Property News Radio

This week’s news

On this week’s Property News Radio, we’re talking about interest rates being put on hold, properties getting smaller, regen beside the seaside, and much more!

Bank of England interest rates set to stay on hold

No huge surprise here! But let’s take a look in a little more detail to see what we can learn from this. Basically, interest rates have been maintained at 0.25% – a historic low – as voted by the MPC. It means that interest rates aren’t going anywhere, which won’t come as a shock to many. We don’t expect to see any changes for the remainder of this year and probably well into next year either. If we didn’t have Brexit in play, interest rates probably would have been raised by now in line with America, but we are where we are. Don’t expect to see any rate rises until we have a bit more certainty behind us.

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The UK could be on the brink of a huge property shift as 5.7 million people consider moving to smaller homes

A really interesting story from the Independent this week, looking at the trends in property and the way we live – particularly the size of the homes we live in. New research suggests that 5.7 million people would consider moving into smaller homes – a huge number – with half of those 65-and-over tempted to downsize. This is likely to be a continuing trend. When you consider we’re building smaller homes nowadays due to a lack of land, this is quite a handy trend. We have a supply and demand issue in this country and it isn’t going away. With the over-65 population due to grow twice as fast as the working age population over the next ten years, this needs to be addressed sooner rather than later – we need to create effective, smaller homes for this group of people.

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Belfast’s first large scale “build-to-rent” housing scheme

Belfast has confirmed it’s first build-to-rent scheme, which means a block is built specifically for the rental market. We’ve seen this happen in London, Manchester and other cities across England, and now Northern Ireland is following suit with Belfast leading the way. Figures suggest almost a fifth of people in Northern Ireland live in private rented accommodation, so demand is strong. The article talks about the block being of a big size, but at 120 apartments – while a fair size – it’s a microscopic section of the market. However, the fact it’s happened means I see this trend continuing. I don’t see this as taking over the private rental market completely, but it will bring professionalism to the market and drive out rogue landlords.

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14,200 new homes and Poole town centre regeneration

I love this part of the world so this story caught my eye this week! This is a massive regeneration project in Poole on the South Coast. This blueprint has been drawn up to provide over 14,000 new homes. Affordability is an issue in this area – and we’ve already talked about the need for more homes in this episode – so this many new homes coming into Poole is a really positive step. With a project of this scale, the local community will benefit from new schools and infrastructure. It’s a big deal for an area this size, and it will absolutely revitalize the town. Areas like Liverpool and Manchester tend to get the stories like this, so it’s fantastic news for a town such as Poole to see a project like this being proposed.

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This week’s news

 

On this week’s Property News Radio, we’ve got some really great new stories from planes, trains to automated home-building! We’ll also be discussing Channel 4’s relocation choices and Northern Powerhouse wins.

HS2 route confirmed!

A big story that’s understandably grabbing a lot of attention from property investors this week! Yes, the HS2 rail route has been confirmed. This is the second stage of HS2 – the London to Birmingham route has already been confirmed, and now the route beyond Birmingham to the Northern Powerhouse has been given the go-ahead. The biggest winner from this is undoubtedly Manchester with two HS2 stations and super-quick links from Manchester Airport to London – you’ll be able to travel to Manchester Airport from London in around the same time it would take you to get to Stansted, Luton or Southend. Incredible! Another big winner that has been sitting in the shadows of Manchester is Wigan. Top tip: keep an eye on this area, along with Crewe, they’ll benefit hugely from the HS2 route.

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£1bn investment programme to double the size of Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2

A headline that’s very much linked to the HS2 story. This week, Manchester Airport started a £1bn investment programme to double the size of its terminal 2. There’s a LOT of money going into Manchester Airport. Along with the introduction of the new HS2 station at the airport, you have a massive influx of jobs in this location over the next 30 years – doubling to 40,000, to be exact. Passenger footfall will also increase by 10 million. This is set to become an increasingly important transport hub for the UK – alongside Heathrow and Gatwick. A big investment win for Manchester and the North!

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Prefab sprout: off-the-peg homes bid to ease UK housing crisis

While they may not be everyone’s cup of tea, prefab homes are the way forward – according to The Guardian. Hundreds of modular homes have already been built to order from a factory near Leeds as a cash-saving alternative to flatsharing. The first production run is already underway with a fully-furnished one-bed apartment taking just 7 days to complete! This is a huge investment from Legal & General Homes who are promising to build 3,500 flats and houses a year for 15% less, and deliver them around the country on the back of trucks. Many people are claiming this quick way of constructing homes is a genius way to solve the UK’s housing crisis. If this is successful, we may well see more of this type of production model. From a developer’s point of view, not only is the cost lower, the time to build is improved, too. In city centres, modular building could be the way the future goes…only time will tell!

