House Prices Remain Firm At Persimmon Despite Lockdown

Housebuilder Persimmon has not seen a big drop in house prices during lockdown, but its forward sales have taken a hit. Persimmon said the average selling price for a new home in its order book was around £244,500, up from £237,850 in 2019. The company’s forward sales position was “robust” at £2.4 billion, Persimmon said, however it is down from £2.7 billion the year before. Read more on the AOL website.

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2020/04/29/house-prices-remain-firm-at-persimmon-despite-lockdown/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c2luZ25ldC5jby51ay9Ib3VzaW5nX05ld3MvSG91c2luZ05ldF9OZXdzX1VubG9ja2VkLmh0bWw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAC7HibRXiCLQ-PEfHThhZMrZGfo8m__17Rs-mfPP80Lt0NhGku68cMY_UbHzV8sck0VSkebaS7uoiMlHt5M0u2RQGqAl1HB2EB9M-2s6dcPU8yUlFSW-185puyCAPHboR8SdHklmFBg4LrrMrSsbRtCQQRKM41M61iUIUTiEsjhr

Brexit And General Election ‘Weighing Down On Housing Market Confidence’

Consumer confidence that house prices will rise over the coming year is stronger than 12 months ago, according to building societies. But issues stemming from Brexit and the General Election are seen as significant risks to the housing market in 2020, the Building Societies Association (BSA) found. Nearly three in 10 (28%) people expect house prices to increase over the coming year – up by five percentage points compared with a year ago. Brexit, selected by 43% of people surveyed, and the General Election result, selected by 30%, are seen as being among the factors posing the biggest risks to the stability of the housing market in 2020. Read more on the AOL website.

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2019/12/05/brexit-and-general-election-a-weighing-down-on-housing-market-c/?guccounter=1

Government To Miss 2020 Housing Target By Five Years, Says Watchdog

The Government is likely to miss its 2020 housing target by at least five years, a watchdog has said. A National Audit Office (NAO) report has found the sale of public land is not expected to have released enough space for even half the target number of homes. Instead of 160,000 homes, the Government expects to be able to have space for just 65,000 – 41% of the target – and does not expect to reach the 160,000 target until after 2025. Although the Government has so far failed to find enough land to build the promised homes, the report said, it will still meet a target to raise £5 billion through the sell-off of public land. Read more on the AOL website.

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2019/05/02/government-to-miss-2020-housing-target-by-five-years-says-watch/?guccounter=1

Seven In 10 Renters ‘Say They Would Need Lottery Win To Get On Housing Ladder’

Seven in 10 renters think they would need a lottery win to afford to buy their own home, a survey suggests. Some 72% of people currently renting said that they would need a lottery win to buy their own home and four in 10 (39%) are pinning their hopes on a family inheritance in order to buy a property. The survey was carried out across England and Wales to mark the launch of the Affordable Housing Commission. The commission has been established by think-tank the Smith Institute with the support of charity the Nationwide Foundation. Read more on the AOL website.

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2018/10/17/seven-in-10-renters-a-say-they-would-need-lottery-win-to-get-on/?guccounter=1

First-Time Buyers 'Driving' Housing Market

The proportion of first-time buyers snapping up homes has overtaken the number of existing home-owners moving house for the first time since 1995, analysis has found. Across the UK there were 170,000 home-movers in the first half of 2018 compared with 175,500 first-time buyers, according to the Lloyds Bank Homemover Review, which only looked at properties bought with a mortgage. It was the first six-month period when the proportion of first-time buyers had been higher than home-movers since the first half of 1995. Moving costs, a lack of suitable properties and potential interest rate rises may be weighing on home-owners' minds when deciding whether or not to move, the report suggested. Read more on the AOL website.

