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14th November 2014
A study published by Aviva has found that 3m households living in rented accommodation believe they will never own their own home. However, 15% are saving for a deposit on a house, with one in five aspirational homeowners having been saving for over 10 years. A total of 28% say they are happy renting, and wouldn’t want to own a home
The Independent (10/11/14)
14th November 2014
A new report suggests that next year the collective value of buy-to-let properties could exceed £1tn in the UK, with a rise of £109.5bn being registered in the last year alone.. Since 2009, the market’s value has risen by £302bn, to now stand at £930.7bn. The report, from lender Kent Reliance, added "Rapid London house price growth has a much bigger effect on the private rented sector than it does in the wider housing market”.
Financial Times (08/11/14)
7th November 2014
London house prices are set to rise by almost a third over the next five years, according to a report from JLL. The report says: “There are still many very good reasons to buy and invest in London.” For the capital as a whole, JLL predict that prices will be 29.4% higher by 2019 — with the outer boroughs seeing growth of more than 30%. Adam Challis, JLL’s head of residential research, said potential buyers of more expensive properties were holding back until after the election. Elsewhere, JLL reports that the "bank of mum and dad" has replaced easy credit and high loan to value mortgages following the 2008 crash, giving people the ability to get on the property ladder. The report suggests that, in combination with the UK's housing supply crisis, this level of equity in the system is "keeping house prices high".
7th November 2014
The Telegraph's Anna White reports on the luxury London property market and comments that as increasing numbers of cranes dot exclusive districts, there are fears that the global economic situation could threaten London’s appeal. The property industry insists that there is an existing queue of high net- worth individuals ready to snap up new developments in Mayfair and other prime areas off-plan. However, Deutsche Bank says that the London property market could “unravel”. One of its biggest concerns is the knock-on effect of the U.S. stopping its quantitative easing programme last week. Simon French, chief UK economist at Panmure Gordon, cites issues closer to home. “We are seeing high-end residential come off the boil as talk of clamping down on immigration, and a mansion tax, is sending warning signals that the UK is changing as a place to do business,” he says. Meanwhile, Scott Corfe, chief economist at the CEBR, is also bearish about the luxury London market and its ambitious pipeline of developments. “We expect demand to fall back at the top end of the [London housing] market,” he says.
7th November 2014
New figures from Knight Frank suggest that house prices in London's most exclusive areas have failed to grow for the first time in four years, after surging by 40% over the period. Knight Frank expects no growth in central London prices next year, but says that could change if the prospect of a mansion tax recedes after the election..
The Times (03/12/14)
7th November 2014
Nigel Wilson, chief executive of Legal & General, writing in the Mail, says that he wants a tax system which is workable and fair. He argues that a mansion tax is neither. It won't help the housing market, and it won't help the deficit, he says. The problem with housing isn't taxation – it is supply and demand. He points out that decades of inflation means 70% of the £2m "mansions" in London are actually flats or terrace houses. We need to build more homes: 200,000 annually. He explains that, a successful housing market needs people to move and the mansion tax threat is already slowing top-end sales - with repercussions down the chain. He suggests a better way for politicians to tax property would be to reform the domestic rates, put additional high-value bands in place, and make second homes pay a premium.
Daily Mail (03/11/14)