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Economy of Leeds ‘grew faster’ than London since Northern Powerhouse was launched

And time for some economic news. Leeds and Manchester are the true Northern Powerhouses in term of grabbing all the headlines, but they are economically too. Since the creation of the Northern Powerhouse in 2014, we’ve seen London grow its economy by 6.9% but Leeds has raced miles ahead at 8%, with Manchester even further along at over 9%. Manchester and Leeds are both outperforming London in terms of economic growth which correlates with strong housing growth in these areas.

This week’s news

On this week’s Property News Radio, we’ve got surveyors being sad, London not looking so rad, fall-overs being bad and the American economy being rad! Rob B’s no rapper but as a semi-decent podcaster he brings you this week’s property news!

 

RICS’ market gloom – supply drought, flat sales, struggling prices

RICS release a report every month and this month and they question surveyors every single month about their confidence in the market. Overall the market is still in positive territory but they are just less positive from their previous position. When you dig into the information in this article (link below), you’ll see its London where surveyors are most negative. 45% of surveyors in London are seeing a decline in prices for the month, with the Southeast and East Anglia being relatively flat but Northern Ireland, the North West and the Midlands all varying much better, which is a representation of what’s currently happening within the market. However what’s interesting about the surveyors report is that the information is already out there and this data is more up to date, so when the index’s come out from Halifax and Nationwide and others in a month or two it will probably reflect this data.

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London: 52% of industry thinks market deteriorated in past quarter

Professionals in the property market in London have indicated that they feel the market has deteriorated over the last quarter. A survey of 3,000 people in total, 52% believed the market has deteriorated. Although this is just over half and could be see as not that many, people in the industry generally want to feel quite positive about the market they’re operating in and for 52% to feel negatively about the market says a lot, and actually relates to the previous RICS story.

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25% fall-through rate is major improvement, claims quick sale firm

According to firm Quick Move Now, over a quarter of prospective house sales completed in the past three months has fallen through at some stage. It claims that 26 per cent of all house sales across England and Wales fell through before completion in Q2 – but that represents a significant decrease from the 35 per cent fall through rate seen in the three months from january to March inclusive. It’s amazing how volatile the market is!

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Yellen cautious on low inflation as Fed plots rate rises

A closer look into the America’s economy including a positive statement from Janet Yellen Head of the Federal Reserve, who set the interest rates. The statement released is very upbeat about the American economy and also hints that further interest rises are on the way. So how does this affect us in the UK? Well Rob B explains that our economy (like it or not!) is very interlinked with the American economy and the fact that it is doing well is very encouraging especially after the impact Brexit has had on the UK.

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Quirky News

Could this be London’s cheapest flat for sale?

Yes it’s true – you could potentially buy a flat in London for £25k! The flat in Leyton with ‘nothing but the kitchen...

This week’s news

Northern Powerhouse, Brexit, and Prince Harry the property hero!

On this week’s Property News Radio, we’re talking about astronomical rents, big wins for the Northern Powerhouse, how a hung parliament affects property, Brexit raining on the property parade, and how Prince Harry could single-handedly save the property market…allegedly!

 

A hung parliament is bad news for the property market

UK consumer confidence has apparently collapsed following the general election delivering a hung parliament – and the property market has subsequently slowed down, according to the Independent this week. Data from YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) shows a “pronounced collapse” in confidence following the election, with figures on par with the aftermath of last year’s Brexit vote. YouGov claims that if we see the property market cool down, this will act as a huge warning alarm, having propped up consumer confidence over the past few years. There’s always property doom and gloom in the headlines – we see it almost every week – but what does this REALLY mean for the property market? Rob explains…

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1 in 7 private tenants pays more than half their monthly income in rent

Compared with only 2% of homeowners who pay more than half their income on their mortgage, renters are significantly losing out – according to The Guardian. It comes as no surprise that high rents are preventing young adults from saving up for a deposit for a home of their own, with the average deposit now costing a whopping 71% of a first-time buyer’s annual income. Let’s examine the figures more closely…

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Northern Powerhouse regains post-election ‘momentum’

One of our favourite topics: the Northern Powerhouse! Jim O’Neill (former Goldman Sachs economist who quit as treasury minister last year) says he has a renewed optimism in the effort to build an economic hub to rival London. Despite previous concerns, the government and media are on the same page when it comes to pressing ahead with Northern Powerhouse plans, and wheels are in motion…great news!

