Weekly Property News Round Up – 01.04.23

Hello,

I hope you are well. As we head into Q2 of 2023, we can already see that this is going to be another hectic year for UK real estate. There has been much construction and planning activity recently as developers get underway with some of our most anticipated projects, combined with an influx of new developments onto our portfolio.

If you would like to take a look at some of our freshest projects, reply to this article today.

Now, let’s take a look at all the headlines that caught our attention this week. I always try to summarise the links to save you from having to click through.

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Property News This Week

• House Price Index Reveals £17K Price Rise in Just a Year – The Government’s latest House Price Index has revealed that UK house prices have shockingly continued to skyrocket, despite the increasing economic strains closing in around buyers. The index revealed that the average price for a home has risen by £17,000 in just one year, now bringing the average house price in the UK to £290,000. Although growth is now slowing, prices are still anticipated to stay strong amid a formidable undersupply of affordable housing and high employment rates.
• London Rents Record Greatest Increase in a Decade – The Office of National Statistics has reported that London renters have experienced a hefty 4.7% rise over the past year to February, which marks the largest annual increase in the capital in ten years. In contrast, the report also revealed that in the year to January 2023, London recorded the lowest house price growth of any region in England at 3.2%, bringing the average cost of a London home to £534,000. House prices in the capital remain the most expensive of any region in the UK, but forecasters expect the average to drop between 5-10% this year as more people struggle with rising living costs.
• Overseas Investors Are Still in Love with UK Properties – UK estate agent Hamptons has recorded more than 400 buy-to-let property transactions by Hong Kong investors and over 200 by investors in Singapore last year. These numbers indicate that popular English regions such as London, West Midlands and the North West are still incredibly popular with overseas investors, despite the country’s economic struggles. Of the total sales analysed, London formed the majority with 40% of transactions recorded there, demonstrating the continued allure of the country’s capital for foreign investors.
• Phil Spencer Voices Concern for the UK Private Rented Sector – TV celebrity estate agent Phil Spencer has spoken up in defence of private landlords and the PRS, as changing tax rules have stifled landlords’ ability to make a profit. This in turn has had the damning effect of both encouraging many landlords to leave the sector, thus exacerbating the lack of housing supply, and also forcing those who remain to raise rents in order to claw back their profit. Instead of vilifying landlords, blame and responsibility should be put on the government which has failed to support the sector that renters now rely on since the government’s profound decimation of affordable social housing.