Written By Em

Em Morley

London Bridge is the Most Desired Location for Overseas Renters

Published On: October 5, 2017 at 8:12 am

Tags: London,overseas,rental property,tenants

London Bridge is the most searched for location for mid to long-term tenancies in the capital from overseas renters, according to data from rental accommodation platform Spotahome.

London Bridge is the Most Desired Location for Overseas Renters

London Bridge attracted more than twice the interest than the next most searched for locations – Camden Town and Shoreditch.

Spotahome is predominantly used by overseas renters moving to the UK for a minimum of 30 days. The website has found that London sees a high level of demand from overseas renters in France, Spain and Germany in particular.

This explains why locations in London that are well known outside of the UK, such as London Bridge and Camden, are so popular. But Spotahome is also seeing the growing popularity of areas such as Stratford, Hammersmith and Ealing – the next most searched for locations on the platform.

The CEO of Spotahome, Alejandro Artacho, says: “The demand for property in key locations around London remains high and growing, and in places such as London Bridge, it is unlikely that this will fall. There is a growing opportunity for landlords to meet mid to long-term rental demand in locations such as Stratford, Ealing and Hammersmith, as there is not currently enough rental stock to satisfy the demand in east and west London in particular.

“Individuals and landlords with property in areas which are growing in demand – such as Ealing, which is undergoing an exciting regeneration process – can look to take advantage of this by putting their spare room or properties up for rent. With the average rental asking price on the site currently standing at £763 for a flatshare to £902 for a whole property, homeowners could stand to earn £9,000 to £11,000 a year, before tax.”

He continues: “London is an international hub, with thousands of individuals moving to the city on a daily basis. Unfortunately, homeowners across Greater London are yet to wake up to the earning potential of their spare rooms, resulting in black holes across London where demand for accommodation far outstrips supply. Spotahome enables potential landlords to find a tenant without the hassle of having to spend days organising and conducting interviews, meaning that renting out your property is a far easier and a less time consuming process.”

This research reveals a great opportunity for landlords to tap into the overseas renters market in certain spots across London – will you invest?

New Stamp Duty Tax Rates Announced for Wales

Published On: October 4, 2017 at 10:06 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Finance News

Tags: homebuyers,Stamp Duty,tax changes,Wales

The Welsh Government has announced new Stamp Duty tax rates for homebuyers in the country.

Although the changes mean that nine out of ten homebuyers will pay the same or less than they do at present, some will end up paying thousands more than they would in England.

New Stamp Duty Tax Rates Announced for Wales

The biggest change is that those buying homes worth over £400,000 in Wales will pay more than their counterparts in England.

For example, someone purchasing a £500,000 property in Wales will pay £17,500 under the new tax rates, compared with £15,000 in England.

On a £600,000 home, the bill in Wales will be £25,000, compared to £20,000 in England. And, on a £750,000 home, the tax rate in Wales will be £36,250, compared with £27,500 in England.

It’s for homes worth over £750,000 that the new tax rates will really start to hit, as the Stamp Duty owed will climb to 10%. Properties worth above £1.5m will be subject to a new rate of 12%.

However, buyers of homes worth less than £250,000 will pay up to £500 less in Stamp Duty under the new rates, while those buying properties up to £150,000 will escape the tax altogether.

In Wales, Land Transaction Tax will replace Stamp Duty from 1^st April 2018. It is the first Welsh-only tax in almost 800 years.

The Chief Executive of NAEA Propertymark (the National Association of Estate Agents), Mark Hayward, says: “This is a welcome move for the Welsh housing market, and we’re pleased the Welsh Government has listened to our proposals to raise the band for this lower rate. The rate up to which buyers won’t have to pay any Stamp Duty will be £150,000 from 2018 – the same value as the average house price in Wales.

“This means a huge number of house buyers will no longer have to pay any Stamp Duty at all. However, the move creates further bands for properties in excess of £250,000, and those properties will now attract a higher rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax than they would have previously.”

Changes to Stamp Duty in England and Wales, introduced by the former Chancellor George Osborne, who abolished the slab structure, have had mixed results, and led to criticism that prior hikes in the purchases of expensive properties have severely slowed and damaged the London market.

While purchasers of cheaper properties were intended to pay less, escalating house prices have, in practice, meant larger bills for some homebuyers.

