INDUSTRY Housebuilding rebounds British housebuilding has rebounded with chartered surveyors reporting growth across the country, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said. During the third quarter, a record 41% more surveyors reported increases in privately funded housing projects, compared with 31% in the second quarter. The survey also showed activity up in every part of the UK in the third quarter for the first time in six years. Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said: While its certainly good news, we are certainly not out of the woods yet. Critically, were still way behind in terms of building enough homes to meet the nations growing housing need. The Times, Page: 38 The Independent, Page: 53 Independent I, Page: 39 Daily Mail, Page: 65 The Scotsman, Page: 6 The Herald, Page: 3 Not BoEs job to set house price limits Martin Taylor, a Bank of England policy maker, has expressed his astonishment at suggestions that the BoE should try to impose a cap on house price increases, saying he was concerned expectations of the central banks role were getting out of hand. Mr Taylor said: I dont think, personally, that it should be the FPCs job to stop house prices going up. Indeed, if you have an economic recovery, rising numbers of households and very tight supply - all of which we seem to have at the moment - it would be surprising if they didnt. He added that he was worried that expectations both of the scope of our role and of our ability to achieve an outcome are expanding so fast. Financial Times, Page: 2 The Times, Page: 40 The Daily Telegraph, Business, Page: 4 The Guardian, Page: 24 25 Greedy sellers pushing up London prices The Telegraph reports that house sellers in London are accused of greedily exploiting the shortage of homes in the capital and driving prices to unsustainable levels. Estate agents are part of the problem, it is claimed, as they use a shortage of supply to play on buyers fears that they will miss out. Recent media coverage of Londons resurgent market has encouraged vendors and their agents to demand prices that were not sustainable in the longer term, said Miles Shipside of Rightmove. Nicholas Ayre, managing director of Home Fusion, said: With such limited volumes of properties coming up for sale, combined with high demand and a growing confidence in the market, asking prices are inevitably rising. Estate agents are not helping, they need instructions to stay in business and very often they will attempt to outbid each other to persuade the seller to instruct them, contributing to ever-higher asking prices. Separately, the Evening Standard reports that Vince Cable has said that house prices rising at 10% a month in London are dangerous and unsustainable. He said the capital was in the grip of an extreme problem of affordability, with both property values and rents spiralling out of the reach of many families. What is happening is not just that house prices are rising, they are accelerating and that clearly is dangerous and unsustainable, Mr Cable said. The Daily Telegraph Online Evening Standard, Page: 8 Countryside properties more expensive than urban ones Countryside homes command a significant price premium over urban ones, according to new figures from Halifax. This ranges from £86,218 in the South East, to £11,570 in the North East. There is a significant premium on property in the countryside across Great Britain, said Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax. Country living remains a widespread aspiration, but relatively high prices put rural homes out of the reach for many. Potential first-time buyers are particularly affected by high property prices, and consequently they account for a smaller proportion of homebuyers in the countryside than in urban areas. The average house price in the countryside is equivalent to 6.3 times gross annual average earnings, whereas for urban areas it is 4.9. Halifaxs figures show that first-time buyers account for 40% of all mortgage financed purchases in rural areas, compared to 52% in urban areas. The Independent Online Green Deal defended Mark Bayley, chief executive of the Green Deal Financing Company, has said that critics of the coalitions Green Deal are mad. Mr Bailey said it was far too early to make judgements about the scheme. What astonishes me is how, six months since we became fully operational from April, people are rushing to judgement about the scheme. Its just mad, he said. The real time to judge the programme is in 18 months, two years time, he added. Financial Times COMMERCIAL REFGs real estate finance report examined Patrick Jenkins examines Real Estate Finance Groups A Vision for Real Estate Finance in the UK report which he says highlights how a poor commercial real estate market can invariably cause or prolong a financial crisis. He comments that the recent crisis has been no exception. The natural consequence of the 45% collapse in UK commercial property prices between mid-2007 and early 2009 has been a pro-cyclical evaporation of financing capacity. Not only have banks been significantly hindered in their ability to lend, the report says, the damage has been compounded by overregulation. Mr Jenkins comments that there are a lot of sensible recommendations in the report. Financial Times, Page: 20 HOUSING Council tax hike for empty properties in Glasgow Glasgow property owners who leave homes lying empty face a major rise in their council tax bills in an attempt to make it less attractive for houses and flats to be left unoccupied. Currently, the city council gives a 50% discount for properties which have been lying empty for some time. But this week, councillors will be asked to cut the discount to 10%. The Herald, Page: 13 FIRMS Keepmoat tops contractor table Keepmoat was named Britains top contractor in September after winning £431m of work. According to latest figures, the top 50 contractors shared more than £2bn of work in total, with Doncaster-based Keepmoat accounting for almost a fifth of that amount. Yorkshire Post, Page: 4 Barratt North Scotland announce new projects Barratt North Scotland has announced it plans to start work on five new projects during the next year - bringing 395 new homes to the north and north-east, underpinning 800 construction jobs. Mike Cowie, sales director for Barratt North Scotland, said: Across Scotland, were increasing our output by 100%, to build around 2,000 new homes in the next 12 months alone. The Press and Journal, Page: 13 Phones 4U arena sold Development Securities with its joint venture partner Patron Capital, has sold the Phones 4U arena in Manchester to Mansford Real Estate for £82.1m. The pair bought the arena in 2010 for £62.2m. The Times, Page: 38 RENTAL Renting is not fair on poor people Hugo Rifkind asks in what kind of world can it be fair that the poor people that have to rent because they cannot afford to buy have to pay more for their rent than they would a mortgage. Time and again, Mr Rifkind says, he hears people say that home-ownership is a dream the young will have to abandon. But, he says, surely that only makes any sense when renting is cheaper than owning. Not when it is far more expensive. He considers what can be done about it, and concludes that what needs to be done is to build more houses. The Times, Page: 27 PLANNING Scottish projects reach prequalification stage A mixed housing and retail development in Aberdeen and a Scottish windfarm are among projects worth £33bn that have passed the first hurdle in trying to gain a UK government infrastructure guarantee. Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, will reveal this morning that 40 projects have reached the stage known as prequalification - meaning they are deemed eligible for the UK guarantee scheme. The Countess scheme in Aberdeen involves 3,000 homes built beside business units and shops. The Scotsman, Page: 36 INTERNATIONAL German apartments could be 20% overvalued The Bundesbank has warned that apartment prices in Germanys biggest cities could be 20% overvalued, raising concern that a real estate boom is growing in the country. It adds to signs that international investors are fuelling rising property prices around the world. Financial Times, Page: 1
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 15:10:53 +0000
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