BUY TO LET
Manchester named best city for buy-to-let landlords
Manchester has been named as the best city for buy-to-let property investment, after property prices rose by 5.6% during the past year, with the average home costing £247,341. A report by Aldermore bank found nearly a third (31%) of the city’s residents rent privately, which is fuelling short-term demand and will allow landlords to make a good return if they sell the property at a later date. Oxford dropped from second place last year to eleventh place this year because of a fall in rent prices and long-term returns, as well as lower short-term yields, while Leicester, Northampton and Derby also fell in the rankings compared with last year. London came in second on the list, rising from sixth place last year. Landlords in the capital can charge higher rent prices than in any other city and the proportion of residents renting privately is 29%, which fuels strong demand and is higher than the national average of 21%.
The Daily Telegraph
COMMERCIAL
IWG reports rise in office attendance
Figures from workspace provider IWG suggest the post-pandemic return to the office gathered pace in 2022. The average number of visits to IWG’s more than 300 UK workspaces climbed by 54% from January to November, with more staff opting for hybrid working. Footfall at IWG’s flexible workspaces has risen by 25% since June, with office-based workers attending more frequently. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the most popular weekdays for employees to work from the office, IWG found, with visits across these two days doubling between January and November. Mark Dixon, IWG’s founder and chief executive, said: “Business leaders are confident that hybrid working offers a substantially reduced cost base as well as the ability to attract and retain the best talent.” He added that hybrid working “allows for colleagues to collaborate in person to drive innovation and new ideas.” Mr Dixon expects hybrid working to accelerate further in 2023.
The Guardian
Law firms help bump up London office leasing
Figures published by Knight Frank show that large corporate deals for central London HQs has caused office leasing volumes to grow by 24% this year. The legal sector made some big moves with 1.4m sq ft of space bought by the sector, up from 2021, driven by Clifford Chance who are now in Great Portland Estate’s 2 Aldermanbury Square, and Kirkland & Ellis, who will buy a 215,000 space at 40 Leadenhall.
City A.M.
Grocers to get £550m tax cut
UK supermarkets and grocers are set to benefit from an almost £550m tax cut over the next three years. It comes after more than half a million retail properties in England and Wales were revalued as part of a shake-up to the business rates system of property taxes. Analysis of official government data by commercial property advisory firm Altus Group found grocery firms will benefit from a roughly 10% decline in their values as a result. New rateable values, which will form the basis of business rates bills from 1st April 2023 until 31st March 2026, will now be based on data from 2021. Larger supermarket stores will see their rateable values drop. However, smaller supermarkets and convenience shops witnessed an increase in valuations. Grocery retailers will see a total decrease in their bills of £546m over the next three years across all types of shop.
Evening Standard The Independent
PROPERTY FINANCE
House prices increase by 7.2% across the year
Zoopla has revealed that property values rose by 7.2% across the year, meaning house prices are almost £17,500 higher on average than at the start of 2022. The property website said weaker demand from higher mortgage rates, cost-of-living pressures and low consumer confidence is hitting price growth. Zoopla found that demand in some coastal and rural areas, including parts of mid-Wales and the Lake District, has weakened amid higher prices and economic uncertainty. However, buyer interest in affordable, accessible urban areas is holding up better, including in places such as Bradford, Swindon, Coventry, Crewe, Southend and Milton Keynes. Zoopla added that flats have underperformed compared with the rest of the market and are likely to see increased demand in 2023 as buyers seek better value for money. Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: “We expect buyers to return to the market in the new year, but they will be far more cautious and price sensitive.”
The Daily Telegraph
York leads on house price rises
York saw the country’s biggest house price increases in 2022, data from Halifax shows, with prices in the city up 23% compared to a year ago and 41.9% higher than they were at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The average price in the city has risen by about £70,000, passing the £300,000 mark. Other areas to see significant increases over the last 12 months include Woking, Surrey, at 19% and Chelmsford, Essex, (16.8%). Prices in the East Midlands towns of Kettering, Derby and Wellingborough all rose by between 15% and 16%, while Swansea was the highest riser in Wales, with prices up 17.5%. Leicester was the worst-performing area this year, with average prices dropping by 3.6%. Kim Kinnaird, director of mortgages at Halifax, said: “Overall 2022 was another year of rapid house price growth for most areas in the UK.” adding that “unlike many years in the past, the list isn’t dominated by towns and cities in the South East.”
The Times Daily Express Daily Mail
Cornwall holiday home premium reaches record high
Hamptons has revealed that the gap between the price paid in Cornwall for second homes and properties which the buyer intends to live in has reached the highest level since records began in 2009. Analysis shows that buyers of second homes in Cornwall paid an average of £344,514 this year, while first-time buyers spent £240,857 – a difference of £103,657. However, the proportion of second home buyers in the area is falling. Some 9.4% of homes sold went to second home buyers this year, down from 10.1% last year. Experts said some buyers had chosen to buy in other areas, such as rural Wales, which were cheaper than the South West. There was an increase in first-time buyers in Cornwall, which now make up 9.8% of buyers, up from 8.9% in 2021. Linda Taylor, leader of Cornwall Council, said: “We do want to look at what we can do to help minimise the impact of second homes in certain hotspots.” However, she said the contribution of second homes to the local economy was “incredibly important” and buyers should not be demonised.
The Daily Telegraph
House sales slightly higher than pre-pandemic levels, says HMRC
HM Revenue and Customs figures reveal that house sales remained slightly higher than pre-pandemic levels in November. Analysis by HMRC found that across the UK, an estimated 107,190 house sales took place in November, which was 13% higher than November 2021. HMRC’s report said house sales “have been stable in recent months, and remain similar but slightly elevated above pre-coronavirus levels”. Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “Transaction numbers are holding up, particularly as we would expect things to start to slow down as we approach Christmas. Buyers with good mortgage offers are keen to complete before they expire, while others have to move for whatever reason, even if the market is more difficult than it has been.”
Evening Standard
LENDING CONDITIONS
UK’s largest banks to start lending again on properties with cladding
Lenders including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest and Santander have confirmed they will start lending on medium and high-rise flats with cladding from January, in a move that could help thousands of people stuck in properties they have not been able to sell or remortgage. The banks said they would consider fresh mortgage applications from 9 January, after receiving long-awaited guidance from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) on how to value affected properties, which stand to benefit mortgage prisoners and prospective buyers of cladding-affected flats in buildings more than 11 metres (36ft) high. Minister for local government and building safety Lee Rowley said: “This will help to get the property market moving again by helping buyers and innocent leaseholders, who have been stuck for too long, to sell their homes. This is possible because of the protections for leaseholders in the Building Safety Act, and our commitment to getting buildings fixed.”
Financial Times The Daily Telegraph
House sales slightly higher than pre-pandemic levels, says HMRC
HM Revenue and Customs figures reveal that house sales remained slightly higher than pre-pandemic levels in November. Analysis by HMRC found that across the UK, an estimated 107,190 house sales took place in November, which was 13% higher than November 2021. HMRC’s report said house sales “have been stable in recent months, and remain similar but slightly elevated above pre-coronavirus levels”. Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “Transaction numbers are holding up, particularly as we would expect things to start to slow down as we approach Christmas. Buyers with good mortgage offers are keen to complete before they expire, while others have to move for whatever reason, even if the market is more difficult than it has been.”
Evening Standard
