‘Acute’ Shortage Of UK Homes Expected To Run Until 2022

There is an “acute” shortage of homes available for sale, Zoopla said, with the market facing its greatest shortage since the property listing portal’s records began in 2015. This comes as the average price of a house went up by 7.6% over the last 12 months. Buyer demand remains strong, up 20.5% in July compared to the 2020 average. Stock levels are down 26.4% compared to last year's average, and down even more (33%) compared “with the more normal” pre-pandemic markets of 2018 and 2019, Zoopla said. Read more on Yahoo Finance.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/acute-shortage-of-uk-homes-expected-to-run-until-2022-230141094.html 

Supply Dries Up In UK Housing Market

Parts of the UK property market are facing a supply shortage, with a quarter fewer properties listed for sale in England and Wales in March 2021 than compared with the same time last year.  This is more of a problem in the market for houses rather than flats, as the number of houses listed for sale was 33% lower over the 12-month period while the number of flats was 7% higher. Analysis also revealed that it is more acute in parts of the country that have experienced stronger demand due to successive COVID-19 lockdowns. Among the house listings, the number was 3% down in London compared to a drop of 42% in south-west England. Read more on the Yahoo Finance website.

Property: Supply dries up in UK housing market as listings shrink by a quarter (yahoo.com) 

Renters Snap Up Properties 30% Faster Amid Flight For Green Space

UK renters are driving a more decisive market, as houses for rent are snapped up on average 30% faster than one year ago. That’s according to new stats from real estate website Zoopla’s quarterly rental market report. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a once in a lifetime reassessment of housing needs, with houses average across the UK let nearly a week (6 days) faster than the same time a year ago. The time frame has shortened across all cities. Meanwhile, the time to let out a flat remains largely unchanged, with these letting out just 2% faster. Read more on the Yahoo Finance website.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/zoopla-quarterly-housing-rental-market-report-000134248.html 

Nearly 325,000 Homes Purchased Through 'Help To Buy' Scheme

Almost 325,000 homes across the UK have been bought through the government’s Help to Buy housing scheme since its launch in December 2015. Help to Buy ISAs — through which the government boosts first-time home-buyers’ savings by 25%, up to a maximum of £3,000 — have now supported 323,767 property completions, official data shows. So far, 426,565 “bonuses” — or government boosts — have been paid out, with the average bonus coming in at £1,000, leading the overall value of bonuses to £426.74m by the end of March, according to the Treasury. Read more on the Yahoo Finance website.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/nearly-325000-homes-purchased-through-help-to-buy-scheme-143748310.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c2luZ25ldC5jby51ay9Ib3VzaW5nX05ld3MvSG91c2luZ05ldF9OZXdzX1VubG9ja2VkLmh0bWw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAC7HibRXiCLQ-PEfHThhZMrZGfo8m__17Rs-mfPP80Lt0NhGku68cMY_UbHzV8sck0VSkebaS7uoiMlHt5M0u2RQGqAl1HB2EB9M-2s6dcPU8yUlFSW-185puyCAPHboR8SdHklmFBg4LrrMrSsbRtCQQRKM41M61iUIUTiEsjhr

House Sellers Put Off By ‘Lacklustre Price Growth’

The number of new house sellers coming to market is shrinking at the fastest rate in a decade, according to a property website. Sellers are being deterred by “lacklustre price growth” amid ongoing political uncertainty according to Rightmove, which said the average price tag on a property fell by nearly £4,000 in November compared with October. But for some buyers, now could be the chance to grab a winter bargain, the website said. Read more on the Yahoo Finance website.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/house-sellers-put-off-lacklustre-000100637.html?guccounter=2

Number Of New Home Registrations Slowed In Third Quarter

The number of new homes being registered slowed down in the third quarter of this year, according to industry figures. There were 39,364 registrations – down by 9% compared with the same period a year earlier, the National House Building Council (NHBC) said. The NHBC is a warranty and insurance provider, covering around 80% of new homes built in the UK. Builders register homes to be built in the coming weeks or months – so the figures are an indicator of the level of new housing supply in the pipeline. The year-on-year fall in registrations was driven by home registrations in the private sector. Read more on the Yahoo Finance website.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/number-home-registrations-slowed-third-230100763.html

Annual House Price Growth ‘Remains Below 1%

Annual house price growth ran below 1% - at 0.3% - for the eighth month in a row in July amid signs that consumer confidence remains subdued, according to an index. Across the UK, the average house price in July stood at £217,663, the study from Nationwide Building Society found. Strikingly, house prices increased at the same rate of 0.3% on a monthly, quarterly and an annual basis in July. Read more on the Yahoo! Finance website.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/annual-house-price-growth-remains-071644000.html

Rental Payments Will Be Included In Credit Reports

Tenants could find it easier to access finance such as mortgages, with a major credit checking company now including information about rental payments in its reports. Experian said it is adding the data to credit reports, enabling firms offering finance to take these payments into account in a similar way to mortgages. For some tenants, this could potentially help them jump on to the property ladder and make it easier to access other types of finance. The credit checking company said more than 150 social housing providers, local authorities and letting agents are reporting data in an initiative called the rental exchange. Read more on the Yahoo Finance website.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/rental-payments-included-credit-reports-230100820.html?guccounter=1

Call For Affordable Housing In London

The high cost of renting a house in London has fuelled a huge increase in the number of people in the capital who do not have enough income for a decent standard of living, a study shows. Research for the Trust for London charity found 3.5 million Londoners have less money to meet their basic needs and have a minimum level of living, an increase of 400,000 since 2010. The increased cost of private renting was singled out which has risen four times as much as in the rest of the UK, said the report. Although single adults in the rest of the country have benefited from the National Living Wage, those in London are less able to afford a decent standard of living than before the rate came in last year. Read more on Yahoo Finance.

How to Fix the UK's Housing Mess

The high cost and low availability of housing is already causing political trouble. It is one of the arguments used by UKIP for pulling out of the EU and controlling immigration. The housing mess is also prompting Britain's mainstream political parties to come up with foolish policies. The Conservative-led government's flagship scheme - Help to Buy -helps people who wouldn't otherwise have a big enough deposit to buy a home. Its main effect will be to increase demand further, so pushing up prices, rather than increase the supply of homes. Meanwhile, the opposition Labour Party has promised to institute a type of rent control if it comes to power. That sounds nice for tenants. But it too would rig the market, deterring landlords from building new homes to rent. A better solution is not to distort the housing market but to remove existing distortions so that it operates more freely. Read more on the Yahoo! Finance website.