Housing Starts And Completions Still Below Pre-Recession Levels

A briefing note for MPs prepared from government statistics shows that housing starts and completions have increased from the lows observed in late 2008 and early 2009 but remain below the levels they were at before the recession of a decade ago. Citing figures from the MHCLG, the briefing note prepared by the House of Commons library says there were 36,630 house building starts in England in the first quarter of this year - the most recent data available. This was a nine per cent decrease compared with the previous quarter, and also a nine per cent decrease compared with the same quarter of 2018. Read more on Letting Agent Today.

https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/8/housing-starts-and-completions-still-below-pre-recession-levels

Stats Show UK Rental Market ‘Remains In Recession’

The UK rental market remained in recession during the third quarter of 2018 (Q3 2018) according to latest figures from the Deposit Protection Service (DPS). In its new Rent Index – based on a database of millions of properties across the UK –the DPS reports that average rents decreased for the third consecutive quarter in Q3 2018, falling from £764 to £761. The Index also shows that average UK rent has now decreased £14, or 1.83%, since Q3 2017 and is now lower than the national average for 2016. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/dps-stats-show-uk-rental-market-remains-in-recession/

94% of UK's Social Housing Tenants Face Financial Hardship

The majority of the UK's social housing tenants have faced some kind of financial difficulty in the past six months, shocking new research has found. With a massive 94% having to deal with financial woes of some description, the research by independent community interest company Money Saving Movement (MSM) revealed that 43% of tenants have struggled with household essentials. And tenants don't view their social landlords as a primary source of help, with 10% saying they would approach their bank for help, compared with only 5% who would talk to their housing association. MSM claims that its research "adds further weight to a growing body of evidence" that low-income households are bearing the worst brunt of the financial crisis, as well as the resultant recession.  Download a summary of the report from the MSM website.

Skills Shortage and Housing Bubble Have Arrived Very Early In the Economic Cycle

Can it be true that only 18 months into a recovery we seem already to have the worst signs of overheating, with employers complaining of a chronic shortage of skilled workers in the midst of a rampantly rising housing market? It seems bizarre when Britain has only just clawed back the output lost in the last recession. Such worries usually follow a 10-year run of growth, and one that looks exhausted and unstable. Then it comes as no surprise to be watching as house prices rise to unsustainable levels and employers source workers from abroad. After all, that was how 2005 looked following a decade of success. Read more on the Guardian website.

Buy-To-Let Borrowing Rates Dive to New Low

Buy-to-let borrowing rates are now back to their lowest levels since before the recession. Some rates are fixed as low as 2.4%, though these types of deals do require a large deposit of around 40%. Rates have been driven down partly by the growing number of people renting city properties, while lenders are slashing rates to attract new customers.  The reduction in rates, and steady rise over 2013 in buy-to-let lending, is fuelling fierce competition between landlords and would-be first-time buyers. The rental market is also contributing to the competition due to a wider reversal in the trend of home ownership. Roughly 10 million people now live in homes rented from private landlords. That's double the number who did back in 2000. Read more on the Sky News website.

Households on Inadequate Incomes Increase by A Fifth in Three Years

New research shows the number of households living on incomes below the level needed to afford an adequate standard of living has increased by a fifth (900,000) in three years. Among the 20 million households whose minimum needs are calculated in the research, the number falling short of the standard needed has increased by a fifth since 2008/9 - from 3.8 million to 4.7 million households - following the onset of the recession, cuts to benefits and tax credits and the rising cost of essentials. Most of the increase came in the final year of the three-year period. Income adequacy is measured by the Minimum Income Standard (MIS), which is what the public think we all need for a minimum socially acceptable standard of living in the UK. The report reveals how many households live below the minimum amount needed, how far they are below and who they are. Download a copy of the report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website.

New Homes Bonus 'Draining Resources from North to South'

A new study by UNISON, the UK's largest union, has revealed that the New Homes Bonus Scheme is draining scarce resources away from the recession-hit north, to wealthier parts of the country in the south.  Money for the new homes scheme is deducted from local council grants and then redistributed to areas where most new homes are built which largely depends on decisions made by private developers. Building firms meanwhile are unsurprisingly shying away from poorer areas that have been hit hardest by the recession and choosing to build in areas where the profit potential is greatest. The union is demanding that the Government puts a stop to deprived areas being penalised in this way. Read more on the UNISON website.

The Homelessness Monitor 2011-2015

The homelessness monitor is a five year study that will provide an independent analysis of the impact on homelessness of recent economic and policy developments in England. The key areas of interest are the homelessness consequences of the post-2007 economic recession and the housing market downturn. The other main thrust of inquiry is the likely impacts of the welfare, housing and other social policy reforms, including cutbacks in public expenditure. This year 2 report tracks the baseline account of homelessness established in 2011, and analyses key trends following that period. It also highlights emerging trends and forecasts some of the likely changes, identifying the developments likely to have the most significant impacts on homelessness.  Download either a summary or the full report from the Crisis website.

Report Urges Government to Start Building Houses to Save Economy

A new report - from Financial firm Tullett Prebon - urges the Government to start a huge house-building programme to pull the economy out of recession and claims that over the last two decades successive governments' housing policies have been "a complete shambles".  It claims that investment in a national house-building programme might "kick-start the economy", and is one of the "very few policy options available to government".  The authors point out that increased demand increases prices, whilst a surplus of housing lowers them. The report claims that a doubling in Housing Benefit over the last decade (from £121bn to £221bn) has pushed up prices and sent waiting lists soaring by 80%.  Read more on 24dash.

Recession Puts Pressure on Skills

Research commissioned by the CIH indicates the recession and economic downturn is placing increasing pressure on the learning and development activities of housing organisations in England. The research indicated that the training activity of 52 per cent of housing organisations had already been affected by the recession. Nearly seventy per cent of housing organisations questioned expected the recession to have an impact on their training activity in 2010.Housing associations expect to be least affected by the recession (62 per cent), followed by ALMOs (76 per cent). Nearly all of local authorities (92 per cent) expect to be affected. Read more on the CIH website.