Department of Communities and Local Government House Price Index:
According to the Department of Communities and Local Government's latest House Price Index, annual average house prices paid for new properties in April 2010 were 7.6 per cent higher than a year ago. This is a sizeable increase from the 1.3% increase seen in March.
In the month to April, there was an increase of 5.6% in the price paid for new properties, a significant increase compared to April 2009 which saw a rise of 0.6%. Meanwhile the annual house price growth rate for pre-owned dwellings remained the same at 10.3 per cent in April, compared to March.
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Monday, 14 June 2010
Shortage of Affordable Homes/ Worldwide Property Group: Buyers Still Confident
A new report from The National Housing Federation (NHF) has suggested that the number of affordable homes being built this year could decline by as much 65%.
Changes to the planning system combined with funding cuts could result in as few as 21,000 homes being built. Housing Minister Grant Shapps, warned last week that up to 150 social housing projects were in danger, due to a £610m "black hole" in the government's finances.
In light of their findings, the NHF has contacted housing Minister Grant Shapps to urge the government to honour its spending commitments on new housing developments. The NHF's chief executive David Orr, warned: "The building of affordable homes could potentially grind to a halt this year - with all housebuilding, including private developer construction, falling off a cliff."
However, Shapps responded: "Houses cannot be built by targets that don't work with money that doesn't exist." Instead, he argued that the government is planning to create incentives for new developments, while as part of the Big Society vision, communities would be able to "develop their own vision" for what building would benefit their local area most.
Housebuilders, in both the private and public sectors, have suffered badly during the property market's recession lead slump. The last three years have seen a steady decline in the numbers of homes being built, especially in high demand areas such as London and the South. A preference over the last five years for building flats and apartments, more suited to by-to-let investments rather than new home owners, has further worsened the situation.
Despite the seemingly constant stream of gloom and doom, a new report from Worldwide Property Group, claims that buyer confidence remains high. In the May survey, 84% of respondents felt that the current time was a great time to buy property in the UK, whilst 68% felt that now is also a good time to consider overseas property purchases, with 53% considering purchasing a foreign property. Areas favoured by those looking to buy abroad include the US, Caribbean, Turkey and Spain.
Interestingly, only 6% said that they expect the UK house prices to fall in the next year, with 61% saying that they were buoyed by historically low interest rates and 49% citing low rates as their motivation to buy UK property.
Given last weeks mixed figures from the various House Price Indices, with one actually showing a slight fall in house prices, and the continuing fall in the strength of the pound, it would be interesting to see if the Worldwide Property Group survey returns similar results this month!
Changes to the planning system combined with funding cuts could result in as few as 21,000 homes being built. Housing Minister Grant Shapps, warned last week that up to 150 social housing projects were in danger, due to a £610m "black hole" in the government's finances.
In light of their findings, the NHF has contacted housing Minister Grant Shapps to urge the government to honour its spending commitments on new housing developments. The NHF's chief executive David Orr, warned: "The building of affordable homes could potentially grind to a halt this year - with all housebuilding, including private developer construction, falling off a cliff."
However, Shapps responded: "Houses cannot be built by targets that don't work with money that doesn't exist." Instead, he argued that the government is planning to create incentives for new developments, while as part of the Big Society vision, communities would be able to "develop their own vision" for what building would benefit their local area most.
Housebuilders, in both the private and public sectors, have suffered badly during the property market's recession lead slump. The last three years have seen a steady decline in the numbers of homes being built, especially in high demand areas such as London and the South. A preference over the last five years for building flats and apartments, more suited to by-to-let investments rather than new home owners, has further worsened the situation.
Despite the seemingly constant stream of gloom and doom, a new report from Worldwide Property Group, claims that buyer confidence remains high. In the May survey, 84% of respondents felt that the current time was a great time to buy property in the UK, whilst 68% felt that now is also a good time to consider overseas property purchases, with 53% considering purchasing a foreign property. Areas favoured by those looking to buy abroad include the US, Caribbean, Turkey and Spain.
Interestingly, only 6% said that they expect the UK house prices to fall in the next year, with 61% saying that they were buoyed by historically low interest rates and 49% citing low rates as their motivation to buy UK property.
