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Residential rent gap between London and rest of UK widens again
The gap between the pace of annual rent rises in London and the rest of the UK has widened again after converging over the summer months, the latest index report shows. Rents were up 7.5% year on year in London and 3.5% in the rest of the UK in the third quarter of the year, according to the date from the HomeLet Rental Index. On average London tenants paid £1,560 per calendar month, which is over £800 more per month that the rest of the UK and for the second month in a row rents are now rising most quickly in Scotland, up by 9%. While the pace of rent rises has slowed over the autumn, rent inflation has increased in nine out of 12 regions of the country with the exception of the North West, where rents were 4.9% down, Northern Ireland with a fall of 2.1% and East Anglia down 1.2%. The October index report also includes new research into tenants’ views about the rental market which reveals that a large proportion of tenants are renting their homes for the long term and that they value relationships of trust with landlords and letting agents. Some 64% said that they planned to continue renting for a year or longer and 90% said they were happy with their landlord. However 71% would prefer to buy a home with 66% believing that saving for a deposit is the biggest barrier preventing them from doing so. ‘Our survey showed that many tenants ultimately aspire to own their own home, but that just over half of them aren’t actively saving for a deposit yet. 66% of those questioned said that a deposit wasn’t affordable for them,’ said Martin Totty, chief executive of HomeLet parent company Barbon Insurance Group. ‘However, the positive news is that almost nine out of 10 tenants told us that they were happy with the standard of their current rented property and the majority of tenants told us they were happy with the service provided by their landlord or letting agent,’ he pointed out. ‘Whilst we are seeing upward pressure on the rental market it’s important that the sector continues to drive professional standards forwards for mutual benefit of tenants, landlords and letting agents,’ he added. Continue reading
First time buyers need average earnings of £50,000 to buy a home
First time buyers in the UK need to earn on average of £50,000 a year to get on the property ladder, new research reveals. However, in 51 out of 65 cities, the average salary is below the minimum required to buy a flat, according to the study from comparison website GoCompare. The most affordable place to buy in the UK is Blackburn where a salary of £14,000 a year could be enough to buy a flat but a minimum household income of £140,000 a year is needed to buy a flat in London. In the capital a minimum of £275,000 is needed to buy a detached house where the average price is at £869,415 yet the median average salary in the capital is just £30,338. So Blackburn is almost 10 times cheaper than London. The median average salary in the Lancashire town is £18,444, making it one of the few places in the UK that are affordable. After Blackburn, the cheapest places to buy property are Hull, Blackpool, Grimsby and Stoke-on-Trent where a salary of just £15,000 could be enough to purchase a flat. Outside of London it is Brighton, Edinburgh, Bristol and Oxford which are the most costly. Minimum salaries to get on the property ladder in these cities are £60,000, £60,000, £58,000 and £54,000 respectively. ‘Although owning a home may be achievable in places like Blackburn and Sunderland, in other parts of the country the rapid rise in property value and a growing urban population is pricing many of the British public out of home ownership,’ said Ben Wilson, home insurance expert at GoCompare. ‘London’s high prices are well documented, but it’s in other parts of the south of England that the gap between average salary and average house price is at its most alarming, with places like Brighton requiring a minimum household income of £180,000 to afford a detached house,’ he added. Continue reading
A good haggle helps home buyers pay less, new research shows
When it comes to buying a new home the majority of UK buyers are prepared to haggle and usually save money as a result, new research has found. Which? Mortgage Advisers asked people who had bought a property in the past five years what their initial offer was, whether they negotiated and what they eventually paid. The survey found that 73% of home buyers initially offered below the asking price for their property, and as many as 66% were successful in securing their property for less than the advertised price. Home buyers in Wales and the Midlands were the happiest to negotiate, with 79% and 78% respectively initially offering less than the asking price. In comparison, only 60% of home buyers in London initially offered less. Buyers in Wales, Birmingham and Manchester had the most success when negotiating, with 74% in Wales and 69% in Birmingham and Manchester securing their homes for less than the advertised price. Those that paid the asking price or more cited a number of reasons for doing so, but generally they were motivated by the stiff competition for properties. Indeed, some 25% who paid the asking price or above said that this was due to competition for their dream home, and 21% said that they were involved in a bidding war. ‘Don't be afraid to haggle, even if you've already set your heart on a property, as unless you're in a very competitive market, it will be expected. Having knowledge of the seller's position and the local market is a good idea and can often help secure the property for less,’ said David Blake from Which? Mortgage Advisers . ‘Today's property market has become incredibly fast paced and so for those requiring mortgages, seeking advice early will put you in a strong position to move quickly,’ he added. Continue reading
