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U.K. house prices ‘will rise 25% in next five years’: U.K. house prices are forecast to rise by 25% over the next five years and become “ever more unaffordable”, largely because of an acute shortage of homes for sale, a leading property body has warned.
UK NIESR estimated GDP climbed in the March-May 2015 period NIESR estimated gross domestic product (GDP) in the UK registered a rise of 0.60% in the March-May 2015 period. In the February-April 2015 period, NIESR estimated GDP had advanced by a revised 0.50%.
UK industrial production rose more than expected in April On an annual basis in the UK, industrial production advanced 1.20% in April, compared to a revised advance of 1.10% in the previous month. Market expectation was for industrial production to rise 0.60%.
UK house price balance advanced in May In May, house price balance in the UK recorded a rise to 34.00, compared to a revised level of 32.00 in the prior month. Market anticipation was for house price balance to climb to a level of 36.00
Permission for green belt homes doubles in a year: The number of new homes approved in the green belt has more than doubled in a year despite government promises that it would be protected.
UK total trade deficit dropped in April Total trade deficit in the UK dropped to £1.20 billion in April, from a revised total trade deficit of £3.09 billion in the prior month. Markets were expecting the country's total trade deficit to narrow to £2.60 billion
UK retail sales across all sectors remained unchanged in May On an annual basis in May, retail sales across all sectors remained flat in the UK, compared to a fall of 2.40% in the prior month. Markets were expecting retail sales across all sectors to rise 1.20%
UK consumer inflation expectations for next 12 months climbed in May In the UK, consumer inflation expectations for the next 12 months registered a rise to 2.20% in May, compared to a level of 1.90% in February.
Optimistic Bellway rings in a good start to the year: One of Britain’s main housebuilders has sounded a bullish note on the property market after reporting a good start to the year and predicting that home sales will be up substantially on last year. Bellway recorded a 22 % rise in its forward order book to £1.27 billion for the three months to the end of May
The number of people working from home has risen by 13.7% in the last ten years, according to a study. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) found 800,000 more people work from home on a permanent basis when compared with a decade ago, which makes a total to 4.2m. However, the Work Wise UK campaign estimated there are at least 1.8m people who would like to work from home but cannot do so. The reasons for the preference are the expense, time and hassle of commuting to work everyday. "As economic growth returns, more employers should begin to think about the benefits of homeworking and other ways of working smarter," TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said. The Office of National Statistics found that managers and professionals are most likely to work from home, while there is less flexibility to those lower down the occupational hierarchy.
Bellway said in an interim management statement that a strong trading performance was expected to result in the full year operating margin increasing by around 300 bps to over 20%, up from 17.2% in 2014. Exceptional profit will total £6.9m thanks to the disposal of the company's entire portfolio of shared equity assets for £32.5m. Its forward sales position was "strong", it said, with growth of 22% in the value of the forward order book to £1,270m.
Easy money to last until at least 2016 as growth prospects wane: Low interest rates look set to stay for the rest of the year, with the growth outlook for the U.K. worsening and a major international organisation urging the U.S. not to hike rates this year.
England to be 1 million homes short of housing its people by 2025: England is heading for a shortfall of 1 million homes over the next decade as the housing supply crisis intensifies, property experts have warned.
Tunnelling on London’s £14.8 billion Crossrail project complete after three years: The £14.8 billion Crossrail project has reached a “major milestone” after engineers finally finished 26 miles of tunnelling beneath London following three years of work
Builders stockpile housing sites in green belt to keep prices high: Building companies are “hoarding” sites for 300,000 homes and delaying the completion of estates to keep prices high, a report by the Campaign to Protect Rural England suggests.
UK Halifax house price index recorded a drop in May The Halifax house price index slid 0.10% in the UK on a MoM basis, in May. The Halifax house price index had registered a rise of 1.60% in the previous month.
UK Halifax house price index registered a rise in the March-May 2015 period The Halifax house price index in the UK climbed 8.60% in the March-May 2015 period on an annual basis. The Halifax house price index had risen 8.50% in the February-April 2015 period.
UK new car registrations registered a rise in May In May, on a YoY basis, new car registrations climbed 2.40% in the UK. New car registrations had registered a rise of 5.10% in the previous month
Cash transactions at record high The number of properties bought in cash hit a record high in the first quarter of the year, additional figures from Nationwide's House Price Index show. The building society estimated that the share of cash purchases in the housing market reached 38% in Q1 2015, the highest figure ever recorded. This continued demand has helped to support transaction levels in recent quarters, the report noted, with mortgage lending having remained relatively subdued. However, the record figure "was only modestly above the average of 36% prevailing in 2014", said Robert Gardner, with a "significant rise" in the share of cash transactions having been seen since credit conditions tightened following the financial crisis. The share of cash purchases in the capital wasn't out of line with other regions, and notably, the North East and South West both saw far higher proportions of cash transactions than London, arguably the result of London prices being over twice as high as the rest of the UK
Help to Buy has helped nearly 100,000 people buy a home in the two years since it launched. Official statistics, published yesterday, show a combined total of 94,000 have bought a home through Help to Buy, with a further 5,601 having purchased one through NewBuy, the predecessor of the mortgage guarantee scheme Around 95 per cent of Help to Buy completions have taken place outside London and over 70,000 have been first-time buyers. ADVERTISING The average house price is £156,000 for the mortgage guarantee scheme and £213,000 for the equity loan scheme. Chancellor George Osborne says: “Key to our long term plan is providing economic security for working people, at every stage in life. The security of owning your own home is a big part of this, which is where Help to Buy comes in. It’s also boosting the economy more widely by driving an increase in house building in Britain, ensuring long-term housing supply and creating jobs. ”That’s why I committed £6bn to extend Help to Buy to at least 2020, giving developers certainty so they can plan for future Help to Buy housing schemes and continue to boost housing supply. Today I’ve confirmed the first annual allocation of nearly £1.5bn, providing funding for Help to Buy equity loan for 2016/17.”
Irish homebuilder Cairn to raise about £270 million in London listing: Irish housebuilder Cairn Homes will raise around £270 million in a London flotation to take advantage of Ireland’s resurgence by building more homes for the country’s rising population of young househunters.
Plastic eclipses paper as card payments soar: Three quarters of all retail spending is now conducted by card, with transaction volumes topping £600 billion during 2014 according to new research by The U.K. Cards Association released.
U.K. leads the way as fastest growing major economy in developed world despite austerity risk: Britain will be the fastest growing major economy in the developed world this year but deep cuts to public spending could hamper the recovery, according to a leading global watchdog
OECD tells George Osborne to spread pain of public spending cuts: George Osborne should spread the pain of tough public spending cuts beyond the next two years, according to the OECD in a critique of the Chancellor’s debt consolidation strategy.
OECD slashes global growth forecasts: The OECD has lowered its global growth forecasts for this year and next, as lower investment and “transitory” weakness in the U.S. economy weighs on the recovery.