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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
New Zealand seeing increasing number of new homes being built
Building consents for new dwellings are at a higher level in New Zealand than last year, up 12% in April compared with the same month in 2015. In seasonally adjusted terms the number increased by 6.6% but growth has eased in recent months, according to the data from Statistics New Zealand. However, the annual total is still at an 11 year high although most of the growth has been in Auckland and nearby regions, while Canterbury has decreased. The apartments component has been virtually unchanged over the past year, following strong increases during the previous three years. Houses, town houses, and retirement village units have continued to increase. The data also shows that the seasonally adjusted value of residential building work in Auckland grew 13% in the first quarter of 2016 quarter compared with the final quarter of 2015. ‘Auckland residential construction topped $1 billion for the first time in the March 2016 quarter, with another half-billion of non-residential work. Every week this quarter about $120 million worth of building work was put in place in Auckland,’ said business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly. Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith said the country has seen the longest and strongest period of growth in residential construction in its history with four consecutive years of 10% plus growth nationally and 15% plus growth in Auckland. ‘This is important because supply is at the core of New Zealand’s challenges around affordable, social and emergency housing,’ he added. The value of residential and commercial building work for the year to April of $17.6 billion is an all-time high and 14% up on the previous year. The sector is on schedule for 85,000 new homes to be built across New Zealand in this term of Parliament, up from 60,000 last term and for an all-time record of 36,000 homes being built in Auckland, which would be the largest in any Parliamentary term. The figures show a dramatic growth in building activity in the regions. This building boom began in Christchurch in 2012, spread to Auckland in 2014 and is now flowing to centres such as Whangarei, up 53%, Palmerston North up 57%, Queenstown Lakes up 40%. Activity is also up by 26% in Tauranga and in Hamilton while Auckland has seen growth of 15% but Christchurch is down 9%. ‘We are going to need to maintain this strong growth in building activity to keep up with New Zealand’s population growth, which is the result of record numbers of Kiwis coming home,’ said Smith. ‘We intend to continue to roll out a consistent and considered plan to improve housing supply and affordability,’ he added. Continue reading
UK sees sharp expected drop in home lending in April
Lending for home purchases fell by 40% in April compared with the previous month but experts point out this was a blip due to an unusually high level of borrowing in March ahead of stamp duty change. Home owners borrowed £8.1 billion, down 4% compared to a year ago and took out 47,300 loans, down 31% on March and 5% on April 2015, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. First time buyers borrowed £3.9 billion, down 11% on March but up 15% on April last year. This equated to 25,100 loans, down 9% month on month but up 7% year on year. Home movers borrowed £4.3 billion, down 53% on March and 14% compared to a year ago. This represented 22,200 loans, down 46% month on month and 15% on April 2015. Remortgage activity totalled £6 billion, up 25% on March and 40% compared to a year ago. This came to 34,800 loans, up 23% month on month and 30% compared to a year ago. Landlords borrowed £2.5 billion, down 65% month on month and 7% year on year. This came to 16,100 loans in total, down 64% compared to March and down 10% compared to April 2015. Paul Smee, director general of the CML, pointed out that it was not a surprise that lending eased back following the significant rises in activity in March as borrowers looked to beat the second home property stamp duty deadline. ‘We expect the market to take several months to return to its previous levels after the lending surge,’ he added. According to Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS, remortgaging is driving growth in the home loan market. He pointed out that not only were the number of remortgage loans up by almost a third from the year before but it was the greatest number of people remortgaging since July 2009. ‘It’s great to see home owners taking advantage of the favourable environment for remortgaging. Record low interest rates have improved affordability and home owners are sitting on huge amounts of housing equity that they may have been wary of capitalising on previously. The Government is also consulting on seven day switching for faster transactions, the ease of which could drive the incentive for borrowers to revisit their mortgage faster,’ he pointed out. He also pointed out that with prices continuing to rise first time buyers still remain disadvantaged. ‘There are signs of encouragement in the first time buyer market, such as a greater range of high loan-to-value products, but we’ll have to wait patiently for the year to unfold to be able to gauge the impact of this on the market,’ he added. However, Patrick Bamford, business development director for AmTrust Mortgage Insurance, believes that continued low interest rates and a plethora of products mean mortgages are getting cheaper for first time buyers who are spending less of their income servicing their debt. He explained that there was… Continue reading
