Direct Property News

The council plans to bid for various pots of government cash, including a new fund announced in the Autumn Statement Manchester town hall has vowed to build up to 2,000 new genuinely affordable homes a year amid growing public and political concern about housing costs in the city. Fury had been growing for among backbenchers for some time over the boom in upmarket city centre apartments, none of which have included any cheaper homes as developers have repeatedly argued they cannot make them pay. A series of fraught private meetings towards the end of last year saw councillors repeatedly press the leadership over the issue. Now – for the first time – bosses have drawn up […]

An impressive 68% of property investment professionals think Manchester is the best city in the Northern Powerhouse to invest in, as recent research from Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) revealed. The study was part of LSH’s 2016 Northern Powerhouse Office Market Report and asked property developers and investors across the country for their thoughts on the region. For those who identified Manchester as the best place to invest reasons were plenty; from the wide variety of businesses and huge talent pool to its favourable transport links. At the same time, however, a bit over one quarter of professionals said that they were impressed with the Northern Powerhouse and its growth potential but were unsure whether the region […]

The Government must do more in order to support buy-to-let landlords, starting by changing tax increases, according to industry peers. Since the 3% stamp duty increases, alterations to mortgage interest tax relief and other changes, there has been a substantial drop in the number of buy-to-let transactions. A number of would-be investors have been deterred by the alterations. Concerns Jenny Mayes, of Simple Landlords Insurance has called on the Chancellor Philip Hammond to listen to the concerns of landlords. She noted: ‘Landlords should be supported and recognised for their contributions in providing affordable housing, rather than burdened with unfair tax measures that will see them having to take considerable cuts to their income and being forced […]

Property prices across the UK jumped by their largest figures since March 2016 in the period between November and December 2016, despite the weaker post-Brexit market and continuing uncertainty over the direction of the economy. According to data from Halifax, prices increased by 1.7% last month, up from 0.6% last in November. The three-month average of year-on-year house price growth was 6.5% last month, up from 6%. Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, says the outlook for 2017 is notably more cautious: “House prices finished 2016 strongly. Slower economic growth, pressure on employment and a squeeze on spending power, together with affordability constraints, are expected to reduce housing demand during 2017. UK house prices should, however, continue […]

More than half of people who rent a home in the UK are doing so because they cannot afford a deposit to buy a property, new research has found. There have been several announcements recently about building more affordable homes and research showing that some aspiring first time buyers, particularly in London, cannot afford even the new starter homes. Now research shows just how many people cannot buy a home because they feel priced out of the housing market which comes in the week that figures from the Halifax show prices rose strongly at the end of 2016. The survey from Manchester based property investment firm found that 52% living in a rental property said they […]