Written By Em

Hometrack, the property market analyst, has released their House Price Index for February 2018, showing house price growth to be continuing a stable buoyancy.

Overall, UK city house price inflation is running at 5.2%, with London houses prices increasing 1% per annum, showing negative growth in 42% of postcodes. The February Index is showing a divergence in growth for house prices between the south of England and regional cities.

Of the 20 cities covered by the index, half of them are showing a higher annual growth than what was recorded a year ago. Specifically, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Leicester, Birmingham and Manchester have registered more than 7% growth per annum.

Graham Davidson, managing director of buy to let specialist, Sequre Property Investment, has said: “The latest Hometrack report cements what we’ve been saying for several years, that the north is best to invest.

“Whilst many investors are turning their back on London and the south due to very poor rental yield returns and little or even negative capital growth, the north has been flourishing. Deals in northern cities are far stronger; for example, an investor can pick up a 2-bedroom apartment in Manchester for around £98,000 generating a 22.3% return on cash invested, financials you simply wouldn’t find in the south.

Those who were quick to catch on to northern buy to let 4 years ago could now be sitting on returns in excess of 230%, demonstrating the strength of the market in the North West. For savvy investors, the north is the place to be. You just need to know where to look.”

Hometrack Index Showing Stable House Price Growth

Founder and CEO of Emoov.co.uk, Russell Quirk, has commented: “The appeal of city living continues to ensure that house price growth across the nation’s major cities remains buoyant, despite wider market conditions.

“This imbalance of supply to meet demand in the more densely populated areas of the market has seen them buck the trend of a slower start to the year, to enjoy a greater rate of annual growth than this time last year.”

There is a slowing of growth amongst certain cities compared to a year ago, with Bristol, Southampton and London showing the greatest slowdown. In particular, London’s annual growth rate has slowed to 1%, down from 4.3%. This is the lowest annual rate London has seen since 2011. Average prices have increased over the last 3 months by 0.4%, which is a small amount in comparison to the 5% growth recorded per quarter in 2014.

Quirk also said: “Unfortunately for the capital the much higher price of getting on the ladder, and the greater degree of buyer uncertainty as a result, has seen London remain one of the ugly ducklings of city living where market performance is concerned.

However, as we’ve seen over the years, the popularity of the London market is cyclical and while it may have fallen out of favour for the time being, this cool in price growth is unlikely to prevail as the year plays out and it is highly unlikely we will see a market crash of any shape or form.

London is still viewed by many as the pinnacle of homeownership in the UK and while the growing political tensions with Russia will do little to help London’s prime central market, vast pockets of the capital remain very popular among buyers.”

Further information from the February Hometrack House Price Index shows the highest coverage of price falls since 2008. Growth among London city postcodes has varied between positive to negative since 1996, but currently we are seeing the highest negative growth since the global financial crisis. Most of the times London has seen falling prices have been due to economic and other such external factors.

Hometrack expect the number of markets with falling house prices to increase as the year goes on, due to buyers accepting lower prices in order to successfully complete sales.

Even in our increasingly connected world, social isolation is a problem. In days gone by, our ancestors would have lived in communities, shared food and resources and generally lived in a more interconnected world. So what’s caused this shift, and is there a way we could return to more community-centred and healthier times for all?

Even though each day we scroll through our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn profiles to see the people we are connected with, it seems clear this does not truly match up with face-to-face and real-life interactions with the people closest to us.

Somehow, even though it appears on the surface that we are more connected than ever before, the widespread mental health issues affecting a large proportion of our population seem an indicator of a bigger problem.

Atlas Residential’s Operations Director, Stephanie Smith, considers the implications of this and what the build to rent sector can do to combat the situation;

Smith writes; ‘An overwhelming truth of today’s “advanced” world is, quite simply, social isolation is rapidly becoming one of the largest health risks facing the UK population. Despite technology providing more avenues of connection than ever before, we have never felt so disconnected.

‘Meaningful discussion has been replaced by cat videos, 280 characters or less and picture-perfect images of lives that, while we fully realise can’t possibly be as idyllic as the photos suggest, adds stress and focus on struggles we may be experiencing internally.

‘It’s essential to look at different communities around the world, where life is drastically different to the buzzing cities and 70 hour work weeks of the US and UK, to see where we can improve and also dispel assumptions about how to reach the elusive goal of a “quality, long life”.

‘A Brigham Young University study of tens of thousands of people found that social interaction and close relationships were the top two predictors for long life, again outweighing clean air, healthy body weight, exercise and more. Further to this, an Amsterdam Study of the Elderly reveals that those who suffer from loneliness are at a 64% greater risk of developing dementia.

‘It’s not a secret to any of us that an evening laughing with friends or relaxing with our families with popcorn and a movie is far better than staring at our laptops or smartphones, however, it causes one to ask why and when we allowed the latter to become the dominant factor of our lives?’

Build to Rent properties could help create a greater sense of community, c/o Atlas Residential, Bow Square, Southampton

Smith here poses an interesting question. Perhaps the scrolling through on social media we all find ourselves guilty of (on an all too regular basis!) is an effect of something out of place in our realities.

Check out this article on the build to rent sector’s rising popularity in the UK’s housing market.

How might build to rent developments work to improve the social conditions of our culture?

As Smith points out, ‘Through careful design and thoughtful management, we have the ability to bring vital interactions into our residents’ lives, thus enhancing their wellbeing through the home environment. The emphasis is on community creation not just property provision.

‘Shared social spaces for residents to interact are one facet of this community creation approach. However, it is important to realise that sites without extra spaces like resident lounges, etc. can create many opportunities to add value to their residents’ lives.’

Purpose-built developments in the rental sector could be well equipped to suit the needs of key inhabitants. The provision of certain facilities, such as creating open social spaces, organising clubs and interest groups (something many of us join during university as societies, but are not always as widely available in adult life).

All in all, it seems that looking forward, housing is a key way in which the UK’s property and housing industries could contribute more to positive mental health and less social isolation. Residents could one day be able to pursue more of their interests, get to know their fellow neighbours, and have a pleasant environment to return to after work, all whilst keeping it affordable and suited to the needs of occupants.