Posts with tag: new homes

Government Helping People Buy Rather than Building New Homes, Warns Report

Published On: September 5, 2016 at 8:37 am

Tags: first time buyers,Help to Buy,housebuilding,housing crisis,new homes

The Government is spending more money on helping people buy their own houses, rather than building new homes that the country desperately needs, according to a new report from housing charity Shelter.

Government Helping People Buy Rather than Building New Homes, Warns Report

Around 65% (£28.7 billion) of the £44.75 billion available to private developers from the Government is for helping people buy their own homes, compared to the £16.05 billion (35%) set aside for actually building new homes, found the study.

Shelter believes that this disparity in spending is pushing up house prices. It has called on Theresa May’s new Government to put more resources into housebuilding.

The Senior Policy Officer at Shelter, Pete Jeffreys, says: “Too much taxpayer money is going into schemes that risk pushing house prices up, even further out of reach for ordinary families, instead of getting new homes built.

“Rather than repeat the mistakes of the past and prop up a market which hasn’t delivered, this Government has the chance to face things head on and put in place measures that will not only stimulate housebuilding, but boost the economy as well.”

Jeffreys adds that the country must see significant reform of the housebuilding sector to build the homes that are needed to reach the Government’s target of one million new homes by 2020. Former Prime Minister David Cameron made the pledge back in September last year.

Shelter has calculated how much of the Government’s money is being spent on the demand side of the property market, through schemes such as Help to Buy and the Lifetime ISA.

On the supply side, schemes such as Rent to Buy, the Home Building Fund and New Homes Bonus are going towards building new homes.

The report, Achieving the ambition: Building one million homes this Parliament, concludes that strong reform and investment is necessary for the Government to achieve its 2020 goal.

“Nothing less will successfully overcome the structural weaknesses of our housebuilding system,” insists the charity.

A full list of the schemes included in the analysis is below, specifying whether they focus on supply or demand.

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New Homes Developer Sells Just 7% of Stock to Homeowners

Published On: June 2, 2016 at 9:32 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: homeowners,housebuilding,new homes,property developer,property investors

New homes developer Telford Homes has revealed that just 7% of its stock has been sold to homeowners.

The firm reports that its achieved sales were split 28% to UK investors, 41% to foreign investors, 24% to institutional investors and 7% to owner-occupiers.

The company has announced record-breaking results this year, largely due to foreign and British investors, and the Build to Rent scheme.

Telford Homes claims that owner-occupiers are either reluctant or unable to buy homes off-plan with deposits.

New Homes Developer Sells Just 7% of Stock to Homeowners

The firm sells homes off-plan, taking at least 10% of the sale price as a deposit. Where sales are agreed more than two years ahead of completion, Telford usually takes another 10% 12 months after exchange. At the end of March this year, it had taken just over £70m in deposits.

The developer reports: “The relatively low percentage of sales to owner-occupiers is not a function of a lack of demand and is purely down to the timing of sales.

“The group aspires to forward sell its developments to de-risk existing projects, and investors purchase much earlier in the development process than owner-occupiers.

“By de-risking existing projects, the group is able to advance investment into new projects and grow more rapidly.”

It could be possible that a rush of buy-to-let landlords into the property market boosted the firm’s profits ahead of the 1^st April Stamp Duty deadline. As of this date, landlords and second homebuyers are charged an additional 3% in the tax. This guide helps investors understand how the higher tax rate will affect them: /landlords-guide-3-stamp-duty-surcharge/

Telford Homes, which concentrates on the non-prime London market, saw its pre-tax profits rise by 28% to £32.2m and revenue up by 42% to £245.6m this year.

The company’s performance was boosted by a move into the private rental sector, saying that it has gained “exceptional” capital returns.

Telford has sold off two Build to Rent developments, one to fund manager M&G and the other to housing association L&Q.

This week, it announced that it is partnering with M&G Real Estate to build a private rental development in Bow, east London.

The Chief Executive of Telford Homes, Jon Di-Stefano, says: “There have been some recent and justifiable concerns over prime residential properties in London, but this is a different market to that served by Telford Homes.

