Glasgow City Council has begun work to put together a list of approved contractors to share up to £120m of building work over the next three years.

It has divided its work areas into 27 separate lots (see below) and expects ot pick between five and 10 contractors for each lot. In theory it could have as many as 270 different contractors on board, although that is unlikely.

The council has published a contract notice inviting expressions of interest form contractors. See our Contract Leads section for details.

The full list of all 27 lots is:

1.  Road Surfacing Works.
2.  Civil Engineering Road Works – Minor value less than 100K GBP.
3.  Civil Engineering Road Works – Major value 100K GBP and above.
4.  Proprietary Thin Surfacing Treatments on Carriageways and Footways.
5.  Streetscape and Public Realm Works.
6.  Planing.
7.  Road & Surface Marking.
8.  Anti-Skid / High Friction Surfacing.
9.  Temporary Traffic Management*.
10.  General Bridge & Structural Work – Minor value less than 100K GBP.
11.  General Bridge & Structural Work – Major value greater than 100K GBP.
12.  Sign Gantries.
13.  Mechanical and Engineering Works at Tidal Weir and Clyde Tunnel*.
14.  Road and Decorative Lighting works, electrical only*.
15.  Road and Decorative Lighting works, civil and electrical*.
16.  Seasonal and Event Lighting Works*.
17.  Painting of Street Lighting Columns and ancillary equipment*.
18.  External Sports Pitches and Tennis Courts Floodlighting*
19.  Groundworks.
20.  Landscape Construction & Ground Maintenance.
21.  Tree Works.
22.  Sport Surfaces.
23.  General Fencing, Barriers & Gates.
24.  Playground Installation and Surfacing Works*.
25.  Masonry Works.
26.  Heritage Repair and Restoration – Masonry.
27.  Heritage Repair and Restoration – Metalwork.

* These lots include requirements for works and services.

Vinci Construction UK has implemented a new system for managing its supply chain.

The contractor has moved its processes for prequalifying and approving subcontractors to the Construction Industry Solution (COINS) iPortal system, integrated with the Constructionline database.

Vinci Construction UK was spending 22,000 man-hours a year on PQQs and approvals. It says the switch will now eliminate unnecessary repetition of PQQ input.

National supply chain manager Neil Mant said: “The fact that COINS iPortal integrates with Constructionline was key to our decision to implement the solution.  Constructionline is government endorsed and PAS91 compliant, which was also important in meeting our internal requirements.”

COINS iPortal is a cloud service for supply chain collaboration involving processes such as pre-qualification, data collection, vendor vetting and approval.  iPortal vendors can be subcontractors, consultants and/or material suppliers – Vinci is using it only for subcontractors.

The National House-Building Council (NHBC) has replaced both its commercial director and its finance director with a single new appointee.

Out go NHBC commercial director Richard Tamayo and finance director Sandra Kelly. In their place comes Chris Rash as both commercial director and chief financial officer.

Chris Rash was previously group chief accountant at the insurance company Royal & Sun Alliance. He starts on 14^th July.

NHBC chief executive Mike Quinton said: “The new combined role has been created to bring wider general insurance expertise to NHBC, and Chris brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience from insurance markets around the world, which will greatly assist us as we continue to adapt to meet the challenges ahead.

“Sandra and Richard have been great assets to NHBC in their time with the company and both have helped to steer the company through the very difficult period between 2008 and 2013 when the house-building industry retrenched significantly… I would like to thank them both very much for their contributions to the company’s current strong market position and robust financial strength.”

Leading house-builder Berkeley saw its profits leap 40% last year on revenues up 18%.

In the year to 30 April 2014, Berkeley Group Holdings completed 3,742 new homes – some 30% more than at the previous market peak in 2007.

Pre-tax profit reached £292.9m (2013: £209.7m). Revenue climbed to £1,620.6m (2013: £1,372.6m).

It invested £353m invested in nine new sites in the year, sufficient to build a further 2,500 new homes. The pipeline of future land comprises 11,000 plots and potential gross margin of £1.5bn to be unlocked over the next five years.

Chairman Tony Pidgley, always quick to lambast politicians when results are poor, attributed these strong results to Berkeley’s “bold strategy to invest at the right point in the economic and housing cycle” rather than taxpayer support.

While government policy had helped stimulate demand, he conceded, the recent surge of confidence within the UK economy had been down to house-builders “creating a feelgood factor which benefits everyone”.

Mr Pidgley added: “Berkeley has the right plan to deliver long-term sustainable success, but remains alert to the inherently cyclical nature of the property market and the uncertainty surrounding future tax policy and political decision-making”

The UK government has opened the way for massive Chinese investment in major infrastructure projects after signing a series of cooperation agreements.

The HS2 high speed rail project and the next generation of nuclear power stations are among assets that could end up in Chinese ownership.

Chinese premier Li Keqiang is visiting the UK this week and yesterday sat down with prime minister David Cameron to sign various memoranda of understanding (MOU) to strengthen bilateral relations and trade. Among these were measures easing the way for Chinese money to come into Britain, a new nuclear treaty and an MOU on collaboration in the field of rail transportation.

The rail agreement paves the way for closer co-operation on areas such as rail design, engineering, construction, supply, operation and maintenance.Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “I can see great mutual benefit to be gained from increased co-operation between the UK and China on rail. The railways are a massive success story in both countries and we can boast world class expertise across the sector.”

The MOU states the scope of the partnership may include:

• the development of new build and upgrading rail infrastructure projects;
• the supply of products and services to third markets;
• collaboration on research and development within the rail sector;
• station design;
• equipment supply;
• rail transport safety and evaluation; and
• energy saving and environmental protection in rail.

The new nuclear MOU allows Chinese companies to own and operate Chinese-designed nuclear power stations on UK soil, provided they meet the requirements of the UK’s independent regulator.  The UK government said that this paves the way for Chinese companies to invest in Hinkley Point C, for starters.

The two governments have also agreed to closer cooperation on the wider nuclear fuel supply chain cycle by working together to develop and export innovative solutions in areas such as waste treatment and decommissioning.

The Chinese premier was told that the UK welcomes suitable qualified companies from China bidding for projects in accordance with international and domestic procurement practices and laws. However, the agreement states that contracts won in the UK should use and build upon the UK supply chain.

In return, the UK expects to see greater emphasis on access to the China market for UK companies.

Other agreements signed yesterday include one to strengthen cooperation in offshore wind power technology, installation standards and financing mechanisms and jointly consider establishing a training centre for offshore wind power technologies.

Among £14bn of trade and investment deals announced to coincide with Mr Li’s visit, MAP Environmental and ZN Shine Solar struck a joint venture to purchase, develop, construct and manage £400m of UK solar PV assets. The project will involve a three-year construction programme in conjunction with some of the UK’s largest engineering, procurement and construction contractors as well as a 20-year maintenance term. The project will generate up to 50 new UK jobs in design, administration and operation roles with a further 500 new UK jobs in construction and maintenance created over the period of the contract, they said.

Mace has taken a 50% stake in Doric Properties to form a partnership for the regeneration of Botley district centre in Oxfordshire.

The £100m+ scheme will see the redevelopment of the existing 1960s shopping precinct. There are plans for a new supermarket, a cinema, a hotel, restaurants and cafés, 525 student bedrooms, community spaces, and a Baptist Church – all arranged around a new pedestrian precinct and provision for a large car park under a podium.

