Monthly Archives: February 2017

Commentary on February / March Property Investor´s Factfile

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February / March 2017 Property Investor´s Factfile The Property Investor Blog´s monthly factfile presents broad range of data including national / London house prices, the latest buy to let Limited Company (SPV) loan rates, LIBOR / SWAP rates, rental data, mortgage debt figures and information on the first-time buyer sector.  Using data from a range of sources (referenced on the last page of the factfile), we have outlined some relevant observations below: Between December and January, Halifax and Nationwide reported dips in estimated national house prices at 1.0% and 0.32% respectively. However, during the same period, LSL / Acadata stated an average price increase of 0.84%.  Land Registry data indicated that between November and December 2016*, prices rose by 0.74%. Rightmove asking price index pointed to a 1.99% increase between January and February 2017 (although investors should be aware of the often noticeable differences between marketed and actual sold prices); … [Read More]

The Future of Build to Rent (Post Housing White Paper)

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Despite the mixed feedback from early-February´s 2017 Housing White Paper, build to rent (BTR) developers were relatively jubilant on the back of government proposals to consult on the measures aimed at bolstering the sector, namely: Changing the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) so, where there is a need, local authorities know they should plan proactively for Build to Rent (BTR); Making it easier for Build to Rent developers to offer Discounted Market Rent (DMR) homes instead of other types of affordable housing; and Ensuring that longer, family-friendly tenancies of 3+ years are available for those tenants that want them.   The Property Investor´s Blog had the opportunity to speak with Ian Fletcher, policy director and lobbyist at the British Property Federation (BPF) at this year´s residential conference on the release date of the report entitled “Build to Rent – Unlocking the Potential of an Emerging Property Sector” (see parts 1, 2 … [Read More]

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

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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

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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]

Key Planning Issues + The Question of “When (London) Brownfield Isn´t Enough”

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Coinciding with the release of the delayed “broken market” White Paper, the annual British Property Federation (BPF) Residential Conference sought to address a number of pertinent housing-related topics of the day. Principally chaired by Bill Hughes, Head of Real Assets at Legal & General Investment Management, the various presentations and panel discussions delved into a number of key issues ranging from planning to London´s affordable housing crisis and the supporting role of government at local and national levels. The latter part of the day focused heavily on build to rent (outlined in a separate blog post), a tenure that benefitted from further traction by means of consultation on changing the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (recommending that local authorities plan proactively for these schemes and allow discounted market rent to complement other forms of affordable housing provision). On this latter subject, readers … [Read More]

Allsop on What to Expect from the 2017 Property Auction Season

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Prior to their next auction on 16th February, we asked Gary Murphy – partner at Allsop and vice chair of the RICS Auctioneering Group – for some of his reflections on last year´s auction market, current residential yield trends, some broad expectations for 2017, the growth of mixed-use opportunities as well as his thoughts on foreign investor appetite. (1) Despite many predicting to the contrary, it would appear that Brexit had a relatively negligible impact on house prices thus far – how would you best describe overall activity in the auction room during the course of 2016? Examining 2016 as a whole, the proportion of purely residential property coming on to the market remained similar to 2015 (83%).  Allsop sold £432 million of residential stock in 2016, down by 2% year on year with a sales success rate of 78%.  In our last auction … [Read More]