Formal Investigations By Housing Ombudsman Up By 65%

 Formal investigations by the Housing Ombudsman have risen by 65% compared with last year, while enquiries and complaints to the service have surged by 139 per cent in the last year, the body has revealed. The figures were published as the ombudsman launched a consultation on its three-year corporate plan from 2022 to 2025, in which it sets out how it will tackle an “unprecedented increase” in casework and to “reinforce the importance” of complaint-handling in the social housing sector. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/formal-investigations-by-housing-ombudsman-up-by-65-72864?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Youth Homelessness Has Risen 40% In Five Years

Youth homeless in the UK has increased by an estimated two-fifths in five years, rising to more than 120,000, a leading charity director has warned, as fresh analysis suggests that black households are likely to be disproportionally affected. Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity, said its estimates show 86,000 young people in the UK presented to their local authority as homeless or at risk in 2016/17, and that the figure increased to 121,000 in 2019-20. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/18/youth-homelessness-up-40-per-cent-in-five-years-says-uk-charity-centrepoint 

End Of Stamp Duty Holiday Sees Average House Prices Surge

The price of an average house is now as expensive as it has ever been, standing at just over £267,500, according to data from Halifax, who report that following the end of the stamp duty holiday last month, house price growth saw its strongest month since 2007. In June 2020, the month before the stamp duty holiday began, the typical standardised price for a UK property was £239,317. Therefore a home-mover would have faced SDLT costs of around £2,300. From July last year, the zero rate introduced on homes valued up to £500,000 (falling to £250,000 between July and September this year as the holiday was tapered out) meant no stamp duty would be payable on that same property. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/halifax-end-of-stamp-duty-holiday-sees-average-house-prices-surge-to-record-all-time-high.html 

Housing Association Shared Ownership Sales Rise Almost 10% In 2020

Housing association (HA) shared ownership sales saw a near-10 per cent rise across England during 2019-20, with a significant increase seen in sales in outer London. A total of 12,396 first tranche shared ownership units were sold over the period in England – an increase of 1,090 sales. The data is based on the Regulator of Social Housing’s statistical data return (SDR) for 2020. It showed that the bulk of shared ownership sales took place outside the capital (80 per cent), with London accounting for 19 per cent of sales. Read more on the Social Housing website.

https://www.socialhousing.co.uk/insight/special-report-housing-association-shared-ownership-sales-rise-almost-10-in-2020-72787?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60 

Tenant Demand Sees Average UK Rents Hit Another Record High

 Vast rental demand rippling across the country has fuelled yet another rise in monthly rents according to the latest data and analysis from Homelet. According to the latest figures, the average rent in the UK now sits at £1,061, up 7.5% on the same time last year and a 0.8% increase from the previous month’s figures. In the capital, rents are rising too. An annual increase of 6.4% has taken the average price in London to £1,752 PCM; the monthly jump of 2.3% is the biggest in the country. Excluding London, the average UK rent price is up to £891 PCM, up 7.6% YOY. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

 https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/tenant-demand-sees-average-uk-rents-hit-another-record-high.html

Social Landlords Fear For Tenants Amid Energy Price Surges

Social housing providers and sector bodies have urged the government to reconsider the cuts to Universal Credit and step up support to tenants who could face the stark choice between heating their homes or eating, due to soaring energy prices. Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng warned that some households face a “very difficult winter”. But prime minister Boris Johnson played down the issue, saying that the energy price surges were a “short-term” issue and that people should not worry about putting food on the table. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/social-landlords-fear-for-tenants-amid-energy-price-surges-72619?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60 

Average Age Of First-Time Buyers To Reach 35

With house prices at an all-time high and the age of first–time buyers on the rise, new research by comparethemarket.com forecasts the change in the property market over the next decade. By 2031, house prices in greater London are predicted to increase by a third, whereas the rest of the UK is likely to see a slighter lesser increase of 30%. Looking ahead, the UK property market is set to see incremental house price increases until the year 2040. UK house prices look set to increase by 58% overall. comparethemarket.com also analysed the age of first–time buyers in England dating back to 2006, to reveal how this will increase over the next ten years. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/average-age-of-first-time-buyers-to-reach-35/ 

First-Time Buyers £25,000 Worse Off Due To Stamp Duty Holiday

The stamp duty holiday has increased the price of first-time buyer homes by an average of 11.7% in England in the last year, and by as much as 31.5% in some areas of the country, according to research from GetAgent. The average price of a first-time buyer home in July 2020, just before the holiday was introduced, was £212,166. However, the latest figures show the average first-time buyer home now costs £236,982, an increase of £24,816 or 11.7%. On a broad regional level, the North West has seen the largest increase, with the average first-time buyer now paying £168,820 - a 16.9% jump since July of last year. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/finance-news/first-time-buyers-25000-worse-off-due-to-stamp-duty-holiday.html 

Rents Outside London Soaring At Fastest Rate On Record

Private rents outside London are rising at their fastest rate for 13 years, research suggests, as tenants making plans for life post-pandemic compete for properties. The property website Zoopla said average rents across the UK outside the capital rose by 5% over the 12 months to the end of July – adding more than £450 to a typical annual rent bill – the biggest increase since its index began in 2008. However, locations popular with tenants quitting London and other big cities after reevaluating their lifestyle have seen rents jump by a lot more – up to 25%, according to some estate agents. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/08/rents-outside-london-soaring-at-fastest-rate-on-record-agencies-say