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Brexit – how it’s killing the UK property market

A bit of a dampener from AOL this week! According to this article, Brexit hasn’t even happened yet – but it’s already creeping up and causing nightmares for house sellers. Sales are reportedly down and the London bubble deflated, yet the number of mortgages available have increased and lenders are cutting rates. Sensationalist or truth? We’re digging a little deeper…

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Quirky News

Property Hero Prince Harry! – only Harry can save the UK property market…

Quite a claim from the Mirror this week! Recent research by My Home Move reveals that major royal events spark an increase in monthly house price rises across the UK. Could a royal wedding be the answer to all our property prayers? Here’s looking at you, Harry…no pressure!

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Property News Radio is Back!

It’s good to be back! Yes, after quite some time away, Property News Radio is once again gracing the airwaves!

It’s been a busy year at RMP HQ – hence the PNR hiatus – but with a bigger and better team behind me than ever before, I’m now able to bring you the latest property news every single week.

For many of you, this is a brand new concept – so, what is Property News Radio?

PNR is a weekly podcast bringing you the latest news in property and the economy – news that’s important to you as a property investor. It’s long been a valued resource, so I’m delighted to be back in the PNR recording seat!

This week’s episode features several big news stories, so let’s get started!

This week’s news:

Letting fees to be banned

A popular move for everyone; except for people who own archaic lettings agents! The decision to cut fees came through in the recent Queen’s speech, and will help prospective tenants into properties – which is a good thing. While lettings agents will try to shift these fees to landlords, we will simply see landlords shop around until they find one that doesn’t pass on the majority of the cost. Overall, not a huge or concerning change for you as an investor.

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Bank of England governor says it’s too early to raise interest rates

The Bank’s governor, Mark Carney, has told how “now is not yet the time” to raise borrowing costs to combat Brexit-linked inflationary pressures. Carney voiced his concerns, and gave his strongest hints to date, that it’ll be some time until we see interest rates rise. Welcome news for those looking to take mortgages out.

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Buy-to-let UK property sales fall by almost 50% in a year

Quite a scary headline from the Council of Mortgage Lenders this week! A couple of things to remember: a lot of people are moving to limited company mortgages and away from traditional buy-to-let mortgages, and CML said house purchase activity was being driven predominantly by first-time buyers over the same period. A lot of people are still in the market, less so using traditional BTL methods which is to be expected, but limited company mortgages have increased dramatically in the last 12 months.

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Record low interest rates send house prices SOARING for homeowners

A sensationalist headline from the Express, stating that house prices have doubled in certain areas in 8 years. While low interest rates are a contributing factor, many others are in play, with supply and demand being the main one. When you consider the average UK property price doubles every 9 years anyway, it’s not really that sensational – there’s also many areas that have only seen increases of 20%. While this headline will understandably attract eyeballs, the data tells the true story. Don’t always take a sensational headline at face-value!

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Stoke-on-Trent is the UK’s leading buy-to-let hotspot!

An interesting one from the Mail Online. What’s important is the North-South divide, with no towns or cities based in the south or south-east entering the top-ten. All were in the north. Former hotspots such as London and Oxford are struggling,

Property News Radio is Back!

After quite a substantial absence (sorry about that), Property News Radio is back, bigger and better than ever before!

We’ve had a lot on our plate in the intervening months, but now Rob’s back in the saddle, you’ll soon be getting your regular dose of the latest property news every week, keeping you on top of all recent developments.

This week’s episode is all about the Budget 2015 – what measures affect the property market in the short and long term. Let’s get started!

This week’s news

Key points of the Budget 2015

Lots happened in the Budget 2015, but this BBC article is a good summary of the main points: the lifetime allowance for pensions dropped from £1.25 million to £1 million, but beer duty also came down. Very much swings and roundabouts.

Help-to-buy ISAs could “distort” housing market

If you save £12,000, the government will give you £3,000 on top of that you can use as a first-time buyer, as long as you’re not looking to pick up a BTL. Great for first-time buyers, but it’s going to put even more pressure on the housing market.

The Northern Powerhouse: Transport for the North

This proposal for the future of the north is a must-read for anyone thinking about investing in the North. Faster trains, improved road networks, quicker shipping between Liverpool and Hull and lots more. If this comes off, it’ll be an absolute game-changer.

 

On this week’s Property News Radio Rob and Andy are back and looking at house price growth starting to slow, renters spending 40% of their income on housing costs, falling confidence among homebuyers, and out quirky news piece looks at Britons’ obsession with gadgets!

