You may want to take a quick look at this video that highlights why the UK property market currently offers an incredible opportunity for those brave enough to be bold
Up to 3,205 homes in London are on hold
Up to 3,205 homes in London are on hold until development finance can be secured, according to research published today by CB Richard Ellis.
The firm said that in Greater London there were 15 schemes that have stalled due to funding constraints and a further 6 developments where planning is being reviewed to make them easier to fund.
It said that this planning pipeline could stimulate house building in the capital and go some way towards satisfying the growing lack of supply.
However, CBRE said that difficulties in obtaining mortgage finance is hindering the sales market and contributing to direct financial constraints, which has resulted in many schemes with full planning permission not being progressed.
Jennet Siebrits, head of residential research at CB Richard Ellis, said: “Central London residential development has a clear eastward bias with notable construction hubs in Islington and Canary Wharf, where there is a significant planning pipeline. While some developers have deliberately halted development until the market improves, the principal reason for delays is funding, particularly in the case of large sites.’’
House prices are fairly priced
By one measure, house prices are looking quite reasonable.
Are house prices fair?
House prices are currently valued at about 3.4 times our earnings. The long-term house-price to earnings ratio is about 3.1 times our incomes, so prices, by this measure at least, seem pretty fair today.
This may be very surprising to you, not least because some lenders have, until recently, been lending more than eight times joint-customers’ salaries, albeit to a minority of customers, but because by other reports we’ve been paying around twice as much.
There are two reasons why the figures are so different. Firstly, many people calculate this ratio based on the average man’s salary only. This may have worked in the 1950s, when our data for historical comparisons begins, but it clearly doesn’t today. I based my calculation on a whole man’s income and half a woman’s income. Any household with two full incomes will find it even easier to buy. – Article from lovemoney.com Feb 2nd 2011
2011 – The year of the house swap
‘House swapping’ as an alternative to the traditional holiday is set to rocket this year – according to new research.
The findings from Lloyds TSB Insurance reveal that in total 1.6 million holidaymakers have arranged a house swap in 2011, twice the number that did so last year.
But it can be a risky business, with many home-swappers rushing into their trades without proper planning – meaning they’re ill-prepared should their fellow exchangers damage their property or possessions.
This negates the primary reason for many of the swaps, with more than half of Brits (51 per cent) opting for a home-exchange as a cost-effective holiday alternative.
This may be why the top house-swap hotspots can be found so close to home, with Cornwall (34%) topping the list of exchange destinations. Devon (19%), Scotland (16%) and the Lake District (16%) have also proved to be firm favourites.
Lloyds Banking Group has struck 900 mortgage brokers
Lloyds Banking Group has struck 900 mortgage brokers off its panel over the last three years after uncovering suspected fraudulent practices.
This week’s Money Marketing also reveals that around 300 brokers have been removed from Lloyds’ panel over the last year.
Practices such as over inflating income and fraudulent applications have led to brokers being suspended for interim periods of three, six or 12 months. In some cases Lloyds has stopped working with brokers on a permanent basis.
Money Marketing understands that some cases have come to light during the application process, while others have been flagged as part of Lloyds’ post-sale reviews.
Tenant demand soars by 19% in third quarter
More than 61,000 new tenants registered for rental accommodation in the third quarter of the year, a 19% increase on the previous quarter according to property group, Countrywide.
The group’s figures showed that tenant numbers had jumped 44% since the beginning of 2010, with July recording the highest number of tenant applications for a single month since records began, at 20,000.
Full article can be accessed here
Multiple Occupancy Landlords Beware HMRC’s New Position on Communal Areas
HM Revenue & Customs latest Business Brief treats some communal areas as dwellings.
HMRC’s Business Brief 45/10 has set out their position regarding kitchens and other communal areas for multiple occupancy dwellings such as student accommodation. This update has been awaited for some time. In summary, areas such as kitchens and lounges will now be treated as dwellings alongside tenants’ private rooms. This may have implications for VAT, and for expenditure otherwise eligible for Capital Allowances, incurred on or after 22 October 2010. Common areas such as stairs, lifts and lobbies will not be treated as comprising part of the “dwellings”.
The original article can be accessed here
What Britain can learn from the German property market
One could argue forever about whether house prices are too high or not. Or even about whether they are affordable or not.
Assume that interest rates will never rise. Then assume that unemployment won’t rise either and that real wages won’t fall, and you can make a perfectly reasonable case to suggest that, at current levels, in terms of the percentage of an income required to service a mortgage, house prices are perfectly affordable.
The full article can be accessed here
UK house prices fell by 3.6% in September
Now the good news: UK house prices fell by 3.6% in September. Last month’s figures from the Halifax constituted the worst monthly fall since figures were first compiled nearly three decades ago. That certainly looks like bad news in a country full of homeowners, whose confidence in the economy as a whole rests largely on whether the value of their principal asset is heading north or south. Certainly, those who deal in carpets, furniture and white goods will not be celebrating.
Yet this is only half the story. As the International Monetary Fund warned this week, house prices are artificially high and this puts the whole recovery at risk. In recent months prices have been volatile and nobody should panic about one month’s bad figures. In fact, while a steep fall in house prices risks pushing Britain into a double-dip recession, a modest downward drift would restore some realism to the market. It would also help bring more property within the reach of first-time buyers, if (and it is a big if) they can obtain mortgages. In a recent survey for the Council of Mortgage Lenders, 80% of respondents cited “Young people cannot afford to buy” as the major UK housing problem. And the few that do get on to the ladder, often with help from the “Bank of Mum & Dad”, risk overstretching their finances if interest rates begin to rise.
For full article click on this link
Grant Shapps: A sensible approach to manage shared homes
Landlords and councils will no longer be faced with bureaucracy aimed at micro-managing rented housing,…Housing Minister Grant Shapps confirmed today.
The Minister laid new regulations that could cut as many as 8,500 planning applications from the system, freeing up councils to focus on local priorities. Currently landlords have to submit a planning application to rent their properties to unrelated tenants – known as Houses in Multiple Occupation. Regulations published today will ensure councils only have to use this power where they know high concentrations of shared homes are a problem.
The full article can be read
at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/1708229
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