UK Commercial Property Update Autumn Statement 2015: Osborne targets BTL again With little additional detail on business rates, and the Starter Homes Initiative simply a restatement of a policy announced last year, Help to Buy London and the Chancellor’s latest assault on BTL... 25th November 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Action on buy-to-let won’t be heavy handed By the end of the year, the Government is expected to have set out new powers for the Financial Policy Committee over the buy-to-let mortgage market. But the quality of lending to that sector doesn’t... 18th November 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update What has driven the rise in buy-to-let mortgages? The buy-to-let mortgage market has grown quickly over the last few years. But the majority of that growth has come from landlords remortgaging their existing loans, rather than new buyers entering the... 23rd October 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update When will housing starts take the next step to recovery? The government’s aspiration to see a million new homes by 2020 requires housing starts to be 45% higher than current levels. History suggests this is achievable. That said, while they have shown signs... 24th September 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update How much has the fall in mortgage rates supported affordability? Over the past year, falling mortgage interest rates appear to have reduced monthly mortgage payments by more than rising house prices have increased them. This may be one reason why prices have... 18th September 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Mortgage market competition moves up a gear A number of recent developments suggest that, after a protracted period of uncertainty, confidence amongst mortgage lenders is starting to improve again. If this is sustained, the improvement in... 17th September 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Why are homes becoming more expensive to build? Official statistics show that the real cost of constructing a home has essentially doubled over the past 10 years. That could indicate that homes are now much better quality than in the past, but it... 21st August 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Rents have more room to grow in the North At the national level, private rent payments as a share of earnings are currently slightly above their average since records began in 2005. But there are large regional differences. With the rent... 5th August 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Desire to hold on to empty homes pushes up the vacancy rate The rise in the owner-occupier (OO) vacancy rate following the financial crisis indicates significant numbers of people have been holding onto empty homes rather than trying to sell them. But that... 21st July 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Why have house prices in Wales been so weak? Comparatively loose supply conditions appear to explain why house prices in Wales have underperformed the rest of the country over the past year or two. But there are signs that demand is now... 14th July 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will changes to the planning system give a boost to housebuilding? If giving automatic planning permission to brownfield land helps boost competition in the housebuilding sector, it has the potential to raise housing starts. But encouraging construction on brownfield... 10th July 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Will new capital requirements halt the fall in mortgage spreads? More stringent capital requirements on lenders will raise the cost of funding, which other things equal will be passed onto customers through higher mortgage interest rate spreads. But we estimate... 9th July 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Housing market facing stronger headwinds after Summer Budget Cutting the amount of tax relief landlords can claim on their mortgage interest payments will reduce after-tax rental yields. We expect that to take the wind out of the BTL market’s sails, as... 8th July 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Rise in buy-to-let lending highlights inconsistencies in regulation The record share of mortgage lending going to the non-regulated sector could be a sign that lenders are looking to get around rules designed to bolster financial stability by turning to the buy-to-let... 26th June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Has Help to Buy really helped? The Help to Buy scheme was able to temporarily boost the availability of low deposit mortgages, helping a lucky few first-time buyers. But that improvement is proving to be temporary, as the resulting... 15th June 2015 · 1 min read
UK Housing Market Update Can London house prices keep on rising? Despite our belief that the London economy and labour market will continue to perform strongly, we don’t expect that to allow house prices in the capital to go on outperforming. Further house price... 27th May 2015 · 1 min read