Given last weeks mixed figures from the various House Price Indices, with one actually showing a slight fall in house prices, and the continuing fall in the strength of the pound, it would be interesting to see if the Worldwide Property Group survey returns similar results this month!
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Low Carbon Building Programme (LCBP) Closed To New Applicants
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced that it will be closing the Low Carbon Building Programme, to new applicants. Introduced by the labour government, to date the programme has provided over 20,000 grants, with over half going to applicants seeking to install Microgeneration equipment.
Citing government cuts of £6 billion to departmental spending over the next year, as the reason behind the move, The Department of Energy and Climate Change has reassured members that outstanding agreements will be honoured.
Meanwhile, it is hoped that £3 million will be saved by immediately closing the programme to new applicants, with further savings being achieved over the course of the year by cutting or slowing down planned expenditure.
Given the challenging and costly agenda of developing renewable heat and decarbonising the heating sector, the cuts are a serious blow to advocates of green technology.
Citing government cuts of £6 billion to departmental spending over the next year, as the reason behind the move, The Department of Energy and Climate Change has reassured members that outstanding agreements will be honoured.
Meanwhile, it is hoped that £3 million will be saved by immediately closing the programme to new applicants, with further savings being achieved over the course of the year by cutting or slowing down planned expenditure.
Given the challenging and costly agenda of developing renewable heat and decarbonising the heating sector, the cuts are a serious blow to advocates of green technology.
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Useful Online Tools for Home Buyers
Whether you are moving to a new home or looking to buy a second home, choosing the ideal location can be an overwhelming task. Fortunately, with the advent of "media rich" websites, house hunters have a wealth of tools at there disposal to make the job less stressful. This post will cover some of the key tools available for house hunting online.
When starting out it's key to remember that one of the most important factors determining a home's value, is the area it's in. Building a profile of the area, based on social and economical indicators, makes it easier to identify suitable neighbourhoods. Indicators include crime rates, school performance, and the provision of amenities and transport links. Additional aspects to check include school catchment areas and flood planes. For example, even if your offspring are outside of school age, its a no-brainer to check where school catchment areas cover, as they typically push prices up. The following sites help users to gain a perspective of possible areas, using a variety of approaches.
1) The Land Registry
Aside from publishing a monthly average house price index (HPI), The Land Registry (TLR) also issues information on singular sales. Completion figures for all properties sold in England and Wales since January 1995 are available here. Got your eye on a specific property and want to know how much it last sold for, and the extent to which the area's been affected by the recession? The Land Registry has the details!
Alternatively, sites such as nethouseprices.com and ourproperty.co.uk offer a free basic price search function!
2) Oneplace.gov
The Government owned Oneplace site compiles information on crime, education, the environment, health and housing in individual assessments of 152 areas across England. Information gathered by six different inspectorates, is used to rate various indicators for each area on a performance scale of 1 to 4. It's a useful service if you want to compare your current area with surrounding areas or the national average.
3) Environment Agency Information
As mentioned above, it's a good idea to check if an area is vulnerable to any environmental factors. Handily, the Environment Agency provides maps indicating areas at risk of flooding, as well as a number of other maps illustrating local environmental factors such as landfill locations and pollution rates.
4) Google Street View
Arguably the most innovative and indispensable tool available to house hunters is Google's Street View. Offering a 360-degree navigable mosaic, Street View enables you to see a location as if you are there in person. Originally launched in March 2009, as of March 2010 Google Street View covers the majority of the UK from Shetland to Penzance.
5) Housing Portals
Once you've identified a possible area, housing portals such as Newhomesforsale.co.uk are a good next step. Offering details of existing and upcoming properties as well as contact details for developers and estate agents, property portals are now a key resource when house hunting. Some sites now also offer mobile phone applications for searching properties on the go.
The tools mentioned above are not an exhaustive list, but an introduction as to what's available online. Whilst there is no substitute for sampling your chosen area in person, these tools make drawing up a short list all that much easier.
When starting out it's key to remember that one of the most important factors determining a home's value, is the area it's in. Building a profile of the area, based on social and economical indicators, makes it easier to identify suitable neighbourhoods. Indicators include crime rates, school performance, and the provision of amenities and transport links. Additional aspects to check include school catchment areas and flood planes. For example, even if your offspring are outside of school age, its a no-brainer to check where school catchment areas cover, as they typically push prices up. The following sites help users to gain a perspective of possible areas, using a variety of approaches.
