This week saw many looking to make the “right’move, but pricing remains a contentious issue for some. As rate and lender options are amended to look more attractive, market activity increased but planning application data has yet to follow suit. Renters and landlords saw reform terms upgraded but still wait for delivery along with amended EPC guidelines. Welcome to another UK Property News Recap – 27.09.2024.

 

The Rea Group appear desperate to make the right move

 

The Rea Group went back with an increased offer of £6.1bn for Rightmove in the hope their board would engage. The property portal, which is far from a novice at negotiating, was aware there was more in the tank, hence their rejection of this offer, later in the week. Come Friday though the Rea Group up their bid to £6.2 bn, 11% higher than their opening offer. This deal is far from done. 

 

Moving forward

 

Estate agent Savills’ latest data research showed that the spend on house purchases broke through the £350bn barrier in the year to the end of June.

This was fuelled by £88.3bn being spent in the second quarter of this year, driven by a 22% rise in the amount of mortgage debt forwarded by lenders.

 

Spending by first-time buyers also increased, exceeding £21bn in the quarter, which accounted for 24% of all spending in the market, the highest proportion in eight years.

 

After a year of immobility, due to the cost of living and interest rate rises in 2023, many are now looking to move on as rates are adjusted along with lifestyles. 

 

Lender Nationwide gives a helping hand 

 

In an attempt to win more business from their competitors, lender Nationwide offered to lend first-time buyers six times their salary as part of its Helping Hand scheme. The lender is “banking” on a good long- term return. 

 

PCL goes cold over the summer

 

Lonres found that in August the average discount applied to the original asking price of a property was 7.8% lower than a year earlier in Prime Central London.

 

 

 

 

Yopa makes a £3.7m loss

 

Online agent Yopa filed accounts at Companies House showing a loss of £3.7m. Despite a 18.4% fall in turnover to £12.7m, this was an improvement on the £7.8m reported in 2022 and £33.05m lost in 2018. This has given the sole director remaining, after the other 5 resigned, optimism for a profitable 2024/25….

On your own, on your own, on your own?

£54bn needed to deliver 120,000 social homes

 

G15 has said housing associations will need £54bn to deliver 120,000 social homes by 2027/28. To achieve this they are urging the government to raid the Building Safety Fund while also “providing financial certainty for housing associations through a 10-year index-linked rent settlement, to enable them to secure private financing.” 

 

Grammar hot spots

 

Parents drive up prices as they jostle for a drop off spot for their kids at grammar schools. Faced with fierce competition, any bids over asking are a small price to pay when compared with the term fees at private school. ⁦This has driven up prices around grammar schools, further distancing locals.

 

The “Can of Ham” samples the market

 

Reduced from £400mn to £322mn – Nuveen, the asset management arm of US retirement provider TIAA, “tests” the market once again by listing its skyscraper the “Can of Ham.” Nuveen “wants to sell to raise capital to reinvest in relatively cheap purchases as the market picks up steam”, which mirrors any prospective buyer’s view on their skyscraper…. 

 

Planning applications nosedive 

 

What you give you receive…however there wasn’t much appetite for planning application submissions between April to June 2024. Many waiting on rates to reduce and what the change in political guard would do.

 

When compared against the same quarter a year ago:

 

Received 84,400 applications for planning permission, down 9% 

Granted 70,200 decisions, down 7% 

Granted 7,600 residential applications, down 5% 

Granted 1,600 applications for commercial developments, down 9% 

Decided 42,100 householder development applications, down 12%. This accounted for 51% of all decisions, down from 55% a year earlier.

 

In the year ending June 2024 – District level planning authorities:

 

Granted 280,000 decisions, down 11% 

Granted 31,600 residential applications, down 8%

 

 

Labour upgrades the Renters Reform Bill

 

On Thursday the Renters’ Rights Bill was updated but the new administration, some of the many points covered are below. 

 

• Abolish section 21 evictions
• Ensure possession grounds are fair to both parties:

⁃Inc’ing the mandatory threshold for eviction from 2 to 3 months’ arrears & the notice period from 2 weeks to 4.

⁃12-month protected period for tenants at the beginning of a tenancy, during which landlords cannot evict them to move in or sell the property. Landlords will need to provide 4 months’ notice when using these grounds.

 

Examples of grounds for possession after the first year:

⁃Selling

⁃Moving in

⁃Mortgage lender exercises power

⁃Possession by superior landlord

⁃Student accommodation 

 

• Rental increases

⁃Landlords to serve a ‘section 13’ notice, setting out the new rent with at least 2 months’ notice of it taking effect.

⁃If the tenant doesn’t believe the new rent is at market level they can then challenge this at the First-tier Tribunal, who will determine what the market rent should be. 

⁃Backdating rental increases to be abolished if Landlord is successful

⁃In cases of undue hardship, the Tribunal has the power to defer rent increases by up to a further 2 months

 

• Provide stronger protections against backdoor eviction
• Introduce a new Private Rented Sector Landlord Ombudsman
• Create a Private Rented Sector Database
• Give tenants strengthened rights to request a pet in the property
• Apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector
• Apply ‘Awaab’s Law’ to the sector,
• Make it illegal for landlords and agents to discriminate against prospective tenants in receipt of benefits or with children
• End the practice of rental bidding by prohibiting landlords and agents from asking for or accepting offers above the advertised rent
• Strengthen local authority enforcement
• Strengthen rent repayment orders

 

To read it in full, please click here. 

 

Non-dom regret?

 

The Government clearly didn’t “bank” on the impact of the losses that would occur from increasing taxes on non-doms who are currently looking for more tax-efficient pastures outside the country.  In an attempt to convince them to stay, they aren’t scrapping the end of non-dom status but considering “watering down or phasing in of the decision to apply inheritance tax to trusts, and a discount on bringing in foreign income next year.” 

Any form of U-turn on this though will also cost them heavily with the voting public. 

 

Developers refuse to renegotiate the Teeswork Regeneration Project

 

Unsurprisingly, developers Chris Musgrave and Martin Corney aren’t prepared to negotiate on their existing 90% ownership deal of the regeneration scheme Teesworks in Redcar. The terms agreed, in private, with the local authority, also allowed “the company to draw down on any part of the site for a nominal sum.” This shocking deal, on behalf of the taxpayer, has led to a review which advised for new terms to be struck, the only concession being to water down some of their options on the site. 

 

Residential transactions get a boost

 

Residential transactions in August 2024, got a 5% seasonally adjusted boost on last year but slipped 1% on July’s figures to 90,210. Buyers are taking the summer off before the autumn term.

 

 

 

And that concludes another UK Property News Recap – 27.09.2024. If you have any comments or suggestions, please get in touch here