Mace said that the partnership combined its own “expertise as an investor, international consultancy and contractor, as well as its local experience in the area, with Doric’s exciting vision for the future of Botley”.

Under the terms of the deal, Mace has become a joint venture partner and shareholder in Doric Properties.

Since a 2002 contract for the University of Oxford in 2002, Mace has had several projects in and around the city, including Oxfordshire County Council’s Central Offices, the Saïd Business School, the New Bodleian Library and the Ashmolean Museum.

Mace chairman Stephen Pycroft said: “We’ve always taken a partnership approach and we’re absolutely delighted to have partnered with Doric Properties to help deliver their proposals which will revitalise Botley.”

Mace Investments COO David Grover said: “The proposals will create a fantastic new district centre, bringing together a large supermarket, leisure opportunities and community functions to serve the west of Oxford community.

“Mace has a strong track record in Oxford stemming back to our work with the University of Oxford and we are keen to extend our success by bringing our investment, development consultancy and construction expertise to Doric’s proposals. We’re already working closely with Doric’s team on the details of the environmental impact assessment and the construction and phasing and we believe that we have already made some very positive progress and are confident that we can bring forward further enhancements.”

Simon Hillcox, joint owner of Doric Properties, said: “Having seen the breadth and depth of their experience in the Oxford area it was an extremely easy decision to partner with Mace.”

He added: “We firmly believe that our partnership agreement brings us a step closer to delivering the revitalisation of Botley as part of proposals which deliver a commercially viable and socially dynamic scheme. We’re going to provide a whole range of new and improved community facilities functioning alongside a renewed shopping environment.”

Plans for the redevelopment of Botley were submitted to Vale of White Horse District Council in December 2013 and are due to be considered by its planning committee in the next few months.

Specialist interiors subcontractor Horbury Group has secured a £6m finance package from HSBC bank fund its growth plans.

The Rotherham-based company plans to use the finance to bid for larger, and a greater number of, projects, having seen demand pick up for its core trade products of dry wall, ceilings, partitions, flooring and joinery.

Horbury Group, founded in 1993, has three principle subsidiaries – Horbury Building Systems, Titan Interiors Solutions and MWS Joinery. Group turnover is more than £50m. Recent projects include the Co-operative Group headquarters in Manchester and Reading railway station.

Founder and chief executive Trevor Wragg said: “We identified a number of growth opportunities as part of a recent strategic review and this funding will enable us to pursue these. The construction market certainly went through some difficult times but it has strengthened in recent months and confidence appears to have returned. We opened two new offices last year, in London and the southwest, to meet clients’ needs in those markets and we are confident of continued growth this year.”

HSBC’s deputy head of corporate for the Yorkshire region, Mike Swift, added: “Successful mid-market companies such as Horbury Group are vital in driving the Yorkshire, and wider UK economy, forward, particularly in a sector such as construction. The company showed strong management and resilience during the downturn and is now demonstrating its ambition with its growth strategy.”

A committee of MPs has called on the government to increase funding for maintenance of flood defences and watercourses to increase dredging work.

The House of Commons Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committee wants to see more money to address the current backlog of dredging and watercourse maintenance as well as to maintain the growing numbers of man-made flood defences.

“Too often maintenance is neglected until a need is created for costly one-off capital investment,” their report into last winter floods says. “Defra needs to recognise the importance of regular and sustained maintenance work in the prevention and management of flood risk and take steps to reflect the equal importance of maintenance alongside capital. The avoidance of flood events that devastate communities should, as far as is possible, take priority over cost-cutting.”

Launching the report, committee chair Anne McIntosh said: “We have repeatedly called on the government to increase revenue funding so that necessary dredging and watercourse maintenance can be carried out to minimise flood risk, yet funding for maintenance remains at a bare minimum. Ministers must take action now to avoid a repeat of the devastation caused by the winter floods.”

She added: “Regular work to dredge and keep rivers clear can be an essential flood prevention measure, yet this is exactly what gets squeezed out when budgets are tight. The government needs to recognise the importance of regular maintenance work and put it on an equal footing with building new defences”

The committee identifies the current split between capital and revenue budgets as a major barrier to targeting funding according to local priorities.   “We want clarity for everyone when it comes to flood funding budgets” said Ms McIntosh. “We see no reason why the government cannot move to a total expenditure approach for flood funding to allow more flexibility to spend in the most effective way.”

The full report can be downloaded here

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmenvfru/240/240.pdf

The decision by Mace to invest in controversial urban redevelopment scheme in West Oxford has surprised industry observers who believe it could damage the company’s good reputation.

Mace has one of the better reputations among construction industry contractors and has largely avoided controversy that seems to attach to so many big building companies. However, by investing in a £100m scheme in Botley it is putting itself in the line of fire as there is so much opposition to the scheme, including from the local MP.

The plans involve knocking down West Way shopping centre, Elms Parade shops, Field House sheltered housing and the empty Elms Court office block. In their place will be built a supermarket, a cinema complex, a hotel and a gym.

Yesterday we reported that Mace had taken a 50% in Doric Properties, the developer behind the project, to help make the scheme a reality. (See previous report here.)

However, most locals consider the size of the development to be disproportionate to the area and fear the traffic implications. Of the 827 locals who submitted comments to the local Vale of White Horse District Council in response to the planning application, just 20 people were in favour of the development going ahead, while 722 people (87%) said that the council should refuse the application and stop it going ahead.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood has told the local Oxford Mail: “The West Way shopping centre would benefit from investment, but any development must work with and for local residents. So far I think Doric’s proposals fall short of that and I have made my concerns very clear to both the district council and Doric.”

There is also doubt about the commercial viability of the project after the council gave Waitrose planning permission to build its own supermarket close by.

According to one industry source: “This is stunningly unpopular and set for a prolonged legal battle. I’m surprised that Mace want to get involved.

“Being Oxford, the area is packed with well-heeled, well-connected academics, architects, solicitors, civil engineers and planning experts who are waging a highly organised and well-funded campaign against the development… This could do Mace quite a bit of reputational harm. Should the development be approved, it will just be the start of a protracted legal battle that will involve a lot of mud being slung at Doric, and by extension Mace.”

Plans for the redevelopment of Botley were submitted to Vale of White Horse District Council in December 2013 and are due to be considered by its planning committee in the next few months.

The volume of residential property sales in Hong Kong in May rebounded for the second month in a row as developers continued to offer buyers attractive deals on new schemes.

In total, there were 5,270 transactions in May, 10% higher than the previous month and the highest level of the past 15 months, according to the latest monthly report from Knight Frank. Within that, the number of luxury residential sales worth HK$10 million or above rose 17% month on month to 505 transactions.

Sales of secondary homes grew 20% from the previous month, as more owners were willing to offer discounts to compete with new build units offered at competitive prices, according to the report.

Another fillip to the market came in the middle of May when the government proposed a relaxation of the Double Stamp Duty. This made it easier for buyers of second homes to obtain a refund of the tax. Previously, buyers had to sell their first homes within six months of the second homes’ ‘sale and purchase agreement’ to be eligible for the refund.

