Demand Remains Strong Heading Into Autumn

 Following the wind-down of the stamp duty holiday at the end of September, activity levels in the UK property market are predicted to remain high, albeit not at the same frenetic pace seen during the first half of the year. According to new research from Knight Frank, the data for August is unambiguous and shows demand remains exceptionally strong with the number of new prospective buyers registering during the month up 24% against the five-year average. With demand undeniably strong, the big unknown is supply. How quickly it picks up will be a determining factor for transaction volumes and prices. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/demand-remains-exceptionally-strong-heading-into-autumn-market.html

House Prices: Demand Changes, Not Tax Waiver, Pushed Prices Up

The current house prices boom was not caused by the stamp duty holiday, a new report has argued. The Resolution Foundation says prices will keep rising because of pandemic-related factors like low interest rates and changing home preferences. In fact, the think tank says the tax holiday was "wasteful" and HMRC lost out on about £4.4bn of taxes in England and Northern Ireland as a result. The Treasury said the policy saved jobs by stimulating the housing market. Between June 2020 and June 2021, the average value of a UK home increased 13.2%. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58274811 

Demand For Rental Housing At A Five Year High

The demand for private rented housing has reached a five year high according to new research released by the NRLA following the easing of COVID restrictions.  The survey of private landlords across England and Wales found that 39 per cent confirmed that demand for homes to rent had increased in the second quarter of 2021 – an eight per cent increase on the first quarter of the year. This data also reveals that demand has reached a five-year high, with demand only reaching a similar peak in in the first quarter of 2016. Demand has increased largely due to the relaxation of COVID restrictions and a more buoyant economic outlook. Read more on the NRLA website.

https://www.nrla.org.uk/news/demand-for-rental-housing-at-a-five-year-high

Demand For Flats And Apartments Remains High During Pandemic

 One of the most highly covered trends throughout the pandemic has been that buyer demand has shifted away from the cities with house-hunters clamouring for larger homes and bigger gardens in more rural areas. However, it seems that flats have far from fallen out of favour with homebuyers in England and Wales during the pandemic, accounting for a notable proportion of market activity. Warwick Estates analysed transaction records from the Land Registry since the start of the pandemic and found that since January of last year, 974,153 residential transactions have been recorded across England and Wales. 150,668 of these have been for flats, accounting for 15% of all market activity during the pandemic. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/demand-for-flats-and-apartments-remains-high-during-pandemic.html

New Year Surge In Demand From Prospective Tenants

The number of new prospective tenants soared 27 per cent in the New Year according to figures released over the weekend from the Association of Residential Letting Agents. The increase was from 64 in December to an average 81 per agency branch in January. Year-on-year this is marginally lower than in January 2020 when the figure stood at 88 but is higher than January 2019 when the figure stood at 73. Read more on the Letting Agent Today website.

https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2021/2/new-year-surge-in-demand-from-prospective-tenants 

London Rental Demand Plummets

All regions of London are experiencing significant drops in rental demand, research from flatshare site SpareRoom has found. West Central London has seen the biggest drop in demand at -43%, followed by East Central (-39%) and West London (-26%). Ipswich (86%), Warrington (84%) and Northampton (82%) are experiencing the biggest increases in rental demand year-on-year. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/london-rental-demand-plummets/ 

Demand Rises For First-Time Buyer BTL Mortgages

New data from Legal & General Mortgage Club has revealed growing demand among first-time buyers who want to enter the buy-to-let market. Searches through its SmartrCriteria tool show that the criteria search combination for first-time buyer, first-time landlord and non-owner occupier has seen an 18% increase since the beginning of September. Searches for these applicants with these circumstances ultimately rose from fourth to first place. The data also showed that ‘holiday lets’ was the second most searched term among advisers in September, moving from the top spot in August. Read more on the Finance Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/mortgages/demand-rises-for-first-time-buyer-btl-mortgages.html 

Demand For New Build Homes Bounces Back

Demand for new build has rebounded by 66% since the property market reopened on the 13th May, Zoopla research has found. Demand recovered nationwide, with the North East recording a 139% rebound, the West Midlands 121%, and East Midlands 108%. Persimmon Homes, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, reported a 215% month-on-month uplift in demand via Zoopla buyer leads. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/demand-for-new-build-homes-bounces-back/

House Sales Plummeted By 50% In May

Half the number of residential properties were sold in May compared with a year ago amid coronavirus lockdown measures. A total of 46,230 property transactions were completed during the month, down 52% on the same month last year, HM Revenue and Customs data shows. There was a slight pick-up on the previous month, reflecting the lifting of housing market restrictions in England in mid-May. Estate agents say demand is now high. Figures show that buyer interest is bouncing back, as housing markets in the other parts of the UK have begun to open too. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53148678

Housing Market Rebound "Off The Scale" Says Zoopla As Sales Increase By 137%

Pent-up demand for homes following the UK wide lockdown has resulted in an unprecedented rebound in new sales agreed, with figures close to early March levels. The latest data and analysis from Zoopla has revealed that the suppressed demand has also translated into stronger prices, with average asking prices of sales agreed in the last week 6% higher than June 2019, an indicator that house price indices might not register immediate price falls in the short term. According to the portal's research, demand for housing is now 54% higher than at the start of March. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/housing-market-rebound-off-the-scale-says-zoopla-as-sales-increase-by-137.html

Short-Term Demand Is Up For Rentals In U.K.