Below, we will compare the current Stamp Duty tax rates to those that will be introduced in Wales from next year:

Current:

Up to £125,000: No tax
Between £125,000-£250,000: 2%
Between £250,000-£925,000: 5%
Between £925,000-£1.5m: 10%
Above £1.5m: 12%

New rates:

Up to £150,000: No tax
Between £150,000-£250,000: 2.5%
Between £250,000-£400,000: 5%
Between £400,000-£750,000: 7.5%
Between £750,000-£1.5m: 10%
Above £1.5m: 12%

Landlords must remember the Stamp Duty surcharge that was introduced in April 2016, which means that those buying additional properties are subject to an additional 3% Stamp Duty rate.

New Property Listings Up but Sales Down in September, Reports Agency Express

Published On: October 4, 2017 at 9:34 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: property listings,property market,property sales

September’s month-on-month data for new property listings and sales has been released in Agency Express’ latest Property Activity Index.

New Property Listings Up but Sales Down in September, Reports Agency Express

Nationally, the number of new listings rose by an average of 2.4%, while figures for properties sold saw a marginal decline, of 0.3%.

Looking across the UK, five of the 12 regions included in the Property Activity Index recorded growth in new listings, while seven saw increases in the amount of properties sold.

The areas to record the greatest monthly rises in September include:

New listings

London: +16.3%
Central England: +10.1%
East Anglia: +5.9%
South West: +5.10%
South East: +5.0%

Properties sold

South West: +10.2%
Yorkshire and the Humber: +5.4%
East Midlands: +4.5%
Wales: +3.6%
South East: +1.5%

September’s top performing region was the South West. Following a slump in new listings during July and August, figures bounced back to rise by 5.1%. Robust figures were also recorded for the number of properties sold, up by 10.2%.

A healthy increase in new listings was also recorded in the capital, up by 16.3%. However, over a three-month rolling period, figures remain down, by 23.7%.

The largest monthly declines were recorded in Scotland during September. New listings fell by 4.5%, while the amount of properties sold were down by 19.2%. These decreases mark the region’s largest month-on-month declines for September since the Property Activity Index’s first records in 2012.

The Managing Director of Agency Express, Stephen Watson, comments on the data: “During September, we would normally see a spike in activity following the summer holiday slump. While for sale figures in general have remained on trend, we haven’t witnessed the same buoyancy in sold figures.

“As we now move into the last three months of the year, where traditionally we start to see a slower pace across the market, it is unlikely that we will see any major increases in activity.”

Compare September’s figures to those recorded in August here: /property-market-pick-sales-august/

What you can Buy in Northern Cities for the Price of a London Pad

Published On: October 4, 2017 at 8:21 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: house prices,London,north

It’s been a rough ride for London landlords in recent months, as investors shun the capital and head north in search of lower property prices and higher returns. But what can you really buy in northern cities for the price of a London pad?

What you can Buy in Northern Cities for the Price of a London Pad

House price growth in the UK weakened in July 2017, with London being the third worst performing region, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. The average price in the capital rose by just 2.8% over the year, while it was up by only 0.3% on a monthly basis.

In contrast, the North West of England experienced greater month-on-month growth, with the average price up by 1.4% between June and July, reaching an annual increase of 4.7%.

Home to urban hotspots such as Liverpool, Manchester and Salford, northern cities are looking strong when it comes to rent price growth, leading buy-to-let investors to give serious thought to these locations.

The crown in the jewel of the northern cities remains Manchester, with its rapidly growing suburbs, where investors received an average yield of 6.9% in the year to July.

The CEO of agent Properties of the World, Jean Liggett, says: “Properties of the World has been active in Manchester’s property market for many years now, having been quick to identify the city’s potential as a cornerstone of the UK’s buy-to-let boom.

“The huge demand projected for homes in Manchester and the low property prices make this northern city far more attractive for investors than the capital.”

When it comes to residential investment in northern cities, latest data analysed by Strutt & Parker shows that three-bedroom homes are the biggest winners, especially for young professionals, who are looking for properties that offer more space and better value for money than London.

A typical three-bed in the capital costs almost £820,000, according to research by Savills, a sum that is out of reach for most.

Meanwhile, a three-bed apartment a few minutes from Manchester city centre costs just £242,495. In the heart of Salford Quays, a luxury three-bed apartment is £375,995, while a three-bed flat in the award-winning Manchester Waters development is just £229,995, with a 6% return for investors.

You could also snap up a £226,000 property just a short walk from Manchester city centre, which is four times cheaper than the average three-bed price in London, and with a 5.5% net yield.

With the latest study by LendInvest showing that northern cities are challenging those in the South East where returns are concerned, it looks like a move up north is on the cards.