Now, the six-month period starts from the ‘conveyance on sale’ for the second homes, giving buyers more time to dispose of their first properties.

Buyers of pre-sale new build flats therefore have up to 36 months to sell their first property in order to qualify for the rebate, the report points out.

The report also says that the Hong Kong government has begun to accept lower prices for its land, evidenced by the recent sale of a residential site in Tai Po for a relatively low accommodation value of HK$3,300 per square foot.

However, land in core districts remains highly valuable. For example, a small residential plot in Schooner Street in Wan Chai was sold to Hopewell Holdings for HK$233 million or an accommodation value of about HK$16,035 per square foot, making it the most expensive site in the district.

In addition, a residential site in Shouson Hill in Island South received an overwhelming response and fetched an accommodation value of about HK$30,888 per square foot, around 28% more than that fetched by a nearby site two years ago.
‘We expect the relaxation of the stamp duty requirement will boost buying sentiment and particularly benefit developers who are targeting buyers looking to move up the property ladder,’ the report says.

‘Transaction volumes are therefore expected to increase in the coming months. However, we expect the impact on prices to be limited because of other cooling measures still firmly in place,’ it adds.

The report also covers the commercial market and shows that during May 2014, the Grade-A office leasing market on Hong Kong Island remained stable, while office rents in Kowloon East further softened, due to increasing supply and the decreasing affordability of tenants amidst previous rental surges.

Meanwhile, retail sales continued to decrease in April, year on year, and the expansion of international brands further slowed. Recently, the market has been dominated by middle end retailers.

The number of people in the UK who think that now is a good time to buy a home is at its lowest level since June 2008, new research shows.

Just 29% believe that now is a good time to buy, down from 40% three months ago, according to the latest property tracker report from the Building Societies Association.

At a time when there is a lot of talk about limiting house price growth, the report also indicates that new mortgage lending regulations, affordability constraints and media scrutiny may be beginning to have a limiting effect, suggesting that the intervention that is being discussed by the Bank of England and politians may not be necessary.

On house prices, 62% of Londoners say that there is a housing bubble in the city and 55% of people across the UK agree.
However, views about prices across the rest of the UK are very different with just 20% saying that they believe there is a bubble across the rest of the country.

Prices are now rising in all regions, but most remain under their 2007 peak.
Building new homes is seen as the most effective way of curbing house price inflation. This view was particularly strong amongst first time buyers where 40% saw this as the best solution.

When asked about their reaction if the Bank of England were to introduce measures making it harder to get a mortgage, 28% of first time buyers said that they would put their home buying plans on hold for the foreseeable future. Curbing Help to Buy is not seen as an effective solution with just 6% of the public thinking that this would work.

‘For decades successive governments have failed to address the problem of housing supply. The launch of the Help to Buy equity loan scheme just over a year ago has provided a much needed shot in the arm to the construction industry while the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee has had a beneficial effect on consumer confidence, but actual lending is low. There is clamour in some quarters for this scheme to be withdrawn or scaled back but in my view the impact would be negligible,’ said Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy at the BSA.

‘The single biggest issue in the market remains lack of supply. The population is increasing, household sizes are falling so there are more of them and all of this is leading to the pressure on prices which we are seeing in varying degrees across the country,’ he explained.

‘This quarters’ Property Tracker clearly shows that consumer confidence has cooled and that people are more cautious about buying,’ he added.

He pointed out that the Financial Policy Committee at the Bank of England has a wide range of tools intended to take heat out of the market. ‘I would urge caution as the challenges in raising a deposit and the recently introduced Mortgage Market Review regulations are beginning to have…

Scottish house prices have increased for an eighth consecutive month, marking the longest growth spell in four years, according to the latest index figures.

Average prices are up 4% in a year, a rise of £6,250 and some 2.4% higher than rate of inflation, the data from the LSL/Acadata report shows. And they were up 0.3% month on month in April.

Sales are also robust, up 24% in the last three months compared to 2013 and this is being driven by first time buyer demand with a new peak being reached in East Renfrewshire with 15% annual growth.

‘The recovery is building in strength. This is more than just numbers on a page. The new stability is translating into a tangible feel good factor for millions of home owners, buoying consumer confidence and anticipation of future price gains,’ said Gordon Fowlis, regional managing director of Your Move, an estate agency that is part of LSL.

He pointed out that the forthcoming Independence referendum in September has not prompted potential home buyers into delaying their purchase decisions. ‘Activity is permeating the Scottish housing market, with overall house sales up 24% over the three months to April 2014 compared to the same time last year. Any uncertainty surrounding the fiscal, taxation or currency implications of an independent Scotland have not dented the confidence of homebuyers,’ he explained.

‘In fact areas such as Stirling have seen sales soar by 52% over the last 12 months. The steep increase in the sale of properties during March and April is 10% above the usual seasonal trend. While transactions may be starting to cool south of the border, there are no indications of a sales slowdown in Scotland,’ he added.

Fowlis also pointed out that, as with the rest of the UK, first time buyers remain a crucial lynchpin in the housing market recovery, driving activity from the bottom up. ‘Last month’s announcement of further investment in the Help to Buy scheme will allow thousands more to climb onto the housing ladder and keep the foot on the pedal,’ he said.

‘House building and revived supply are providing additional impetus for growth. In East Renfrewshire, for example, a wave of luxury housing developments has helped fuel an annual price rise of 15.1%, reaching a new record of £236,463, catapulting this to the top spot as the most expensive area to buy in Scotland,’ he added.

Other areas with strong annual house price growth include Inverclyde up 18%, Perth and Kinross up 11.7%, Aberdeen up 11.6%, East Lothian up 10.2% and the Scottish Borders also up 10.2%.

But some areas have seen prices fall on annual basis, most notably Midlothian with a fall of 11.1% and East Ayrshire down 10.4%.

With the need for housing particularly acute in and around London, ministers have outlined plans to give the Mayor greater powers to deliver new homes.

Of the £400 million government funding available, £200 million will be allocated to and matched by the Greater London Assembly and be put towards delivering 20 new housing zones in the Capital.

The Mayor, Boris Johnson, will also be offered powers to drive forward local development orders in those areas to get work speeded up. Where London boroughs are slow to get their local plans in place, the Mayor will also have new powers to intervene. He will be able to call in developments of 100 or more homes where there are delays.

Ministers also want to ensure that, as well as making the best use of brownfield land, existing housing estates in need of large scale regeneration also get the attention they deserve.

Such a move has the potential to deliver additional new homes on existing land. For example, London’s inner boroughs will contain 1.7 million fewer people than they did in 1911 despite record numbers of people expected to be living in the city by 2021.

‘This estate regeneration fund will allow us to provide wonderful new homes for existing residents and radically improve the quality of housing in many neglected communities,’ said Johnson.

‘We want to create welcoming neighbourhoods in which people aspire to live all across the capital. Many of our estates date back to the 1960s and it is high time that they received a new lease of life and I urge developers to apply for the funding and get building,’ he added.

It is expected 50,000 new homes across 20 new housing zones will be created in London with local authorities identifying and packaging together brownfield land which could be used for development into a housing zone and removing all unnecessary planning restrictions. They will be expected to partner with a developer to build new homes and the absence of planning constraints will significantly accelerate construction.

