Category Archives: New Build Property

A part of the industry that is no stranger to ups and downs. Whilst the UK’s supply of housing still remains short, investors have found the strategy of buying new builds fraught with difficulty – particularly after the demise of ‘creative’ techniques that were often employed prior to the credit crunch (and lenders current reluctance to approach financing). At the same time, however, if the correct due diligence is undertaken and the property is bought at the right price (minimising risk), the strategy can be a viable one – please click here for articles and interviews relating to the purchase of new builds.

Private Rented Sector Growth & The Expansion of Build to Rent (Bisnow)

by

Below is a summarised write-up of three broadly overlapping build to rent (BTR) panel discussions from a mid-May 2017 Bisnow event.  Drawing on both domestic and global expertise, the discussions covered a number of relevant topics from managing the sector´s growing pains, the future sustainability of the “wall” institutional funding driving progress in addition to some interesting operation-led feedback and discussions on the issue of affordability. What Can the British Private Rented Sector Learn from the US? Moderated by Mike Kavanau, senior managing director at Chicago commercial real estate brokers HFF, the comparatively smaller panel of the day started with Michael Ablon, Principal and founding partner at Texas-based PegasusAblon sharing his experiences of the developing build to rent (BTR) projects in the Dallas / Fort Worth areas.  Like much of urban US, this region has seen noticeable signs of densification and... [Read More]

Build to Rent – “Unlocking the Potential of an Emerging Property Sector”

by

Build to Rent (BTR) dominated much of the afternoon´s discussions at the annual British Property Federation (BPR) Residential Conference, starting with a look at a recent report published by Savills in conjunction with the BPR, Barclays and the London School of Economics (LSE) entitled “Build to Rent – Unlocking the Potential of an Emerging Property Sector”.  A presentation by Jacqui Daly, director or residential investment research and consultancy at Savills as well as some the core findings of the report are summarised below: Whilst 98% of the £1 trillion PRS sector is tied up in the hands of small landlords, the pipeline of bespoke build to rent (BTR) stock is increasing; The perceived beneficial impacts of purpose-built PRS developments on overall housing supply include: accelerated delivery (more noticeably on larger urban sites); faster market absorption rates that benefits regeneration and placemaking; viability... [Read More]

The Housing Challenge + The Mayor of London´s Development Plan

by

The second of three blog posts (see parts 1 and 3) covering the 2017 British Property Federation (BPF) annual residential conference, briefly outlines some of the takeaways from a panel discussion amongst senior civil servants and a chief executive of Britain´s largest housebuilder followed by a keynote presentation by Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills. “The Housing Challenge” The panel consisted of Tom Copley, London Assembly Member; Mark Prisk MP, former Housing Minister; Sir Edward Lister, Chairman, Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and David Thomas, Group Chief Executive at Barratt Developments. Some of the key points are summarised below: Addressing an issue that prompted cause for concern in the aftermath of the Housing White Paper, Top Copley of the London Assembly advocated a move away from an “obsession” with homeownership using the example of the London Living... [Read More]

“Rentplus” – Tackling the Affordable Housing Dilemma

by

It would fair to assume that much of the property industry was positive about last week´s Autumn Statement, welcoming the range of proposed measures such as the acceleration of housebuilding on public land, relaxing restrictions on grant funding as well as the continuation of right to buy extensions for social tenants and the Help to Buy Equity / ISA schemes.  As exemplified by recent DCLG data, in a housing market that is evidently failing to cater to all sections of society, many argued that the government had little choice but to cave into the rising tide of social pressure and support a more universal building cycle. £1.4 billion will therefore be used to initiate 40,000 housing units by 2020-21 alongside a £2.3 billion fund to deliver infrastructure for up to 100,000 new homes in “areas of high demand”.  In addition to plans... [Read More]

Interview with The Mortgage Works (TMW)

by
1 Comment

An interview with Paul Howard - Head of Intermediary Sales - at The Mortgage Works (TMW), one of the UK's leading buy to let lenders. We ask what was their reasoning on being one of the first lenders to reintroduce higher LTV ratios in the market in recent times, as well as looking into their thoughts on the short, medium and long-term; how lender behaviour has / is changing; the new Financial Policy Committee (FPC); their new build criteria; Local Housing Allowance lending and more: [Read More]

Social Housing as an Investment Strategy

by

An interview with Ben Hughes and George Nartey from Social Housing Expert: both are landlords who have built their portfolios using social housing tenants. Whilst public sector letting has received a lot of criticism; largely due to changes in legislation with regards to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA); Ben and George explain their own thoughts on the matter as well as how to minimise risks; portfolio management; lenders views and using lease options with social housing tenants. [Read More]