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2018/07/19/first-time-buyers-driving-housing-market-as-they-overtake-home/?guccounter=2

A Third Of Homes With Planning Permission Yet To Be Built

Nearly one in three homes green-lit to be built in England during the past five years have not been completed, Shelter has found. More than 320,000 homes have not been built despite having been granted residential planning permission, according to analysis by the housing charity, which said ordinary working families are bearing the brunt of the issue of "phantom homes".  An estimated 68% of homes with planning permission have been completed over the past five years, Shelter calculated. It said the problem is particularly acute in London, where around one in two homes with permission have not been built. Read more on the AOL website.

A Quarter Of Home-Buyers Forced Into Bidding War For Property

Nearly one in four home-buyers have entered into a bidding war to secure their chosen property, but those finding themselves in this situation are likely to end up losing out, a survey suggests. Some 23% of people who have bought, or are in the process of buying, a house have found themselves embroiled in a bidding war, with other buyers upping their offers as they compete over a property. But while 9% of Britons surveyed had entered a bidding war and won, a higher proportion of 14% entering a bidding war ended up seeing their desired home slip through their fingers as they found themselves out-bid. Read more on the AOL website.

House Prices Will Rise £52,000 By 2021

House prices will leap more than £50,000 higher by 2021 on average despite Brexit uncertainty, economists predict. The average UK house price across the whole of 2017 will be £220,000, marking a £9,000 increase compared with 2016, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). By 2021, the average home is set to be worth around £272,000, its report predicts - a £52,000 increase compared with 2017. Cebr expects property values to climb at a slower pace over the next couple of years as Brexit negotiations progress, with annual increases below 5%. This compares with a 7.5% year-on-year increase in house prices recorded in 2016. Read more on the AOL website.

Million Private Renters Suffer Under Rogue Landlords

More than a million private renters across England have suffered at the hands of law-breaking landlords over the last year, according to estimates from Shelter. Around one in eight (12.9%) renters have experienced problems ranging from landlords entering homes without permission and deposits not being properly protected to renters being abused, threatened or harassed by landlords or feeling they were unfairly treated due to their race, nationality, gender or sexual orientation. The housing charity warned that "a minority of rogue landlords" are causing misery to renters by committing civil and criminal offences. Read more on the AOL website.

Five Million Private Renters 'Risk Housing Crisis Without Wage'

More than five million working rental sector tenants are at risk of being unable to cover their housing costs if they lost their wage, a report estimates. The research, authored by Steve Webb, a former pensions minister, warned the growth of the rental sector in recent years, combined with possible post-EU referendum rises in unemployment, could create a "toxic cocktail" for tenants who may find they are not eligible for housing benefit or that it may not fully cover their rent. The report found a steep rise across the UK in the number of working people who would potentially be at risk of being unable to meet their rent if they lost their wage through unemployment or sickness. Read more on the AOL website.

Huge Variation In Cost Of Housing Highlighted

The average home in Britain now costs £2,216 per square metre - while in some parts of London buyers face paying over £11,000 for just one square metre of a property.  Kensington and Chelsea remains Britain's most expensive neighbourhood, with an average property there setting home buyers back £11,321 for each square metre of floor space they purchase, according to research from Halifax. The report made the calculations by dividing average house prices across towns and London boroughs by average property sizes, excluding outside space. While London dominates the list of the most expensive property locations, five areas outside southern England fetch a higher price per square metre than the national average of £2,216. These are Solihull, Leamington Spa, Altrincham, Edinburgh and Harrogate. Read more on the AOL website.

Call For Immediate 'Bedroom Tax' Exemptions After Court Ruling

Ministers should immediately exempt people "discriminated" against by the "bedroom tax" rather than write a "blank cheque" for legal fees, Labour has said. Shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith told MPs the exemption should apply to victims of domestic violence and the families of severely disabled children following the Court of Appeal ruling. He said it would cost the Government £200,000 to exempt 280 victims of domestic violence who have panic rooms installed in their homes. Labour MPs could be heard saying "shameful" after Work and Pensions Minister Justin Tomlinson confirmed the Government will appeal to the Supreme Court. Read more on the AOL website.