The Mayor launched the scheme at Meridian Water, an 85 hectare former industrial site in Enfield that has the potential for 5,000 new homes, new schools, a library and commercial space, linking to the nearby Lea Valley regional park.

‘Housing is the biggest challenge facing London’s economic development and these new £400 million housing zones will turbo boost housing supply across the capital. This major regeneration will transform communities and provide up to 50,000 much needed homes. They will support 250,000 Londoners into low cost home ownership over the next decade,’ explained Johnson.

The Mayor’s Office has worked with a number of London boroughs to test the concept. These include: Meridian Water in Enfield, Tottenham Hale in Haringey, Southall in Ealing, South Poplar in Tower Hamlets, and Winstanley and York Road in Wandsworth.

The funding for housing zones will be allocated by competition. The Mayor has published his prospectus inviting bids from local authorities in London.

Residential building approvals slipped back for the third consecutive month in April after reaching a decade high in January, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The data shows that total seasonally adjusted building approvals fell by 5.6%. Detached house approvals were effectively flat in the month with a fall of 0.1% but remained at a level that is 16.1% higher than April a year ago.

Approvals for other dwellings fell by 13.5% month on month and were down by 17% compared to the level a year earlier.

Seasonally adjusted building approvals increased by 14.8% in Victoria, by 12.2% in South Australia, and by 4.4% in Western Australia. They fell by 22.8% in New South Wales, by 20.3% in Queensland and by 10.4% in Tasmania. In trend terms, building approvals declined by 12% in the Northern Territory and fell by 5.8% in the ACT.

However, the quantum of approvals remains strong, according to the Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australia’s residential building industry.

‘The monthly volume of building approvals in April 2014, continued to recede from the decade high achieved back in January, although with close to 15,000 dwellings approved in the month it is still a very positive result,’ said HIA economist Geordan Murray.

‘The pace of building approvals late in 2013 and early 2014 moved well ahead of the pace of home building commencements. So while we have seen building approval activity moderate over recent months, the pipeline of residential building work already approved should sustain a historically high level of activity throughout the middle part of the 2014,’ he explained.

‘While declining numbers of multi-unit approvals have been behind the recent decline, they still represent a historically large share of multi-unit dwellings in the pipeline. The longer build time associated with the larger multi-unit development projects means that work already approved could well sustain activity for some time to come,’ he added.

The Land Registry has announced that it is making it easier to register a property in England and Wales.

It is to become the sole registering authority for Local Land Charges (LLC) in England and Wales, leading to a standardised national fee for the first time and an end to the existing ‘postcode lottery’.

It said that the changes will also lead to an improved, standardised and digital service and will result in better access to property information and a more streamlined conveyancing process.

Preparatory work will begin from April 2015 for a phased migration of the LLC service to begin later that year.
The announcement was made as Land Registry unveiled the results of its consultation into extending its powers and assuming statutory responsibility for a digitised LLC register for England and Wales.

‘The proposals will provide a one stop shop digital LLC search service, which will improve and standardise the service through faster turnaround times. This is consistent with government’s digital by default agenda and will ease the process of buying property,’ said Ed Lester, chief land registrar.

‘We have listened to the consultation feedback on LLC and have made a number of changes to the original proposals. For example, the period covered by a LLC official search will not now be limited to 15 years,’ he added.

The proposals support wider government priorities to improve the ease of registering a property in the UK, digitise government services and make public data more easily accessible for the benefit of the wider economy.

At present, local land charges are maintained and delivered by each of the 348 local authorities. Fees vary between £3 and £96, with a turnaround time of between one and 42 days. More than one million local land charge searches are undertaken annually by conveyancers as part of residential and commercial property transactions and remortgages.

The necessary changes to the Land Registration Act 2002 and Local Land Charges Act 1975 were referenced in the Queen’s speech and will form part of the proposed Infrastructure Bill which is expected to complete its passage through Parliament by March 2015.

These measures are separate to the consultation on the future commercial model of Land Registry. No decision has been made yet and the Government will publish its response to the public consultation shortly.

UK house prices increased by almost 10% in the 12 months to April 2014, up from the 8% annual amount recorded in the previous month, according to the latest published index.

Overall nationwide price growth was 9.9% and the data from the Office of National Statistics confirms that London has been leading the growth at 18.7% with a rise of 8.9% in the South East and 8.5% in the East of England.

House price annual inflation was 10.4% in England, 3.3% in Wales, 4.8% in Scotland and 2.6% in Northern Ireland. Excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 6.3% in the 12 months to April 2014 and on a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices increased by 2% between March and April 2014.

In April 2014, prices paid by first time buyers were 10.7% higher on average than in April 2013 while for existing owners prices increased by 9.5% for the same period.

More recent data, notably from the Nationwide Building Society and Rightmove suggest that the growth in London is now slowing. Knight Frank has also said that it expects price growth in some London markets to slow and even stall in coming months.

Peter Rollings, chief executive officer of Marsh & Parsons, believes that a turning point has been reached. After a very lively start to the year, where an acute lack of supply and subsequent competition for homes pushed prices higher, we’re now sailing into steadier waters,’ he said.

‘Stricter controls for mortgage affordability and the renewed housing stock is moderating the market and property price growth has slowed. As a result, in prime London the ratio of registered buyers per available property has fallen from 24 in January 2014 to 16 in June, so as the market returns to more normal trading conditions, buyers can make the most of the extra breathing space,’ he explained.

‘London has long been akin to its own city state, and is wholly unrepresentative of the broader nationwide picture. If the government or the Bank of England were to slam their foot on the brake too heavily, they risk setting back the emergent housing market recovery outside of the capital. In his Mansion House speech, the Chancellor indicated that he will not tinker with the Help to Buy scheme, which is buoying the lower end of the market and helping redress the imbalance across the country,’ he added.

Oliver Atkinson, director at online estate agent urban sales and lettings, said it is too soon to say that the market is cooling. ‘There is no let down in demand as first time buyers and second steppers continue to make strides in the property market across the country. Thanks to a gradual improvement in consumer confidence, discerning first time buyers are saving harder and borrowing more to pay a higher price for their property,’ he pointed out.

He also pointed out that the long term effects of the recently introduced MMR lending rules will now be the real test…

London’s prime residential lettings market witnessed an increase in activity in the first quarter of the year with agreed lets 6.2% higher and newly registered applicants up by 7.7% compared to the same period in 2013.

However stock levels decreases, down 22.5% compared to the first quarter of last year which means tenants no longer have the same degree of choice, according to the latest residential lettings report from Chestertons.

This has been predominantly caused by the increase in numbers of landlords selling their properties to benefit from the high capital values at present, the firm said.

It also means that tenants are no longer in a position to negotiate on rental prices and rates are set to rise with the firm forecasting rental growth of 2% this year for the prime London lettings sector.

Overall the report says that with the economy showing signs of improvement and employment in London having risen by 2.9% over the past year, relocation agents registered an increasing demand although budgets remain constrained.

The Chestertons Prime London Rental Values Index recorded a fall of 1% in the year to the end of March 2014 although certain submarkets show significant variations such as Camden with a fall of 6.6% and Kensington down 4.3%.

The average weekly rent for the index stood at £907 at the end of March. The highest average weekly rental values were achieved in St John’s Wood at £1,872, Knightsbridge/Belgravia at £1,806 and Mayfair at £1,677.