This week’s news

House price growth ‘starts to slow’

According to Land Registry figures for June, 7 out of 10 regions across England and Wales saw a slow in house price rises. A summer slowdown was predicted, but does this add weight to the argument that the market is slowing generally?

Renters spend 40 per cent of their income on housing costs

Not a surprise, but it now seems that private renters could be spending as much as 40% of their income on housing costs – twice as much as the average homeowner spends on a mortgage. Some interesting data to consider, but worth noting it may be skewed by London figures.

Homebuyers’ confidence tumbles over high prices and interest rate fears

A report by Halifax says that higher prices and possible interest rate rises are making homebuyers more nervous. The survey found that people in London and the South East were most negative, whilst people in Scotland and the North East were most positive about purchasing a house.

Quirky News

Britons are obsessed with kitchen gadgets, survey finds

Finally our quirky news piece points to Britons being kitchen gadget crazy, with 44% of households using a slow cooker and 13% using ice cream makers. The article also reveals Manchester to be the hot tub capital of the UK, with 1 in 12 Mancunians owning one!

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Full transcript

 

 

On this week’s Property News Radio Rob is back and is joined by Andy from RMP Property. We’re looking at falling UK house prices, not such a Grand Design, first time buyer numbers, and our quirky news piece is about a property up for rent where you need to climb on to a fridge and up a ladder to get to bed!

This week’s news

UK house prices fall for the first time this year

This is an article from the Telegraph Online and states that UK prices have fallen for the first time this year. Rightmove reported a 0.8% decrease in average asking price from £272,000 in June to £270,000 in July. Is this a continuing trend or a seasonal norm?

Not such a Grand Design?

Grand Designs house on market for £5,000 LESS than it cost to build a decade ago

Spending money to build a house and make it look ultra-attractive may not always turn out well as demonstrated by a house featured on Grand Designs went on the market for £5000 less than it cost to build a decade ago. It is interesting to see how the Scottish property market has been impacted by the uncertainty of the upcoming referendum.

First time buyer numbers in UK at highest level since 2007

According to new research, first time buyer levels are at their highest since 2007. During the first half of 2014 there were 144,000 first time buyers – an increase of 25% over the same period last year. Interesting to note how government schemes like Help to Buy are having an effect.

Quirky News

The studio flat for rent where you climb a ladder on the fridge to get to bed

This week’s quirky news piece looks at a studio flat up for rent in north London which measures just 87 square feet. It is so small you need to stand on the fridge and climb up a ladder to get into bed. A bargain at just £780 a month!

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Full transcript

 

This week’s news

Should England introduce a sealed bids process to stop gazumping?

Homebuyers stamp duty bill up £900 million over the last year

Further signs that prime property market in London is slowing

UK house price inflation to outstrip pay rises ‘for years to come’

If you enjoy Property News Radio, please leave a review on iTunes

Reviews are really important in helping other people to find the show, so by way of thanks I will read out every single review we receive.

If you’d like to hear your name on the show, leave us a review on iTunes here.

Get the Property Tool Kit

Remember you can build on your knowledge by downloading the property tool kit here for free.

Full transcript

 

On this week’s Property News Radio Rob is back and is joined by Andy from RMP Property. We’re taking a look at councils’ demand for half a million new homes, Taylor Wimpey’s delight at profit margins, some cut price London mansions, and our quirky news piece looks at beach huts that are outperforming the London property market!

This week’s news

Councils demand half a million new homes

As a country, we need more new homes to be built and the Local Government Association is now calling for some quite specific measures to help with the shortage. An interesting piece and good to see some practical solutions being offered.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey optimistic as profit margins widen

Help to Buy driving Taylor Wimpey sales

Taylor Wimpey has reported a stronger than expected start to the first half of 2014. They say the main driver has been the Help to Buy scheme. It is interesting to see the impact of the scheme on housebuilders.

London’s cut-price mansions: How a series of super-prime houses are available for millions less than the original asking price

Mega mansions across London are being offered at discounted prices, with one property now on the market at £30 million less than it was just a year ago. Time to grab yourself a bargain?

Quirky News

Beach hut prices outperform London property

It turns out that beach huts are actually a great investment! In the last few years one Dorset beach hut has outperformed house price growth in prime central London. Crazy? Perhaps!

If you enjoy Property News Radio, please leave a review on iTunes

Reviews are really important in helping other people to find the show, so by way of thanks I will read out every single review we receive.

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Full transcript