Generation rent? Now the government wants to help you out February 5, 2017 The government will this week turn its attention to so-called generation rent, with promises of new measures aimed at helping those who are unable, or not yet ready, to jump on the housing ladder through home ownership. It is pledging to look at new ways of encouraging the building of more affordable rented homes across the [...]
UK house prices: Rent increases have fallen to their lowest since 2013 – while London prices fell for the ninth month March 13, 2017 Rent increases for tenants across the UK have fallen to their lowest since 2013, new figures have shown, with prices in London dropping for the ninth month in a row. Rents rose just one per cent to £1,190 in the year to February, the lowest rise since April 2013, figures from Landbay showed. In the [...]
Barratt has sold 172 luxury London new-build flats as rental homes, including an entire block at Nine Elms March 6, 2017 Here's an unusual move by a housebuilder: Barratt Homes has bundled together 172 flats at various developments across London and sold them off as rental homes. The housebuilder said it had sold the units to Henderson Park for £140.5m. The portfolio includes 29 units at Aldgate Place, a joint venture with British Land, 25 in Fulham Riverside and all 118 at [...]
Holiday Homes: Finding a property investment at Courchevel 1850 on the slopes in the Rhone-Alpes that will pay off March 14, 2017 In the rarefied air of Courchevel 1850, known as France’s ski playground for the wealthy, the word “only” quickly takes on a new meaning. A burger, for example, is “only” €30 on the slopes, and a duplex apartment is “only” €9.65m. But in the Rhone-Alpes prime real estate hotspot, where high-end chalets up to 3000sqm [...]
Rents are hitting an “affordability ceiling” January 11, 2017 Rental price growth more than halved last year as the nation hit "an affordability ceiling". UK rents increased by an average 1.7 per cent year-on-year in December, according to data from Homelet, down from rent inflation of 3.8 per cent last year. New tenants paid an average rent of £892 per month. Read more: Rents [...]
Consumer confidence the worst in London, according to report by Deloitte April 25, 2016 London consumer confidence is the lowest in the UK according to a report by Deloitte released today. Against a backdrop of falling confidence across the country, London scored the worst in the first three months of 2016 with job security confidence falling six per cent and disposable income confidence down nine per cent. According to [...]
Buy-to-lose? With new restrictions on buy-to-let mortgages and the introduction of other punitive measures in 2017, is there any value left in letting for mortgaged landlords? January 11, 2017 As we enter 2017, the tide has truly turned against Britain’s buy-to-let landlords. First, George Osborne discouraged people from buying a second residential property by imposing extra stamp duty of 3 per cent. Now, the Bank of England is demanding that mortgage lenders “stress test” loans to landlords. Since 1 January, the Bank’s Prudential Regulation [...]
Generations Rent? Young and old expect to be long-term renters February 20, 2017 Up to a decade of rent is stretching out before the UK’s renters, according to the property and construction consultants McBains Cooper. Of the London-based respondents to a survey conducted by McBains, one-in-three renters said they expect to continue renting for the next five to ten years. Within the 45-59 year old bracket, 52 per [...]
Holiday Homes: We travel to one of Spain’s most exclusive sports and leisure resorts to see how it’s been transformed to appeal to modern investors January 6, 2017 When La Manga Club opened in 1972, it was at the forefront of sports and leisure destinations across Europe. It took only two years to build the ground-breaking project in Murcia, south-east Spain, but it quickly became a celebrity hangout for sports and showbiz stars alike. Guests included Kenny Dalglish, Gordon Strachan, Juliet Binoche, Salma [...]
The government’s assault on buy-to-let landlords is hurting tenants February 10, 2017 The bill for the government’s misguided war on buy-to-let is coming due. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said yesterday that rents are likely to rise by 25 per cent over the next five years, outpacing house price growth, as landlords pare back their portfolios and tenants are left to fight over a diminishing supply [...]