The report also shows that the buy to let sector is continuing to grow with February 2014 seeing a 39% increase in buy to let loans compared to the same time last year. Re-mortgaging made up half of this figure whereby lending applications for house purchases were up 58%.

London maintains its appeal to foreign investors and saw Chinese state owned Greenland Group invest £1.2 billion to purchase two major London development opportunities: Ram Brewery in Wandsworth to create 661 homes and a 98,000 square metre site in Canary Wharf which is set to feature one of the UK’s tallest residential buildings. It suggests that there is a further £10 billion set to be invested by Dutch institutional investors.

Looking ahead, the report says that due to London’s improvement of the overall economic performance, London growth rates are set to outpace the national average over the next couple of years.

Once the balance between supply and demand has reached healthier grounds, rents are expected to stabilise or increase across the board, with Chestertons forecasting a rental growth of 2% for prime London.

In terms of prime locations Tower Hamlets is forecast to see the strongest growth in household numbers of 29,548 over the next five years.

The Chestertons Prime London Residential Lettings Index tracks quarterly changes in rental values in 23 locations across London. It is a fixed base index and is based on the quarterly repeat valuation of a standard basket of properties selected so as to be representative of the typical cross section of prime…

There is more evidence that the UK property market is not getting out of control with the latest data from Rightmove showing that asking prices are at a virtual standstill this month.

They increased by just 0.1%, or £272, month on month with more regions seeing a fall than an increase. Most notably London saw a fall of 0.5%.

According to Rightmove the figures shows that there are signs of a return to a more balanced markets in terms of supply and demand and the fall in London is a combination of buyer reluctance and a surge in new sellers with their numbers up 20% in the city.

It also says that many committed and motivated buyers have already bought, releasing some pent-up demand and contributing to a slowdown in buyer activity while prices in some areas, particularly London, may have hit an affordability cap.

An examination of the data since the start of the year shows that this is the first time that prices have slowed this year and while demand usually cools over the summer months, this marginal increase is below June’s 0.6% average over the last 10 years.

‘The London market powers the rest of the UK but is starting to run out of steam. While the legacy of rises in central London continues to ripple out to its better value commuter belt, fuelling price increases in all southern regions, London itself is now marking time. It’s an example to the rest of the country of what happens when affordability and common sense get stretched too far,’ said Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst.

He also pointed out that the timing of the Mortgage Market Review, more property for sale in all regions, and a tail-off in pent-up buyer demand are alleviating some of the upwards price pressure.

‘This will come as a relief to the Governor of the Bank of England and the Financial Policy Committee, who have cited an overheating housing market as a serious threat to economic recovery and have further powers to use should it get out of hand,’ added Shipside.

He also pointed out that there are early signs of upwards price pressure being reduced by a better, albeit belated, balance between supply and demand. ‘Those buyers who are the first to react to an upturn often have nothing to sell, and there is a time lag before existing home owners are ready or able to commit to trade up, down or out in the marketplace,’ he said.

‘Better selling conditions in the first half of this year and increased confidence to take on the commitment of moving have finally unlocked more supply with new seller numbers up by an average of 9.6% year to date compared with 2013. All regions have also recorded a month on month increase in properties coming to market, with the capital seeing the largest jump in new sellers, up by 23.2%,’ he added.

He explained that more supply means more…

Residential property sales in New Zealand continued to fall last month but prices remained steady, according to the latest monthly report from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

Although sales in May were up 15.9% compared with April they were down 14.8% compared with May 2013 and the overall trend is downwards with all regions seeing an annual decline.

Prices increased nationally by $38,000 to a national median price of $430,000, but are down $2,250 from April 2014, the data also shows.

REINZ chief executive Helen O’Sullivan pointed out that it is the second month in a row that sales have declined compared to a year ago. ‘The easing trend in the number of sales continues, with all regions recording a decline in sales volume in May compared to 12 months ago,’ she said.

‘We would normally expect an increase in sales in May compared to April, however, after taking seasonal factors into account the increase was just 1.6%. This leads us to conclude that the drop in sales in April due to the combination of Easter and ANZAC Day has not created an offsetting increase in sales in May,’ she explained.

She pointed out that the weakening trend is also showing up in the number of days to sell with five regions seeing an increase of a week or more in the number of days to sell between April and May.

At the national level the number of days to sell is about in line with the 10 year average, however, for a number of regions the result for May is noticeably higher than the 10 year average.

‘While the growth in the national median price is almost 10% compared to May 2013, the driving force for this increase are the Auckland and Canterbury/Westland regions. Together these two regions represent almost 53% of all sales, but contributed 76% of the uplift in the median price,’ O’Sullivan said.

She added that other regions such as Hawkes Bay, Manawatu/Wanganui, Wellington, Central Otago Lakes, Otago and Southland contributed just 6% of the uplift in the median price, despite representing almost 25% of the national sales total.

Overall the national median house price fell by 0.5% from $432250 in April, to $430,000 in May. Compared to May 2013 the national median house price increased by 9.7%, with seven regions recording an increase in the median price.

Some 66% of the increase in the national median price compared to May last year occurred in Auckland, with Canterbury/Westland contributing 20% of the increase and Waikato/Bay of Plenty contributing 7%. Together these three regions accounted for 93% of the increase in the median price between May 2013 and May 2014.

Canterbury/Westland recorded the largest increase in median price compared to May 2013, with a 15.3% increase, followed by Auckland with a 10.6% increase and Central Otago Lakes with a 7.3% increase. Compared to April, Central Otago Lakes recorded the largest increase in median price, up 10.9%, followed by Hawkes Bay with 5.9% and Canterbury/Westland with…

Confidence in the property market has more than doubled across the UK, according to research from Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank published today.

The East of England and Yorkshire have seen the greatest confidence boost and overall 55% of home owners anticipate that their home will increase in value over the next 12 months compared to only 25% at the same time last year.

The Banks’ research also shows that a positive outlook on house prices is not limited to London, and that there is growing confidence across all regions.

The results come on the back of a growing number of economic indicators that show an increasing confidence in the UK economy as a whole. Figures from HM Treasury show that the number of housing transactions is now at its highest since 2008, consumer confidence is recovering and confidence among businesses is increasing too.

Across the regions, the picture is of increasing belief in the market across all areas with confidence almost doubling or better in each. While London with 80% and the South East with 70%, remain the areas most confident in an increase in property prices, other areas have an increasingly positive view of house prices.

In 2013, home owners in the East of England were least confident, with fewer than one in seven home owners expecting to see the price of their home rise in the year ahead. Confidence has grown most rapidly here, home owners are now more than four and a half times as optimistic compared to last year, meaning two thirds believe the value of their home will rise in the next 12 months.

Yorkshire has also see a big rise with home owners now over three times more likely to predict growth in property prices than a year ago, when just one in six thought house prices in the region would rise.

The Midlands, South West and London, where confidence was already relatively high, all saw growing confidence but slightly below the rate seen nationally.

‘While some differences remain around the country, it is encouraging to see confidence returning to the property market so widely and so clearly. Without exception, there has been a strong rebound in confidence in the housing market in the last year across the regions,’ said Andrew Pearce, retail director for Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks.