“The group is focused on desirable non-prime locations in London at a price point that continues to see strong demand.

“There is an ongoing housing crisis and a clear imbalance between the supply of homes and the needs of a growing population. Telford Homes is building homes for Londoners in a market where demand continues to significantly outstrip supply.”

Private Housebuilding Rates at Lowest Level for Almost Three Years

Published On: April 20, 2016 at 9:13 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: EU referendum,housebuilding,housing,new build homes,new homes

Private housebuilding is rising at the lowest rate for almost three years, according to the UK Construction Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Although the Government has pledged to deliver 200,000 new homes by 2020, the RICS reports that growth in the private housing sector slowed down considerably over the first quarter (Q1) of this year.

Private Housebuilding Rates at Lowest Level for Almost Three Years

During the first three months of the year, private housebuilding rose at the slowest pace since Q2 2013, with just 36% more of those working in the sector reporting a rise in growth rather than a fall. In Q1 2015, this figure was close to 50%.

Across all sectors, the survey shows that while 33% more respondents saw workloads increase rather than decline in the final quarter of 2015, this figure fell by 5% in Q1 2016.

Confidence in the future of housebuilding also dropped, with the amount of construction professionals expecting to see workloads rise over the next 12 months exceeding those predicting a fall by 55%. However, this time last year, a huge 79% more respondents expected to see workloads increase.

Meanwhile, following 4% employment growth in 2015, respondents expect headcounts to continue rising in the next year, with a net balance of 41% forecasting an average growth of 2%.

The Chief Economist at the RICS, Simon Rubinsohn, comments: “On the surface, it might seem surprising that we are witnessing a slowdown in the construction sector just a few months after hearing the Chancellor’s ‘We are the Builders’ speech, given the Government’s significant commitment to this sector.

“One might well ask why growth in private housing workloads is softening at a time when policy is firmly focused on the creation of new starter homes. We have long held the view that starter homes cannot be the only solution. There is an issue around the availability of land on which new houses can be built, and we would like to see more being done to free up private brownfield sites.”

He continues: “Our survey tells us that planning delays are one of the biggest barriers to growth in the construction sector. We have recommended that councils work together to create a team of emergency planners who can parachute into boroughs that are experiencing significant delays, therefore reducing a major growth barrier.

“That said, we cannot discount the climate of uncertainty caused by the forthcoming EU referendum. We know that a range of sectors have been affected by these issues, as investors look to delay any decisions until a final outcome has been determined, and construction is no exception.”

Indeed, it is expected that house prices and sales will fall as the EU referendum approaches.

Demand for rental homes to pass 1 million in 5 years

Published On: February 2, 2016 at 11:45 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: landlords,new homes,private rental sector,rental accommodation,rents

More analysis of the rental market, this time from real estate advisor Savills, has found that demand for rental accommodation could rise by more than one million households over the next five years.

This will come as a blow to the Government, which has set of target of building 400,000 affordable properties over the course of the Parliament. If the predictions are true, the firm says that there will need to be a further 220,000 homes for rent per annum.

Changes

Upcoming changes in legislation for landlords will see demand for accommodation slow, but Savills still predict that the sector will grow by 1.1m households by 2021.

The steady economic recovery and record low interest rates have still not stemmed the tide of demand for rental property. In fact, house price inflation pushing ahead of wage growth has served to move homeownership even further out of reach for many. This comes at a time when social housing stock has dipped by 2.8% in the last five years, meaning more households have been forced back into privately rented accommodation.

According to the latest English Housing Survey, private renting has grown by a huge 17,500 households per month in the decade to 2014. The Government hope that their policies, including Shared Ownership schemes and Right to Buy/Help to Buy will reverse this spiral, by helping more people access the property ladder.

