Green Agenda ‘Putting Pressure’ On Land Values

Research by Savills says UK residential development land values have picked up across the market after a two-year period of mostly static prices. The real estate adviser said uncertainty peaked in the final quarter of 2019 leading up to the election with slowing transactional activity and deals taking longer to complete in some areas of the country. But the election result has caused a rapid rise in confidence both amongst buyers of land and in the housing market, with greenfield land, urban land and house prices all rising at the end of 2019. Read more on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/green-agenda-putting-pressure-on-land-values-says-savills/5104093.article

Affordable Housing Squeezed By Land Values

The planning system has allowed soaring land values in London to reduce the amount of affordable housing delivered, research commissioned by London boroughs claims. Research reveals that since April 2009, although average London house prices have nearly doubled from £245,000 to £472,000, annual affordable housing delivery has dropped by 37%. The research, commissioned by a group of 13 Labour-led authorities and published on Friday, centres on the negotiations that take place between developers and local authorities when negotiating Section 106 agreements, which involves an examination of a scheme’s viability. The academics who produced the report recommended a “complete rethink” of the viability testing process in planning as a result. Read more on Inside Housing.