‘We are seeing this positive attitude reflected in the growing demand for mortgages, our own and in the wider market, and the overall level of housing transactions. Recovery is still in its early stages, and there must be care to balance the demand for mortgages so as not to see a repeat of past issues, but the wider economic measures are also pointing in the right direction for a sustained and sustainable period of growth,’ he added.

Average UK property prices have increased 12% annually to a new high of £215,749 with seven buyers chasing every property, according to the latest Sequence index report.

The situation in London is even stronger with property prices up 23% annually to £458,581 but prices are flat month on month. This is on par with other indices which have been indicating that growth is slowing in London.

The data also shows that London buyer registrations are up 34% annually while supply only increased by 11% and there are 14 buyers in London registering for every new property instruction.

Nationwide new buyer registrations are up 29% annually but the supply of homes coming onto the market has increased by just 5% annually.

Mortgage applications have decreased 14% annually and 6% month on month with the firm, owners of 300 branches of estate agents across the country including Barnard Marcus, William H Brown and Fox & Sons, saying that the new MMR mortgage rules are cooling the market.

Overall UK prices increased by 1% in May compared with April but London recorded growth of 0%. In terms of sales, nationwide they increased by 17% year on year but fell 2% month on month while in London sales have increased 19% compared with May 2013 but fell 3% month on month.

‘Prices continue to be bolstered by rising levels of buyer demand, up 29% annually, which is around six times the rate of supply, with new instructions up just 5%,’ said David Plumtree, chief executive at Sequence.

‘Going forward, a reduction of buyer demand and stabilisation of house price growth is unlikely to happen until later this year, so we urge sellers to make hay while the sun shines by taking advantage of the captive audience of buyers now before the opportunity diminishes. There are now close to seven buyers chasing every new instruction and it is this competition which is keeping prices high and sales transactions rising, up 17% annually,’ he explained.

‘While house prices remain robust, up 12% annually across the UK and 1% on month, the mortgage market is shifting and we are seeing a cooling off of the number of mortgage applications, down 14% annually, due to the new Mortgage Market Review (MMR) recommendations,’ he pointed out.

‘When mortgage products become less attractive and interest rates eventually rise, we may see an impact on house prices as buyers, especially first time buyers, begin to struggle keeping up with rising costs of buying a home,’ he added.

Thousands of new homes will be built on unused and previously developed land in the UK under radical new plans to make it easier to use brownfield sites.

Councils will play a critical role in bringing forward brownfield land and will be asked to put in place local development orders which can provide sites with outline planning permission to speed up the building of new homes.

This could provide up to 200,000 permissions for new homes by 2020, according to the government. In addition, 20 new housing zones on brownfield land in London will benefit from £400 million funding from the government and the Greater London Authority. There will be £200 million of additional government funding available for 10 zones outside of London.

‘We have beautiful landscapes, and they too are part of the inheritance of the next generation. To preserve them, we must make other compromises. If we want to limit development on important green spaces, we have to remove all the obstacles that remain to development on brown field sites,’ said Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.

He announced radical steps to put local development orders on over 90% of brownfield sites that are suitable for housing. ‘This urban planning revolution will mean that in effect development on these sites will be pre-approved. Local authorities will be able to specify the type of housing and it will mean planning permission for up to 200,000 new homes while at the same time protecting our green spaces,’ he explained.

‘I suspect there will be people who object to new building, even on the brownfields of our cities. But let me be clear, I will not stand by and allow this generation, many of whom have been fortunate enough to own their own home, to say to the next generation: we’re pulling up the property ladder behind us. So we will build the houses Britain needs so that more families can have the economic security that comes with home ownership,’ he added.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said the plans will make the very best use of derelict land and former industrial sites to provide new homes. ‘By ensuring commitments to housing development are in place early and having dedicated housing zones, building becomes, quicker and easier for home builders, businesses and councils,’ he added.

Ministers will look to councils to consult on and make local development orders which are a flexible way to grant planning permission on brownfield land that is suitable for housing in their area. These can set out the amount and type of housing that can be built on sites and assist developers working up suitable schemes to get work started on site quicker. And a new £5 million fund will be launched before the summer to support the first wave of new local development orders.
The government will invite bids for funding for housing zones outside of London later this year and officials stressed that key safeguards will remain in place. As with any planning…

Demand is outstripping supply in the Scottish residential property market with the result being a rise in house prices, says the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

It points out that a continued lack of properties coming onto the market has failed to stem the tide of prospective home buyers and the supply of new homes coming onto the market has been behind new buyer demand since April 2013.

The monthly survey shows a net balance of 31% of chartered surveyors reporting an increase in prices in May.

In the month that saw UK house prices reach record levels at £186,512 and greater lending restrictions begin to impact the market, respondents reported that in Scotland the scaling back in the provision of mortgage finance has been a little less marked than elsewhere.

The average Loan to Value (LTV) ratio in Scotland among first time buyers dropped to 86% from 88% in April but it remained more resilient amongst other types of borrowers. More modest expectations for growth are visible in the longer term as respondents’ expectations for Scottish house prices over the next 12 months dropped from 3.2% to 2.2%, the lowest since November 2013.

With Home Report instructions increasing and house sale prices on the rise there is growing optimism within the market that the summer months will be strong from a business perspective. April also saw an increase in activity within the rental sector with a net balance of 44% of respondents predicting a rise in rent prices during the next quarter.

‘The lack of supply teamed with continued growth in demand is resulting in higher prices across the country. There is some evidence to suggest that the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) has contributed to a modest tightening of the funding market, despite this, the pattern looks set to continue in the short term, with a net balance of 32% of respondents predicting an increase in sales during the next quarter,’ said Sarah Spiers, RICS Scotland director.

‘The Scottish Housing Commission will publish its report on the Scottish housing market in July. It will make practical recommendations to public policy makers and industry leaders to help improve Scotland’s housing market across all tenures, this will include addressing the current lack of supply within the market,’ she added.

Business Editor Sion Barry explores the positive impact the new £100m BBC Wales headquarters will have on Cardiff’s city centre

The UK is experiencing a mismatch in housing and mortgage activity and the Bank of England should be cautious about raising interest rates, it is claimed.

According to a new report from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) policymakers should concentrate on making the Help to Buys scheme more targeted as broader action would be premature in the wakes of the recent MMR mortgage rules which are already slowing the market.

The message comes the day before the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) meets and after UK Chancellor George Osborne cleared the way for the bank to be given new powers to intervene in the mortgage market.

The move is due to concerns about the market overheating in London but experts points out that in the north east and Northern Ireland prices are recovering at a much slower pace and drastic action should not be taken just because of what is happening in the capital city as it is not representative of the whole country.

Sharply rising UK house prices have fuelled speculation that the FPC will use its new macro-prudential powers for the first time in the near future to manage associated risks and prevent excessive growth in household debt. There is already a talk of an interest rate rise in the coming months, and certainly before the end of the year.

The IMLA report says that the strength of the housing market reflects the growing use of cash. More than a third of houses, 36%, were bought entirely in cash during the first quarter of 2014, compared with less than a quarter seven years earlier. The percentage of total housing demand that is financed by cash reached an estimated all-time high of 61% in the first three months of the year.

It also points out that the mortgage market remains very subdued. Mortgage debt is still shrinking in real terms and on aggregate, households have been putting over £10 billion of equity into their homes every quarter since the middle of 2010.