1) The Land Registry
Aside from publishing a monthly average house price index (HPI), The Land Registry (TLR) also issues information on singular sales. Completion figures for all properties sold in England and Wales since January 1995 are available here. Got your eye on a specific property and want to know how much it last sold for, and the extent to which the area's been affected by the recession? The Land Registry has the details!
Alternatively, sites such as nethouseprices.com and ourproperty.co.uk offer a free basic price search function!
2) Oneplace.gov
3) Environment Agency Information
As mentioned above, it's a good idea to check if an area is vulnerable to any environmental factors. Handily, the Environment Agency provides maps indicating areas at risk of flooding, as well as a number of other maps illustrating local environmental factors such as landfill locations and pollution rates.
4) Google Street View
5) Housing Portals
The tools mentioned above are not an exhaustive list, but an introduction as to what's available online. Whilst there is no substitute for sampling your chosen area in person, these tools make drawing up a short list all that much easier.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
HIP's demise the leading cause for a surge in instructions?
Update 03/06/10: Following on from the Telegraph articles (see two posts below) purporting to show 30% increases in houses going to market as a result of HIP's being removed, it seemed prudent to examine other factors contributing to the aforementioned increase.
Firstly, Nationwide's chief economist, Martin Gahbauer has suggested one possible reason. He cites that a looming increase in Capital Gains Tax, has urged many to push for a quick sale to avoid any possible additional cost. Supporting his assertion, this article from the Guardian, published one day before HIP's demise, points to estate agents reporting a deluge of inquiries from landlords about the possibility of selling before the CGT rise is introduced. The proposed CGT increase would far outweigh the money saved by not having to produce a HIP, suggesting it may be a more influential factor, than has been widely acknowledged.
Furthermore, The Bank of England yesterday asserted that mortgage lending increased month on month by £0.5bn in April. This is a sizeable increase compared to the March rise of £0.2bn. Increased availability of mortgages, is likely another factor behind the increase in instructions.
Whilst the removal of HIP's may well have encouraged some to enter the housing market, as shown above there were other contributing factors, which arguably were more influential.
Firstly, Nationwide's chief economist, Martin Gahbauer has suggested one possible reason. He cites that a looming increase in Capital Gains Tax, has urged many to push for a quick sale to avoid any possible additional cost. Supporting his assertion, this article from the Guardian, published one day before HIP's demise, points to estate agents reporting a deluge of inquiries from landlords about the possibility of selling before the CGT rise is introduced. The proposed CGT increase would far outweigh the money saved by not having to produce a HIP, suggesting it may be a more influential factor, than has been widely acknowledged.
Furthermore, The Bank of England yesterday asserted that mortgage lending increased month on month by £0.5bn in April. This is a sizeable increase compared to the March rise of £0.2bn. Increased availability of mortgages, is likely another factor behind the increase in instructions.
Whilst the removal of HIP's may well have encouraged some to enter the housing market, as shown above there were other contributing factors, which arguably were more influential.
Disparity in UK house price figures from Nationwide, Halifax and The Land Registry
The guardian has collated figures released by the big three providers of Average House Price Indexes. Presented in an interactive graph, covering from Mar 2006 to the present day, it illustrates the variance in figures released by Halifax/Nationwide/The Land Registry.
The graph is updated with each new release of figures, and is often annotated with feature articles, helping to provide perspective on the numbers. For instance, Nationwide's latest figures suggest that Property market's gradual recovery have pushed prices to within 10% below of those prior to the recession.
The disparity between the figures is due to the differing methods used to compile the indexes. Whilst the Halifax and Nationwide calculate their figures based on properties they have agreed mortgages on, the Land Registry index is instead based on all completed sales for that time period.
The graph is updated with each new release of figures, and is often annotated with feature articles, helping to provide perspective on the numbers. For instance, Nationwide's latest figures suggest that Property market's gradual recovery have pushed prices to within 10% below of those prior to the recession.
The disparity between the figures is due to the differing methods used to compile the indexes. Whilst the Halifax and Nationwide calculate their figures based on properties they have agreed mortgages on, the Land Registry index is instead based on all completed sales for that time period.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)