D_Property

About 25% of properties bought in the UK in the third quarter of 2016 were a buy-to-let or second home purchase, figures recently released by the tax department revealed. Following the 3% stamp duty surcharge coming into effect earlier this year, more accurate figures can now be published, indicating how many investment properties were bought over a certain period of time. The HMRC data revealed that the Government has collected about £670 million in stamp duty since introducing the new stamp duty rules.

The path towards Brexit will dictate what happens in the UK housing market over the next few years but it is expected to remain reasonably strong and active, according to a new analysis. There may be some turbulence along the way with article 50 to be enacted by march 2017 and the country set to leave in 2019, but the latest forecast from real estate firm JLL says that there will still be moderate growth with the residential market picking up again from 2020 onwards.

The Bank of England’s Chief Economist Andy Haldane got himself into hot water in the press last month when he suggested that property is a better investment for retirement than a traditional pension. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Haldane said that while a pension should be the top way to save for retirement, in reality it was “almost certainly property”. He continued: “As long as we continue not to build anything like as many houses in this country as we need to… we will see what we’ve had for the better part of a generation, which is house prices relentlessly heading north.”

A new, independent action plan report launched in the UK aims to help people protect their homes and businesses from the risk of flooding and recover more quickly if the worst happens. The Property Flood Resilience Action Plan explores the role of building regulations and certification, in encouraging use of flood resistant construction methods and how rigorous independent standards can provide confidence in flood products across the industry.

Private rental sector prices paid by tenants in Britain increased by 2.3% in the 12 months to September 2016, unchanged compared with the year to August 2016, the latest official data shows. There is some regional variation with the data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showing rents up by 2.5% in England and 0.1% in Wales but down by 0.1% in Scotland. Rental prices increased in all the English regions over the year to September 2016, with rental prices increasing the most in the South East with growth of 3.5% while prices across the country excluding London increased by 2.1%.

People who own their own home are generally happier than those who rent but in the UK the divide is the more marked compared to the rest of Europe, new research has found. Fewer than half UK renters are happy with their situation compared with 80% of home owner while in the rest of Europe it is 57% and 77%, according to the survey by Dutch bank ING. ING said that this may be linked to affordability and a less well developed renting market which makes it more difficult for people to find a suitable home in which to feel secure as those renting in the UK find it difficult to pay their housing costs compared […]