The report says that borrower quality remains robust. Average mortgage loan to value (LTV) ratios have been exceptionally depressed since the financial crisis and, despite the gradual rising trend since 2009, median first time buyer LTVs remain lower than at any point prior to 2007.

While the Bank of England has flagged concerns about rising loan to income (LTI) ratios, the affordability rules arising from the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) mean that new owner occupiers seeking a mortgage will only be granted a loan that is manageable at considerably higher interest rates, it adds.

IMLA’s report suggests the combination of a high LTV on a large mortgage loan raises its risk profile, which might justify a lowering of the maximum purchase price under the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee from £600,000. The latest Treasury data shows that just 7% of loans under the scheme were for properties valued above £250,000.

Alternatively, risk factors associated with the combination of high LTVs and LTIs could prompt the…

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published comprehensive guidance for lettings professionals in the UK to help improve their understanding of, and compliance with, consumer protection law.

The guidance follows the publication last year of a wide ranging report into the lettings market by the CMA’s predecessor, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which raised concerns about a number of unsatisfactory practices affecting tenants, including unfair and ‘surprise’ fees and charges, poor service and delayed and substandard repairs.

The OFT considered that greater compliance with existing legislation would improve the way the lettings market works and the guidance aims to help lettings professionals to understand their responsibilities under consumer and business protection regulations.

The CMA said it has worked closely with trading standards services to agree how the law should be applied to the most problematic practices and to identify enforcement priorities, so that together they can tackle non-compliance and improve the way the market functions.

The guidance includes practical advice such as ensuring that tenants and the lettings agent’s landlord clients know what charges and fees they will have to pay and what these are for and avoiding using misleading advertising or statements.

Overall they should ensure that the tenant or landlord is given all the information they need, at the appropriate time and provide clear information which the tenant needs to know before they move in such as guarantor and deposit requirements and the terms and conditions of the tenancy agreement.

They should also deal fairly and professionally with tenants and landlords, use fair contractual terms, make sure that services and repairs are carried out in a timely manner and with reasonable care and skill and give clear and full information to tenants about how to end a tenancy agreement.

The guidance is intended to complement existing and emerging industry schemes and codes of conduct, and is relevant to lettings professionals in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, highlighting national variations in legislation.
‘Renting a property is a big financial commitment, and it is important that tenants can be confident that their landlord or letting agent will treat them fairly,’ said Nisha Arora, CMA senior director for consumers.

‘This guidance will help lettings professionals understand how to comply with the law and should ultimately improve overall standards in the market,’ Arora added.

Sales of prime country homes across the UK have increased by 35% in the year to March 2014, compared with the previous year with the number of potential buyers up 13%, according to the latest analysis from Knight Frank.

Prime sales in regional towns outperformed and are just 3.3% below the 2007 peak, whilst rural sales are still 18% below peak levels and there is particularly robust growth in commuter locations such as Cobham, Henley, Berkhamsted, Beaconsfield and Oxford.

But the sales recovery is highly regionalised. The firm’s report says that the turning point for the prime market outside London happened in early 2013 and the recovery has continued in 2014.

As the mainstream housing market continues to pick up, with both sales and prices rising, regional prime markets have also strengthened. Knight Frank data shows that the number of new applicants registering their interest in purchasing a country property has increased by 13% over the year to May 2014 compared to the same period 12 months previously.

But rising interest among potential buyers tells only half the story. Another measure of the health of the prime market can be achieved by assessing activity. Across England and Wales, excluding London, annual sales of properties valued at £500,000 and over rose by 35% in the year to March 2014 compared to the previous year, with transactions higher in all regions.

Transactions increased across all price bands, including a 40% jump between £1 million and £2 million, a 35% rise between £500,000 and £1 million and a 22% increase for £2 million plus homes, according to data from the Land Registry. In Scotland, total sales volumes were over 20% higher at the end of the first quarter of 2014 year on year.

Knight pointed out that while rising sales volumes are good news, prime property purchases in England and Wales, excluding London, are still almost 10% lower than the peak of the market in 2007, and in many parts of the country remain even further below where they were at the height of the market.

However, the growing trend for prime market purchasers to target town and city properties outside of London has helped fuel demand for homes in urban markets. While both prime urban and prime rural markets have enjoyed a pickup in demand, there has been a divergence in performance.

Town and city markets have seen a much faster rise in activity than neighbouring village and rural locations. In fact, at the end of March, annual sales of prime urban homes were just 3.3% below their previous market peak in 2007. In comparison, sales of prime rural properties were 18% below peak levels.

‘There are several reasons why the urban homes market is in strong demand. Those with young families moving out of London want to take advantage of the significant price differential between London and the rest of the UK, whilst at the same time live in an urban area where their children can go to…

The Bank of England is to get extraordinary new powers to control the size of mortgages in the UK in the likelihood of a property bubble that could threaten the country’s economic recovery.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the new powers during his annual Mansion House speech in London and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said there could be an interest rate rise as soon as this year.

This comes despite lending and property experts pointing out that the only place where there is the danger of a property price bubble in London but even in the city soaring price growth is softening.

They have also pointed out that in some parts of the UK, most notable the north east and Northern Ireland pries have not yet recovered from the downturn during the recession.

Originally Carney had said that an interest rate rise was unlikely before 2015 and now he says it is imminent, putting up the cost of mortgages for millions of current home owners and raising the cost for potential first time buyers.

‘There’s already great speculation about the exact timing of the first rate hike and this decision is becoming more balanced. It could happen sooner than markets currently expect,’ said Carney.

Osborne said he will push through the new powers before next year’s general election as he believes that the Bank should have a full range of alternatives to higher interest rates as a way of cooling down the housing market.

‘I want to make sure that the Bank of England has all the weapons it needs to guard against risks in the housing market. I want to protect those who own homes, protect those who aspire to own a home, and protect the millions who suffer when boom turns to bust. So I am giving the Bank new powers over mortgages, including over the size of mortgage loans as a share of family incomes or the value of the house,’ he said during his speech.

Until now, the Bank’s new financial policy committee has merely had the power to recommend actions to banks and building societies, but it will now be able to directly limit the size of a mortgage in relation to the value of a home or the size of a potential home buyer’s income.

Neither the Treasury nor the Bank think there is an imminent risk of a property bubble but both are concerned about the potential for the property market to cause havoc once again with an economy.

‘Does the housing market pose an immediate threat to financial stability today? No, it doesn’t. Could it in the future? Yes, it could, especially if we don’t learn the lessons of the past. So we act now to insure ourselves against future problems before they can materialise,’ said Osborne.

The chancellor said that it would be up to the Bank to decide on the precise caps on loan to income and loan to value ratios should they be needed. ‘The Bank of England should not…

New research shows that eight out of 10 landlords in the UK refuse tenants whose rent is paid by local authorities with just 18% happy to let to this group.

The study, conducted by the Online Letting Agents, also reveals that 82% of landlords believe LHA tenants do not care for the property in the same way as private tenants and 80% believe that LHA tenants are much more unreliable than private tenants, when it comes to rent arrears.

‘Growing numbers of the 1.4 million private landlords in Britain are increasingly refusing to let property to tenants on benefits. Mortgage lenders and insurers are also growing wary,’ said Eleanor Carroll, director of the Online Letting Agents.