Despite a recent bounceback, rental demand across the U.K. remains significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report from Zoopla. In the two weeks to April 14, demand for rental properties increased 30%, the online real estate portal said. Though notable, the increase immediately followed a 57% decline in demand for rental homes in the two weeks to March 30, and still remains 42% lower than at the start of March. The uncertainty induced by the pandemic means households will turn to the rental market before the sales market to “meet any immediate housing need,” the report said. Read more on the Mansion Global website.

https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/short-term-demand-is-up-for-rentals-in-u-k-but-the-market-remains-significantly-impacted-by-coronavirus-214218

Coronavirus Outbreak Wipes Out 40% Of Housing Demand In A Week

Figures reveal that the housing market had the strongest start for four years during the first two months of the year. However, Covid-19 has led to a 40% drop in demand for housing in the past week [seven days to 22.03.20 compared to seven says to 15.03.20] and housing transactions are set to drop by as much as 60% over the next three months, as the market reacts to the impact of the outbreak. According to the latest data and analysis from Zoopla, the market has since witnessed a dynamic shift, with consumer confidence and market activity hit hard in the wake of Covid-19’s impact from early March onwards. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/coronavirus-outbreak-wipes-out-40-of-housing-demand-in-a-week.html

More Tenants Than Ever Seek Housing As Rental Stock Dwindles

ARLA Propertymark’s Private Rented Sector (PRS) report shows that the demand for rental accommodation has reached a record high in January, with an average of 88 prospective tenants registered per member branch. However, the supply of rental stock fell to the lowest level seen in seven months. Demand from tenants in January increased to the highest level on record with 88 prospective tenants per branch compared to 56 the previous month. This means that agents witnessed a 57 per cent increase in the number of tenants registered since December. Year-on-year, demand for rental accommodation has increased by 21 per cent, rising from 73 in January 2019. Read more on the ARLA website.

https://www.arla.co.uk/news/february-2020/more-tenants-than-ever-seek-housing-as-rental-stock-dwindles/

Housing Demand Across UK Cities Up 26%

Prices also increasing at highest rate for two years. Demand for housing increased sharply in January, with prices registering a more modest uptick. An average rise of 26% in enquiries over the four weeks to January 20, compared to the same period last year, is indicated by the latest market data from Hometrack. The property market data firm’s monthly index of city prices showed the biggest increase was in the North and Midlands – particularly Sheffield, Leeds and Leicester. However demand also rose further south, in cities including London and Cambridge. Read more on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/housing-demand-across-uk-cities-up-26/5104002.article

Brownfield Land Could Tackle 75% Of 10-Year Housing Need

British cities could meet nearly three quarters of their 10-year housing demand with existing vacant brownfield land sites in their boundaries according to new data. Research by PLATFORM_, a developer and operator of private rented housing, says brownfield land could accommodate 367,711 homes across 6,131 sites in 24 of the largest urban areas in England, Scotland and Wales.

It then cross referenced that with 10-year local housing need for each city and found that brownfield land could accommodate 70.7% of that demand on average. The sites identified are all vacant or have been earmarked for housing delivery. However if they were all built for sale they could take decades to deliver. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/brownfield-land-in-englands-largest-cities-could-tackle-75-of-10-year-housing-need/

Tenants Suffer As Rents Soar Due To Tenant Fees Ban

The lasts ARLA Private Rented Sector report finds that;

·         The number of tenants experiencing rent rises increased to the highest figure on record in June.

·         The number of properties under management dropped marginally to 199 per member branch.

·         Demand from prospective renters increased, with the number of house hunters registered per branch rising.

·         The number of landlords exiting the market remained the same

Download the report from the ARLA website.

https://www.arla.co.uk/media/1048158/prs-report-june-2019.pdf

Optimistic Rightmove Forecasts Brexit Delay Could Boost Market

An optimistic Rightmove has said that it is hoping that the Brexit extension which could see the constitutional crisis drag on until October 31 will release some of the pent-up demand in the market. Its upbeat message is based on record traffic to the site, which it says shows there are buyers in the market. However, the search engine Home says that new listings are down 8% this month compared with a year ago, with both buyer and seller activity “slowing considerably”. It sees little prospect of improvement in the foreseeable future, and expects the market to stagnate. Read more on the Property Industry Eye website.

https://www.propertyindustryeye.com/optimistic-rightmove-forecasts-brexit-delay-could-boost-market/

Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, at what rate he estimates the UK needs to build houses in order to cope with the additional demand created by current levels of immigration.

Kit Malthouse: The Government is committed to delivering the right homes in the right places. We are making progress, and latest figures show over 222,000 new homes were delivered in 2017/18 in England - the highest level of new homes delivered in all but one of the last 31 years. But we are determined to do more in order to deliver the homes communities need. That is why we have set out an ambitious package of measures to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. These measures include over £44 billion of financial support, planning reforms and scrapping housing revenue account borrowing caps so councils can deliver a new generation of council housing.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-12-20/204387

Government Urged To Cut Stamp Duty For Downsizers

The Treasury is being urged to extend its stamp duty cuts to those downsizing, in a bid to boost supply in the housing market. This call comes as the latest housing index shows demand from buyers has risen significantly over the past 12 months.  Haart’s housing market monitor found that the number of buyers registering with estate agents in May had risen by 44.3 per cent over the past year – and was at its highest level for two years. Over the past month the number of new buyers had risen by 3.1 per cent. Read more on the Mortgage Strategy website.

https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/government-urged-to-cut-stamp-duty-for-downsizers-to-boost-housing-supply/

Residential Sales Flat In May

The May RICS UK Residential Market Survey has shown a few signs of life as houses start to come back on to the market, but overall activity has remained flat and is looking unlikely to gain any impetus in the near term. Briefly;

§  The number of homes coming on to the housing market turns positive for the first time since 2016

§  Buyer demand continues to decline at a headline level but to a lesser extent than at the start of 2018

§  The regional picture remains mixed for prices, demand and sales

Read more on the RICS website.

http://www.rics.org/uk/news/news-insight/press-releases/residential-sales-flat-in-may/