Demand for rental homes to pass 1 million in 5 years

Sharp rises

‘Demand for rented homes could still rise more sharply than we have forecast,’ noted Susan Emmett, director Savills residential research. ‘We would question whether policies can accelerate housebuilding enough to see the Government’s target of 400,000 affordable homes for sale reached in the timescale set. And given the overlap between the different schemes, each focused at similar parts of the market, it is possible that one scheme could simply replace the other rather than providing additional homes.’[1]

‘This analysis demonstrates that we still need to provide a substantial number of homes for rent. Government policy should focus on supporting the development of new homes to rent as well as to buy,’ she continued.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/demand-for-rented-homes-to-swell-by-over-a-million.html

Government to deliver 13,000 new homes on public land

Published On: January 4, 2016 at 10:22 am

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: government,housing,housing market,new homes

David Cameron is due to announce that the Government is to, ‘directly commission,’ the construction of up to 13,000 additional homes on public land.

This announcement will make the Government accountable for developments, alongside assisting smaller firms and speeding up house building, the Prime Minister stated.

‘Rolling up sleeves’

Mr Cameron said that the cabinet was now, ‘rolling its sleeves up,’ and ‘getting homes built.’

However, shadow housing minister John Healey believes that the Prime Minister was, ‘laying on the rhetoric to hide his failure on new homes.’[1]

Downing Street has called the move a, ‘radical new policy shift,’ with 13,000 homes due to be built on 5 publicly-owned sites in 2016. Up to 40% of these will be affordable starter homes. In addition, there is a target of 200,000 starter homes, to be made available for first-time buyers under 40 at discounted prices-by the year 2020.

The pilot for the scheme will begin on five primary sites, namely:

Brownfield land at Old Oak Common, north-west London
Former Connaught Barracks, Dover
Old MOD land in Northstowe, Cambridgeshire
Ex-hospital land in Lower Graylingwell, Chichester
MoD site at Daedlus Waterfront, Gosport

Government to deliver 13,000 new homes on public land

Shift

The Prime Minister believes that the announcement signals, ‘a huge shift in Government policy.’ He said that, ‘nothing like this has been done on this scale in three decades-Government rolling its sleeves up and directly getting homes built.’[1]

Communities Secretary Grey Clark said that the Government was, ‘pulling out all the stops to keep the country building.’

‘Today’s radical new approach will mean the Government will directly commission small and up-and-coming companies to build thousands of new homes on sites right across the country. This, and the £1.2bn new starter homes fund will help thousands of people to realise their dream of owning their own homes,’ he added.[1]

Low

With this said, Labour’s shadow housing minister Mr Healy said that home ownership was at its lowest level in a generation. Healy stated, ‘in the Autumn Statement a few weeks ago, George Osborne tried to spin his halving of public housing investment as an increase. Now David Cameron is laying on the rhetoric to hide his failure on new homes.’[1]

‘Today’s statement promises no new starter homes beyond those already announced. David Cameron needs to do much more to fix his five years of failure on housing,’ Healy concluded.[1]

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35217418

New Homes division announced at Just Mortgages

Published On: November 3, 2015 at 12:46 pm

Author: Em Morley

Categories: Property News

Tags: homeowners,landlords,mortgages,new homes

Just Mortgages has announced today that it has devised a specialist new homes division to cover England and Wales. The launch comes with ten specialist new homes mortgage advisors.

The new division is to be led by Just Mortgages’ business development director, Paul Wilson. Mr Wilson will report to national operations director John Phillips and will be assisted by divisional sales manger Peter Carter.

Developments

Mr Wilson and Mr Carter will be looking to enhance existing relationships with both local and national house builders. Additionally, and when required, the Just Mortgage Advisors will work from the house builders’ site office, giving specialist mortgage advice to each person visiting the property when required.

New Homes division announced at Just Mortgages

National Operations director at Just Mortgages, John Phillips, said that, ‘Just Mortgages has become well known amongst house builders for providing specialist mortgage advice for new build properties. Demand from house builders for this specialist service has increased to such an extent that it makes perfect sense to launch a new homes division.’[1]

‘There is forecast to be 74million people in the UK by 2020 and it will be essential to increase the number of new homes to accommodate this volume of people, therefore the demand for mortgages for new homes will only increase as the level of house building goes up. As a result we launch with ten advisers covering the whole of England and Wales but we expect this to increase rapidly as we provide a more wide-ranging and comprehensive service to both local and national house builders and their customers,’ he added.[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/business/new-homes-division-launches-at-just-mortgages.html