Government Challenged to Support Property SMEs

Published On: October 3, 2017 at 10:16 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: government,housebuilding,housing crisis,property developers

LendInvest, the leading marketplace platform for property finance, hosted a cross-party roundtable at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester yesterday to discuss a package of support for property SMEs to scale up and deliver more homes across the country.

Government Challenged to Support Property SMEs

The invitation-only event was co-hosted by Prospect, the monthly political journal.

The Co-Founder and CEO of LendInvest, Christian Faes, led a conversation with a number of housing and business policy experts from across the UK. These included: Chris Philp MP, a member of the Chancellor’s Treasury team; Mary Robinson MP, a member of the CLG Select Committee; Richard Bacon MP and Peter Aldous MP, two backbench Conservative MPs with interests in housing; Richard Blakeway, the former Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Homes & Communities Agency board member; Tom Bloxham MBE and Marc Vlessing, CEOs of property development companies Urban Splash and Pocket Living respectively; and David Ellison, a Manchester-based Labour councillor.

The roundtable discussion built on a report published by LendInvest in March 2017, titled Starting Small to Build More Homes: A Blueprint for Better Policymaking for Property SMEs. The report examines the challenges faced by property SMEs, such as constrained access to finance, and distorted policy around regulation, taxation and access to land.

The participants discussed in detail the disparity in opportunity between property SMEs and those in other sectors, and reflected on ways in which the Government should revise its treatment of small and medium-sized property firms, as well as recognise the positive contribution they can make to resolving the UK’s deep-rooted housing crisis.

Faes comments: “There are five times fewer small-scale developers today than in the last housebuilding boom, and not a single one of today’s top ten housebuilders was created before 1990. There is a clear monopoly in the sector. What was clear from our discussion is that more must be done to level the playing field for property entrepreneurs, so that they can do business with confidence. This means sweeping away barriers to finance and land for SMEs, as well as celebrating industry initiatives to improve skills in the sector. The cost of doing business must also be reduced.”

Bacon also says: “Politicians talk often about building more homes as if it were politicians who build them. Let’s stop focusing on targets and let the builders get on with it. The Government’s role is to remove barriers, not add to them.”

Andy Davis, the Associate Editor at Prospect magazine, adds: “At a time where the Government maintains ambitious housing delivery targets, we are seeing a generational loss of smaller housebuilders. If we are to see SMEs succeed and scale, we must challenge the regulatory system that is geared towards mass volume housebuilders and ensure that property entrepreneurs can access the finance they need for their schemes to take off.”

At the Conservative Party conference at the weekend, the Government outlined new plans to offer tenants greater rights.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn plans to introduce rent controls under proposals detailed at the Labour Party conference last week.

Tenants Paying over Double what Homeowners Pay in Mortgage Interest

Published On: October 3, 2017 at 9:18 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: homeowners,mortgages,rent prices,tenants

Tenants Paying over Double what Homeowners Pay in Mortgage Interest

Tenants are paying more than double what homeowners pay in mortgage interest, according to the latest report from Savills.

The agent insists that this underlies the need for more rental stock across the UK.

Using a range of data from UK Finance and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Savills worked out that, in the year to June 2017, tenants paid more than £54 billion in rent to private landlords, compared with £26.5 billion in mortgage interest payments from homeowners.

The total private rental bill for Great Britain has risen by £14 billion over the last five years – up by 35% – while the number of homes in the private rental sector has grown by just 21%.

In comparison, the amount of mortgage interest owed by homeowners has fallen by £6.4 billion – largely due to low interest rates, the agent reports.

Of course, Savills points out that some of the increase will be due to there being more people renting their homes, rather than simply the amount paid going up.

For example, private tenants in England made up 19% of housing tenure in 2015, increasing to 19.9% in 2016, while the proportion of owner-occupiers dropped from 63.3% to 62.9% in the same period.

Similarly, in Scotland, the proportion of rental households rose from 14% to 15% between 2015 and 2016, while the percentage of those owning their own homes has remained flat.

The Head of Residential Research at Savills, Lucian Cook, comments on the findings: “It is widely accepted that the solution to the affordability crisis in homeownership is to build many more homes.

“The same is true in the private rented sector. Savills’ analysis for the British Property Federation [BPF] shows that there are now almost 100,000 Build to Rent homes under construction or in planning across the UK, up from 48,000 last year.”

He adds: “This is real progress, but we need policy that encourages the rapid expansion of Build to Rent.”