Written By Em

It was only last year we were seeing interest in Newport properties drop 30%, with a buyer demand of 36%. However, fast forward a few months and we are now seeing the city making a name for itself as having the fastest moving property market in Britain.

According to new research, the rate at which buyers are taking to purchase a property has fallen by nearly a third over the past year, with perhaps the decision to eventually remove the Severn Crossings toll between England and Wales also greatly contributing.

It must be a refreshing change of financial pace for those previously investing in Bristol, with house prices averaging at £300,000. According to property portal Rightmove, properties in Newport are currently costing on average £173,612. With a detached house costing around £277,000, it is no wonder estate agents are pointing out that those with property in Bristol could upsize from a small terrace at little to no extra cost.

However, you might find yourself on a long waiting list for a while, according to the reports Rightmove are receiving from Newport estate agents. Whereas those with property to sell are finding the process completing quicker, falling from 76 days to only 52 over the past year, seeing a 32% drop. This has led to a 37% drop in available properties, and a rise in asking prices of £12,000. This may be considered by some as a small increase, but it could be the beginning of a gradual growth.

Newport has the fastest moving property market in Britain

We have seen the number of properties for sale in Britain go up by 2% in comparison to this time last year, which although an increase, shows the struggle the property market is still fighting to break out of due to the current housing crisis. This situation has multiple possible solutions, but each have underlying issues which do not look likely to provide a fix as promptly as the markets needs. Theresa May’s recent speech at the National Planning Conference covered her own plan of action, specifically the idea to overhaul the existing National Planning Policy Framework.

Miles Shipside, housing market analyst for Rightmove, believes that this demand is “clearly taking its toll on the number of properties agents have available to offer buyers on Rightmove, making it very much a sellers’ market in Newport right now.” The average time for a homeowner to secure a buyer has fallen from 67 days to 66 days in 2017.

Rightmove has provided quotes from local estate agents, supplying their view on this change in the property market. Mark Roberts, director of Roberts Estate Agents in Newport has said he “can see this level of activity and the stock shortages continuing for at least another 12 months.”

Paul Cleverly, managing director of Pinkmove estate agents in Newport, points out the importance of good transport links. With the future abolishment of the Severn Crossings, and having the M4 motorway nearby, Newport is ticking a lot of boxes for investors.

To solve issues with the housing market, it seems the UK will need more planning and forward-thinking than just new homes being built. Avoiding property speculation and empty homes, as well as advocating for sustainable developments planned by responsible facilitators, could go a long way to reduce homelessness, and improve the quality of life for many of the UK’s population. Read on for possible ways to improve the housing market in the UK.

Renting property long-term

Many people in the UK have long felt that buying a property is the key to a successful life in old age – often due to factors like perceived insecurity and unreliable landlords. A market for good quality, affordable homes benefits and rewards landlords too, as they’re more likely to find reliable, long-term tenants they can trust to be in their properties. Owning your own home is a big financial – and lifestyle – commitment, and can lead to many extra costs and commitments that might not suit everybody.

Relaxed planning permissions

Much of the poorest demographic in our society rents property from private landlords, and making the most of the space we already have is key to improving the housing available to the UK. Obtaining permission to build an extra storey, convert part of the garden or build an extra room could not only improve conditions for tenants (such as those with extra needs, like wheelchair or pushchair ramps), but it could mean the landlord could charge more monthly rent on the property, such as by having an extra tenant in the property.

New apartment buildings under construction, UK

New-builds aren’t the only solution

Where there is adequate infrastructure in place to support new homes – such as road systems able to support the extra traffic to the area, important facilities such as hospitals and schools, parks and leisure facilities, new-build homes can be a good idea. However, when cities start to sprawl and the landscape begins to suffer, it becomes clear that building new homes on rural land is not the most responsible option if we’d like future generations to be able to enjoy the environment too.

According to The Guardian, homes that were bought as new actually only account for a mere 10^th of all housing transactions, so really accounts for just 10% of all homes purchased in the UK.

Empty homes and property speculation

As mentioned above, one of the first things that comes to mind when thinking about the addition of new housing developments is their impact on the countryside. At first it may seem this is an unavoidable fact – people need homes, and sacrificing the environment to provide comfortable places for our population to live seems a worthwhile cause.

According to research from the Liberal Democrats in January 2018, more than 216,000 homes across 276 local councils have been empty for 6 months or more, and an astonishing 11,000 have been empty for 10 years or more. Rectifying this could go a long way to providing more homes – such as demolishing houses if need be, and building on brownfield sites, as well as providing incentives for property owners to become landlords.

In the future, with the view in mind to preserve the environment and build new homes sustainably, there are many other ways we could make the housing market in the UK more functional for both landlords and tenants alike.

By Steve Larkin, Director of Development Finance, LendInvest

It’s no secret that there is a skills shortage in the construction sector. It was one of the big talking points during the lead-up to the EU Referendum after all, the worries that a Leave vote would see the swathes of EU nationals that building firms rely upon departing these shores.

But the scale of the shortage is nonetheless surprising. The most recent State of Trade Survey from the Federation of Master Builders found that the number of construction SME employers trying to hire key occupations has never been so high.

More than two-thirds have had difficulty finding bricklayers, while around 63% have had issues finding joiners and carpenters. Almost half have struggled to hire plumbers.

It doesn’t matter what your housing targets for the nation are, whether it’s 30,000 new homes a year or 300,000, if you don’t have qualified people in place to build those homes then you will inevitably fall short.

That’s why it is so welcome that the government has not only acknowledged this problem, but outlined steps it will take to address it. It announced in its Industrial Strategy white paper that it would be launching a National Retraining Scheme to help equip construction workers with the skills they need, with an initial £64m invested in digital and construction training.

However, it would be a mistake to assume that the skills shortage starts and ends with those physically building the new homes. We are also in real danger of missing out on the next generation of property developers.

The declining fortunes of the small builders have been a defining feature of the last few decades in the property market. In 1988 there were 12,200 small builders active in the UK according to the FMB, but by 2014 that had plummeted by 80% to just 2,400.

Tackling the shortage in skilled construction workers is only the first step

It’s no coincidence that this has also been a time of stagnating property production.

The government is only too aware of this and has attempted to remove some of the most often-complained about barriers facing small developers, such as the difficulties with accessing land.

However, if we are not only to stem the tide of would-be developers turning their back on the property world, but actually encourage more to join, then swift action needs to be taken to address the palpably unfair playing field that property SMEs face.

The fact is that SMEs in other industries enjoy far greater tax breaks and government support than those in the property world, from access to the British Business Bank to eligibility for EIS and SEIS schemes to incentivise investment.

It’s little wonder that smart entrepreneurs are more likely to put their skills to work in industries where there is greater support on offer than property. But the truth is that we can’t afford to lose them to other sectors.

Of course there’s more to stimulating the numbers of property developers than simply revamping the tax set up. As well as financial assistance, we need more skills-focused help; just as the government is ploughing money into helping train the bricklayers and carpenters of tomorrow, so to do we need investment in helping developers put together the skills they need to manage projects properly.

It’s something that we are looking to address through the LendInvest Property Development Academy. We have been holding courses across the UK since 2016, helping would-be developers build the knowledge necessary to make a success of their projects.

The level of interest in these courses has been telling; there are so many property professionals who want to develop the homes that the UK so desperately needs, but there simply isn’t enough help in place to get them up and running.

Our academy can only be a first step – the onus is now on the government and other industry figures to do more to encourage those who want to help property development projects but currently aren’t.