House Prices Hit Record High Despite Cut In Stamp Duty Break

The average UK house price reached a fresh record high in August while annual inflation cooled to a five-month low, after the partial end of the stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland. Halifax, one of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders, said the average cost of a property increased by 0.7%, or £1,789, to £262,954, topping the previous peak of £261,642 recorded in May. The annual rate of house price inflation slowed to 7.1%, the lowest since March and down from 7.6% in July. However, compared with June 2020, when the housing market began to reopen after the first Covid-19 lockdown, prices remain more than £23,600, or 9.9%, higher. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/sep/07/uk-house-prices-stamp-duty-august-halifax 

Number Of Sub-1% Mortgage Deals Rises To 86

The number of lenders offering sub-1% mortgage products has increased from just 1 in March to 12 by July, according to analysis by Trussle. Its data shows that there are now 86 deals with an interest rate of 0.9% or lower. Two-year fix rates are the most popular term type for sub-1% products, with 74% of leads coming from remortgage customers. Despite the growth in sub-1% products, just 2% of all enquiries to Trussle were for these types of mortgages in July. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/mortgages/number-of-sub-1-mortgage-deals-rises-to-86.html 

Demand For Rental Home Mortgages Surges

The boom in domestic holidays has fuelled a surge in demand for mortgages for UK holiday rental homes as landlords and investors cash in on people taking breaks in Britain. The number of “holiday let” mortgage deals on the market has more than doubled in a year, reflecting what one mortgage broker said had been “really incredible interest” this year. Its findings coincided with an analysis of government figures by the real estate adviser firm Altus Group that showed more than 11,000 second home owners in England had “flipped” their properties to become holiday lets since the start of the pandemic in order to capitalise on the booming market. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/sep/06/uk-rental-home-mortgage-demand-surges-domestic-holiday-boom 

More Than 11,000 Properties Flipped To Holiday Homes Amid Staycation Boom

 More than 11,000 second-home owners in England have flipped their properties to become holiday lets since the start of the pandemic, to capitalise on soaring demand for staycations. New analysis of government figures shows that the number of holiday homes trading as businesses has jumped by more than a fifth since the pandemic hit. The data shows that there are now 67,578 homes in England classified as holiday homes which have been flipped to become commercial premises, compared with 56,102 properties in March last year. Read more on the ITV website.

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-09-05/more-than-11000-properties-flipped-to-holiday-homes-amid-staycation-boom

Property Purchases Funded By Equity Release More Than Double In 2021

Over-55s keen to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday drove a 116% year-on-year increase in the number of people using equity release for property purchase, new research from more2life shows. The increase coincides with the introduction of the stamp duty holiday in July 2020 and highlights how over-55s are increasingly using equity release to help them move home – often to be close to family, friends or amenities. Property purchase cases increased by 208% between H1 2020 and H2 2020 and while this started to slow as the SDLT holiday deadline loomed. Read more on the Financial Reporter website.

https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/later-life/property-purchases-funded-by-equity-release-more-than-double-in-2021.html 

Complaints To Housing Ombudsman Rise By 21%

Complaints and enquiries to the Housing Ombudsman increased 21% in the first three months of 2020/21, having already risen sharply last year. The complaints arbitration service revealed that it received 7,276 enquiries and complaints over the period, up from 6,010 in the previous three months. The number is also 230% higher than for between April and June 2020 – although that quarter saw a 41% drop compared with the previous year amid the first coronavirus lockdown. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/complaints-to-housing-ombudsman-rise-by-21-72385?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60 

House Price Rises Accelerate

UK house prices accelerated in August, the Nationwide has said, with values now 13% higher than before the pandemic. The building society said that annual house price growth sped up, to 11%, with the average home costing £248,857. It said property prices recorded their second largest month-on-month rise in 15 years, up by 2.1%. The Nationwide said the increase was "surprising", given that the benefit from stamp duty holidays was reduced. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58399869 

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

Cost Of Moving Home Rises As UK Removals Firms Put Up Prices

 The cost of moving home is on the rise as removals firms are forced to put up prices following difficulties in hiring drivers. Some removals firms have raised prices by up to 25%, according to operators, in line with wage increases levied to retain and attract workers amid heavy competition for those with a specialist lorry licence. Prices across the industry have risen by 10-15% as strong demand for removals vans continued beyond a peak in June before the end of the stamp duty tax break. Demand was up 200% in June and interest in moving home has not tailed off as much as expected since then. Read more on the Observer website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/aug/01/cost-of-moving-home-rises-as-uk-removals-firms-put-up-prices

Landlords Warned To Prepare For Rise In Tenant Fraud

The events of the past 18 months have dealt a devastating socio-economic impact on private renters in the UK, with an estimated 840,000 building up arrears as a result of covid. Compounding this is the softening of eviction regulations and virtually no consequences for fraudulent rental applications - fuelling a rise in tenant fraud. Rising unemployment and affordability amongst renters are also impacting the number of fraudulent applications. According to tenant due diligence and guarantee firm, Homeppl, there was a 71% increase in the number of fraudulent applications between the second half of 2020 and the first half of 2021 meaning that one in 50 rental applications are now fraudulent, rising to one in 20 in London. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/landlords-warned-to-prepare-for-rise-in-tenant-fraud.html

House Prices Rise By 10% Amid Stamp Duty Holiday Rush

UK house prices rose by 10% in the year to May, the fastest rate since before the 2008 financial crisis, as buyers scrambled to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday in some parts of the country. Data from the Office for National Statistics put the average price of a property at £254,624. The annual growth appears to have been driven by buyers’ desire for larger homes and outdoor space, and the stamp duty savings that were largest on homes in England and Northern Ireland priced at £500,000 and above. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jul/14/uk-house-prices-rise-by-10-amid-stamp-duty-holiday-rush