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The opportunity to buy a home in England and Wales is at its best in 13 years amid a decline in the cost of essentials, a drop in mortgage payments and a rise in average incomes over the past 12 months. It improved for the third quarter in a row in the three months to June and is 40% up on 2007, according to Hamptons International's latest ability-to-buy index, which measures changes in the cost of living, interest payments and house prices. - The Times
The increase in stamp duty on more expensive homes has led to a sharp drop in sales of properties for at least £1m, two reports confirmed. The UK total fell by 11% in the first half of 2015 compared with the same time last year, says Lloyds Bank. LonRes research for the Financial Times found the number of London homes sold for between £1m and £2m fell 22.5 per cent from July to September, against the same time in 2014. - Sunday Telegraph
Travis Perkins warns on growth as homeowners shy away from DIY: Travis Perkins warned that earnings growth this year would be at the lower end of forecasts as a slowdown in the housing market meant that homeowners spent less on renovating their homes.
London property prices turn around to bite Foxtons: Foxtons’ shares tumbled this morning after it reported that “historically low levels” of activity in central London had hit sales commissions
Sales rise as household income hits six-year high: Families have more money to spend after taxes and buying essentials than they have had in six years, helping sales at the tills to grow last month by the biggest amount in nearly two years. Prospective buyers optimistic as wages rise: Mortgage lending is having its best spell since 2008 as negative inflation and rising wages leave would-be buyers confident enough to take the plunge into the property market.
Foxtons said that the number of sales in the prime central London property market was taking time to recover due to price rises and increases in a property tax.The company, which saw its turnover rise 8.8% to £43.5m in the three months to September 30th, said however it was in a strong position to benefit from growth in outer London areas.
Foxtons founder prospers as landlord to wealthy businesses: Jon Hunt, the property billionaire who founded and sold the estate agency chain Foxtons, is banking on wealthy businesses paying big rents to boost revenues further at the property company that he now owns.
Buy-to-let crackdown ‘will raise rents’: Plans to cut tax relief for buy-to-let investors will push up rents and harm tenants more than landlords, mortgage lenders are warning.
The price is going up again, brick by brick: As the prime minister orders 250,000 new homes a year to solve the housing crisis, the price of building materials is going through the roof.
Home sales increase in September: The highest number of homes in about a year and a half changed hands last month, driven by demand at the lower end of the scale. Sales of homes rose to 106,030 from 105,160 in August, according to figures reported by Revenue & Customs. This was the fourth consecutive month that they were above 100,000 and, compared with a year earlier, they were 5.4% higher.
Britain’s top lenders to face tougher stress tests: The seven biggest British lenders will face tougher tests of their financial resilience and may need to hold more capital as part of a drive by regulators to avoid future blow-ups of the financial system. The Bank of England said that, beginning in 2017, it would impose a secondary stress test every other year that will examine extreme and unexpected dangers to banks. The hurdle to pass the tests will become tougher, with the largest institutions expected to hold an extra capital buffer
UK public sector net cash requirement reported a surplus in September Public finances (public sector net cash requirement) in the UK has reported a surplus £17.90 billion in September, as compared to a revised surplus of £0.70 billion in the prior month. UK public sector net borrowing recorded a surplus in September The public sector net borrowing (excluding temporary effects of financial interventions) has posted a surplus of £9.40 billion in September, in the UK, as compared to a revised surplus of £11.60 billion in the previous month. Market expectation was for public sector net borrowing to show a surplus of £10.10 billion.
Businesses run from British homes undertake £32 billion of global trade: Post Office International Payments (POIP) estimates that £32 billion of goods have been traded with overseas buyers and sellers from so-called spare room traders, who will utilise websites such as eBay. Approximately 70% of all new businesses start off at home while almost one in five people in the U.K. have sold items profitably to foreign buyers online, POIP said.
Londoners face further rental rate increases: There is no slowing down for rental rates in the capital, with the average cost per month for a one-bed flat coming in at over £1,000 in three quarters of boroughs. Only nine London boroughs have average rents for one-bed flats below £1,000 per month now, according to the monthly Landbay Rental Index.
City Hall Tories want control of stamp duty: Conservatives in City Hall want Whitehall to hand control over stamp duty to local authorities – and are bolstering their case by claiming devolution could lead to more than 40,000 new homes in London each year
Property prices soar in French ski resorts: Alpine boltholes in leading French ski resorts have soared in value this year, in contrast with comparable properties in Switzerland as a weaker Euro and restrictive Swiss laws send international buyers to France.
Consumer anxiety around rogue traders and cowboy builders is costing the U.K. £6 billion - FMB: Shoddy tradespeople and cowboy builders are costing the U.K. economy more than £6 billion a year, according to new research out from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
Brickmaker says planning delays have reduced brick demand: A planning logjam has contributed to weakened demand for bricks for housebuilding in the last few months, according to Michelmersh Brick Holdings, the largest maker of specialist bricks
First-time buyer demand boosts house prices to record highs: Rightmove says that asking prices hit a new record high in October. Average asking prices rose to £296,549 in October, 5.6% higher than they were a year ago. Especially strong demand from first-time buyers has seen the price of properties bought by those getting on the housing ladder jump by close to 10% in the period
Act now to dodge another boom and bust property catastrophe, Bank of England warns: The terrible damage wrought on property investors and the construction market could be avoided in future if the commercial property sector properly understood the business cycle, rather than getting caught up in exuberance every time, according to top Bank of England official Alex Brazier
Buy-to-let crackdown ‘will raise rents’: Plans to cut tax relief for buy-to-let investors will push up rents and harm tenants more than landlords, mortgage lenders are warning. In July, George Osborne unexpectedly announced that he would be restricting mortgage interest relief for buy-to-let landlords to the basic rate of tax, 20%, in a move to be phased in over four years from 2017.
U.K. infrastructure is lagging behind on global value rankings: The U.K. is falling behind in global rankings on its infrastructure, according to research published. The value of Britain’s built environment – its buildings and infrastructure – is currently £3.1 trillion, the research from Arcadis, a consultancy, and the Centre for Economics and Business Research said. The U.K. ranks 13th against a host of other economic powerhouses, but has slipped two places since 2013 and lags behind every other G7 country except for Canada
London house prices up by 10% in October and first-time buyers bear the brunt - Rightmove: London house prices are 9.8% higher than they were in October 2014, data released by online property market Rightmove reveals
Housing stocks may benefit from new data - New York Report: Housing stocks could be in for a boost if September data due out next week confirms strength that market watchers expect
First-timers and landlords force up prices: A battle between first-time buyers and buy-to-let landlords for the same type of home has forced the asking price of properties with a maximum of two bedrooms in England and Wales to a record high.