‘Their main reason for landlords turning away housing benefits tenants is the government’s welfare reforms. Many landlords have adjusted to LHA after its introduction in 2008. However, recent limits on housing-related benefits and the introduction of universal credit have caused concerned for many landlords and pose too much risk for some,’ she explained.

She pointed out that another influencing factor is that LHA is set at a local level through a formula where, in theory, the payable benefit compares with the rent of the cheapest third of properties available in the wider market that have the same number of bedrooms.

‘In practice, open market rents in some regions have outstripped the LHA calculations. It’s very much regional. In some areas of high demand there is a large and widening gap. In other areas like the North East there is not much difference between the LHA and market values,’ said Carroll.

According to the National Landlords’ Association (NLA), the proportion of landlords prepared to accept tenants receiving LHA has more than halved in three years. In the middle of 2010 some 46% of the NLA’s members let to tenants who received the benefit. By the end of 2012, this had dropped to 22%, and the decline steepened throughout 2013.

‘In spite of all this, the fact remains that benefit claimants remain more profitable than many types of tenants. According to the latest data on landlord returns, letting property to those on benefits delivers excellent returns,’ explained Carroll, adding that approximately 100,000 landlords deliberately target this market.

‘The average yield for this type of let is 6.6%, calculated as rental income against the price of the property and this is higher than for any other tenant group, except migrant workers. By contrast, the lowest yields arise in the letting of properties to executives,’ she added.

Average house prices in England and Wales have increased by £21,000 or 8.5% in a year taking the typical price of a home to £266,013, the latest index shows.

But when you take London out of the calculation then average prices have increased by 6.3%, showing that the city is driving price growth. But it adds that there are signs of growth slowing.

The data from the LSL/Acadata index also shows that May was the 11th month in a row when average prices increased with a monthly rise of 0.9%.

‘This 8.5% rise is the highest annual increase we’ve witnessed since August 2010, when the housing market was edging back from the throes of the financial crisis, and brings average property prices to a new peak,’ said David Newnes, director of Reed Rains and Your Move estate agents, owned by LSL Property Services.

‘As the vigorous health of the UK housing market catches international and media attention, all eyes have been on how the government and regulators will react. However, the growing clamour for intervention neglects the fact that when taking inflation into account, only London and the South East have seen house price growth in real terms since January 2005,’ he explained.

‘London is in a league of its own, with prices climbing 13.3% on an annual basis. When you take the capital out of the equation, average prices across England and Wales have risen just 6.3% in the last year,’ he said, adding that this price difference is the largest since its records began.

He pointed out that the national recovery is gaining strength, bringing with it renewed consumer confidence and a feel good factor to millions of households. In the past 12 months prices have risen in 91% of the unitary authorities across England and Wales. In fact, in April new record prices were reached in Cardiff, Bristol, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire, as growth spreads out from the capital and reaches across the rest of the country.

He also said that there is evidence of the market cooling. For example, annual growth in house sales slowed in May, potentially due to the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) rules introduced at the end of April that have lengthened the mortgage approval process.

‘There are other indications of a cooling in the market, particularly at the top end of the spectrum in London. In total, 12 London boroughs have seen prices fall in April, with the exclusive prime central boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster seeing the largest monthly drop in house prices , down 2.7% and 2.9% respectively since March 2014,’ explained Newnes.

‘But outside of the capital, the Help to Buy scheme continues to help first time buyer demand, the engine driving some of the activity in the regions. If supply could follow suit, this would sustain the housing recovery and could help restore some equilibrium across the country,’ he added.

A growing number of landlords in the UK are ignoring tenants’ request for repairs and the threat of eviction is stopping some tenants from contacting their landlord or agent to fix a problem, it is claimed.

According to the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC) recent research shows despite the urgent nature of many repairs, only 31% of tenant requests were dealt with even in the same day while 23% took more than a week.

Also, some 34% have faced a home emergency in the past 12 months, with boiler faults and other central heating problems the most common. A quarter of a million private tenants a year are taking matters into their own hands and withholding rent from their landlords because of delays resolving emergencies repairs.

And research from housing charity Shelter earlier this year showed that more than 200,000 rental sector tenants across England are estimated to have faced a ‘revenge eviction’ in the last year after asking for a problem with their home to be put right.

Some 2% of private sector tenants said they had been evicted or served with an eviction notice because they had complained to their landlord, letting agent or council about something that was not the tenant’s responsibility, such as a repair that needed fixing.

Pat Barber, chair of the Association of Independent Inventory Clerks (AIIC), is urging landlords to listen to tenants and deal with repairs quickly. ‘Landlords have a duty of care with their tenants and should be responding to emergencies in hours, not days,’ she said.

She gave details of a recent case where a boiler had stopped working for seven weeks during the coldest part of the winter, so no heating or hot water was available in the property. The tenants were not even offered free standing heaters and the landlord ignored all requests. The tenant was too nervous to complain.

‘We have seen similar problems with front door locks that don’t work for weeks, leaks from showers that eventually bring a kitchen ceiling down and taps that don’t work and never get repaired for the whole tenancy, causing the tenants to use a bathroom tap to get water for the kitchen,’ she pointed out.

In another case a tenant was so afraid of his landlord that he lived in a freezing property for three months without reporting that there was a problem with main fuse box. His family had no light and no heating. Unsurprisingly, at the end of the tenancy the place was dripping with mould which had to be cleaned and for which he was duly charged. When asked why he didn’t report it, he said that the landlord was aggressive and had refused to take his phone calls or answer emails, when other minor problems had been reported at the beginning of the tenancy.

AIIC has put together some guidelines on response times for landlords. It says that landlords and agents have a duty of care to advise tenants on…

Nearly 200,000 new affordable homes have been delivered in England since April 2010 which Housing Minister Kris Hopkins has declared as success story.

The new figures also show that were 41,654 affordable homes started in the year to March 2014, some 15% higher than the previous year.

In addition 125,000 of the 170,000 homes planned through the Affordable Homes programme, in which the government is investing £19.5 billion public and private funding, have now been delivered.

Hopkins said that it means that since April 2010, 197,792 new affordable homes have been delivered. Overall, the government has delivered 445,000 new homes since April 2010. In contrast, between 1997 and 2010 the number of social housing homes dropped by 420,000.

‘Our affordable house building efforts are a clear success story, with nearly 200,000 new affordable homes delivered since April 2010. It means families from Newcastle to Newquay have new homes available to them, whether to rent at an affordable rate or to buy through our shared ownership schemes,’ said Hopkins.

‘And this is on top of the wider efforts we’re making, which means house building is now at its highest level since 2007,’ he added.

The Affordable Homes programme includes social rented homes, affordable rented homes and affordable home ownership schemes, and is a key part of the government’s long term economic plan. And with every new home supporting a job this multi-billion pound programme is helping get people back into work.

Areas that have seen some of the biggest numbers of affordable homes delivered since April 2010 include Birmingham with 2,740, Cornwall at 2,690, Wiltshire 2,620, Leeds 1,910, Bristol 1,830 and Manchester 1,810.

The data also shows that a fifth of the affordable homes built last year, and a quarter of the total since 2010, were built in London.