availability is likely to drop below 4% at some point,’ said Alastair Hilton, head of investment at Farebrother ‘The strength of the occupational market is really driving rental growth, and we are seeing leasing deals being done at unprecedented levels on prime assets. This is really underpinning performance throughout Midtown, where returns have increased significantly since the same period last year. The challenge for investors is the lack of liquidity in the market set against an increasingly competitive background,’ he added. According to Colm Lauder, IPD senior associate, Midtown has proven to be a strong location for investors since the central London office market started to recover, leading investor total returns for six of the quarters in the last two years. ‘Over the past five years, capital values and rents have been on an upward trajectory in Midtown, driven by robust occupier demand across a broad spectrum of industry sectors,’ he pointed out. ‘Given these market fundamentals, Midtown will remain one of central London’s most compelling investment propositions for the foreseeable future,’ he added. Continue reading
Almost two thirds of tenants think they will never be able to buy a home
Nearly two thirds of tenants in private rental accommodation in the UK believe they will never be able to buy a home of their own, according to new research. Just 35% of tenants think they will be able to get on the property ladder, says the survey results from online letting agents Property Let By Us. It says that rising rents and soaring house prices have made property ownership a distant dream for many tenants. The number of people living in private rented accommodation has risen from 2.2 million in 2002/2003 to nearly 3.9 million last year. The number of people renting from private landlords now outstrips those in council and housing association homes for the first time. Half of those renting privately are under the age of 34, with private rentals outstripping social housing for the first time, according to data from the Department for Communities and Local Government. Home ownership has fallen to its lowest level for a quarter of a century and the number of people renting has almost doubled. More than a third of England's 14.3 million home owners are now aged 65 and over as young people have been frozen off the property ladder. Just 1.4 million home owners are aged between 25 and 34, the age group most likely to be raising families, while 96,000 are aged between 16 and 24. ‘Recent figures show that house prices leaped by another £18,000 in the year to August, hitting yet another record high of £189,306 on average,’ said Jane Morris, managing director of Property Let By Us. ‘This is more bad news for would be home buyers. The reality is that home ownership is changing in the UK and over the next 10 years, we are going to see increasing numbers of people renting rather than buying. Rising rents have meant that many tenants, particularly young people have been unable to save a deposit and the recent mortgage changes have made it even harder to secure funding,’ she explained. She pointed out that the growing demand for rental accommodation is good news for landlords. But as the market continues to expand, it evitable that this will bring greater Government scrutiny to the sector. Legislative changes like immigration will put more and more responsibility on landlords and tighter controls will have to be introduced to ensure basic standards of accommodation are maintained and any deviance is punished effectively,’ said Morris. ‘Professional and law abiding landlords will benefit hugely from this expanding market with rising asset values, increased tenant demand and good, stable rental income,’ she added. Continue reading
Survey reveals extent of UK residential tenant fears over maintenance issues
One in five tenants in the UK has been evicted by their landlord or agent for complaining about problems, such as faulty boilers and leaking roofs, it is claimed. A survey conducted by online lettings agents PropertyLetByUs, also reveals that nearly a third of tenants are fearful of evictions if they complain about maintenance issues. The most common cause of complaints are faulty boilers at 28%, followed by leaking roofs at 22%, faulty showers and mould and condensation at 14%, leaking bathroom and window locks at 10%, broken windows at 8% and finally smoke alarms, pests and vermin at 6%. The research also shows that some tenants are waiting a long time to get problems fixed. Nearly 20% of tenants are having to wait one to two months, while 12% of tenants have experienced landlords that never fix the problem. Just a third report their landlord fixes problems quickly within a couple of days. ‘It is shocking that tenants are living in fear of being evicted and that many have to wait a considerable amount of time to get problems fixed. Landlords have a duty of care for their tenants and leaving problems, such as faulty boilers can be very dangerous and put lives at risk,’ said the firm’s managing director Jane Morris. She explained that there has been a lot of industry discussion on so called revenge evictions over the last few months. For example, there was a case earlier this year of a tenant who was ordered to leave his home in Ashford, Kent because the boiler in his £695 a month home kept failing. ‘It us a worrying trend. According to Shelter, in the past year alone, more than 200,000 people have faced eviction. It’s high time the government considered a system to encourage more good landlords into the market to increase the stock available and its quality,’ said Morris. ‘I welcome the calls made by the industry for extra tax breaks to improve private rental housing and fully support the call for effective regulation to tackle rogue landlords,’ she added. PropertyLetByUs has put together some guidelines on landlord response times for tenant complaints. It points out that landlords and agents have a duty of care to advise tenants on the correct course of action while contractors are organised, such as turning off gas taps, water stop cocks or main electricity supplies, to ensure that any problem does not cause danger to life and property. Any gas or major electrical fault is classed as urgent and should be attended to within 24 hours or less. This also applies when heating or hot water is affected, especially during cold weather. Water leaks should be dealt with within 24 hours, cookers within 48 hours and other broken appliances such as washing machines and dish washers should be attended to within 72 hours. ‘Communication is key and the landlord or agent should keep the tenant… Continue reading
