Surge in Chinese Buyers of UK Property
Due to the introduction of severe security measures by the Chinese government, the UK government has offered some 3 million British National Overseas passport holders a path to UK citizenship. These people will be allowed to live, work and study in the UK for five years after which they can apply for citizenship. Estate agents are seeing demand from Hong Kong across the board from cheaper units right up to very high-end properties. A number of developers are planning launches in Hong Kong while some developers in London have seen up to 150% increases in enquiries from Hong Kong recently.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sun, Aug 30th 2020
Work from Home Continues to Benefit Commuter Towns
A recent survey conducted by UK flexible office company, Spacemade showed that 61% of respondents would prefer a 2-3day work from home arrangement while 93% would prefer to work at least one day per week at home. The company stated that the prevailing trend has been dramatically accelerated by the Covid lockdown as companies saw that working from home can be productive while staff saw improved quality of life. A win-win for these stakeholders as well as commuter towns that offer quality of life and quick connection times! In particular new developments that offer functional designs, efficient energy, good internet connections and on-site facilities are attracting buyers.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sat, Aug 22nd 2020
Foreign Buyers Should Capitalize on Savings Now
With the current stamp duty holiday which ends on 31 March 2021 at the same time an additional 2% is imposed on non-residents, foreign investors can save 5% (£25,000) on a £500,000 property in the UK. Furthermore cash buyers in particular are usually able to negotiate a decent discount on completed properties as developers are keen to dispose of the last few available units in such developments. This favorable environment for investors adds up to substantial capital savings at the same time that rental supply across the UK is down 6.8% year on year according to property search website Home.co.uk.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sun, Aug 16th 2020
UK Housing Supply/Demand Gap Widens
According to website Zoopla’s research Director, the Coronavirus lockdown exacerbated the UK housing supply shortage as construction slowed down. He went on to state that supply this year has fallen by 18.4% while demand has increased by 25.3%. This is a staggering mismatch which will underpin property prices at least for the remainder of 2020 with the Northern Cities and Midlands showing the strongest trends. Total sales for this year are still expected to be approximately 15% below 2019 levels so the catch up can be expected to support demand into 2021.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sat, Aug 8th 2020
UK House Prices Bounce Back in July
According to Nationwide Building Society’s Chief Economist, UK house prices jumped 1.7% in July bringing the year on year growth up to 1.5%. The speedy recovery is attributed to the pent-up demand caused by the lockdown and the recently announced stamp duty holiday.
The CEO of Enness Global Mortgages stated that thanks to record low mortgage rates, activity has been high and in what may be a surprise to some, the top end of the market has seen an increase in demand from both local and foreign investors.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sun, Aug 2nd 2020