Housing Market Benefits from New UK Chancellor’s Actions
The appointment of Jeremy Hunt to replace Kwasi Kwarteng and his reversal of most of the mini budget changes has been a huge relief to homeowners and investors. The only significant change to remain is the increase in the stamp duty threshold which directly benefits the industry whilst the calmer financial market is of major benefit to the economy in general. Savills, one of the UK’s leading property companies expects interest rates to peak lower and sooner now that the market feels that there is a steadier hand at the helm of the Exchequer. Many analysts feel that this will limit any real downside but agree that the market is in for a subdued period until 2024.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sun, Oct 23rd 2022
New Builds Significantly Outperforming Older Homes
According to a recent report by Alliance Fund the price gap between new builds and older homes has widened from 21.2% to 37.3% over the last ten years. The fund expects this divergence in value to continue as buyers and tenants look to mitigate rampant energy bills and benefit from the facilities that new build projects offer. CEO Iain Crawford noted that as the pandemic property market boom ends, new builds are the safest investments to mitigate any downside risks which the property market is exposed to as they hold their value much better than older properties.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sun, Oct 16th 2022
Americans Flexing Dollar Muscles in Prime London Property Market
Whilst there is pressure on local buyers as interest rates and recession fears continue to rise, American buyers are seizing the opportunity to lock in currency savings. Leading broker Knight Frank has reported a substantial increase in US investor activity from a smaller London pied-de-terre or an apartment for student sons or daughters to large country estates. Discounts achieved by Dollar investors are around 20% in Prime Central London compared to a year ago whilst currency and price savings compared to 2014 are in the region of 50%. Similar interest is being shown by Middle East investors who are also benefiting from the currency saving as well as resilient economies thanks to spectacular oil revenues.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sun, Oct 2nd 2022
UK Government Acts Swiftly to Support the Economy and Housing Market
With rising inflation putting pressure on households, new Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng announced a number of tax changes to bolster the UK economy. Top salary earners will benefit from a reduction in the maximum tax rate from 45% to 40% from 2023 whilst the housing market will benefit from a doubling of the minimum stamp duty threshold to £250,000. First time buyers will also benefit as their exemption increases from £300,000 to £425,000. Furthermore, developers are set to benefit from the scrapping of stamp duty in certain redevelopment zones as well as the introduction of a bill to simplify the planning regime and speed up the process for building new infrastructure.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sun, Sep 25th 2022
Severe University Accommodation Crisis in Some UK Cities
UK universities are seeing unprecedented demand for accommodation this year according to a spokesperson for one of the major UK institutions. With many students having deferred their studies last year due to the exceptionally high A-Level results in 2021, most universities are now at capacity levels which has resulted in soaring demand for student accommodation. Both Manchester University and Manchester Metropolitan reported a waiting list of hundreds of students for university halls. The city has a severe lack of alternative student accommodation as Manchester Council has given very few approvals to private developers, preferring to leave this to the universities themselves. This has resulted in many freshers having to commute from neighbouring cities.
Posted by: Kelvin Tayfield, Sun, Sep 18th 2022