HOME information packs (Hips) are to be scrapped, the government announced last week, in a move welcomed by homeowners. The agreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, unveiled in full on Thursday, also confirmed that furnished holiday lets would keep generous tax breaks. The requirement for sellers to provide Hips, which include a number of documents about the property for sale, was suspended with immediate effect almost three years after Labour introduced it. Countrywide, the estate agent, said it would reimburse those who had ordered a Hip in the seven days preceding the announcement, but other Hip providers are unlikely to do so. The government does, however, plan to enforce more rigorously the energy performance certificate (EPC) requirement, which has been mandatory since 2008 but is ignored by many private landlords. The rule states that when a home is built, sold or let it must have an EPC produced by an accredited energy assessor as well as a report suggesting ways to improve energy efficiency. Phil Cliff, mortgage director at Santander, said: “Ending Hips may help stimulate the housing market, convincing homeowners who are currently reluctant to put their homes on the market because of the paperwork and associated costs required to start the process.”
The number of homes on the market fell to a two-and-a-half-year low during January as sales picked up despite the winter weather, research showed today. The average estate agent had only 55 properties on their books during the month, down from 59 in December and the lowest figure since July 2007, according to the National Association of Estate Agents.The group attributed the dwindling stock of homes on the market to a pick-up in the number of sales agreed during the month, with this rising to 5.7 sales per branch from 4.9 in December. But the ongoing shortage of homes, combined with a further rise in the number of househunters registering with estate agents, is likely to put renewed upward pressure on house prices. Gary Smith, president of the NAEA, said: "Our figures suggest that concerns expressed about the prospects for the market in 2010 may prove unfounded. "This appears to be confirmed by the increased level of sales which, given the awful weather conditions, is quite amazing. "The dwindling housing stock on our members' books reflected the increase in sales month on month, but this is a worrying trend that if continued will result in further upward pressure on prices." The group said it expected there to be more house price rises in the months ahead due to the current shortage of supply, but this should "peter out naturally" as more homes come on to the market. It added that fears that demand for property may slump following the end of the Government's stamp duty holiday on homes costing up to £175,000 appeared not to have materialised. Instead, the number of potential buyers registered rose to 291 per estate agent from 251 in December. There was also a rise in the proportion of properties being bought by first-time buyers, with this rising to 23pc from 19pc, suggesting a recent improvement in the number of mortgages available for people with only small deposits may be feeding through into sales. The NAEA's figures contrast with ones reported by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors which showed a dip in activity due to the freezing weather in January. The group recorded its first drop in inquiries from potential buyers for 14 months during January, while the number of new sellers fell for the first time in seven months, and there was also a drop in the level of sales agreed. Meanwhile, the Association of Residential Letting Agents warned that a significant number of tenants were continuing to struggle to meet their rent payments. The group said 55pc of its members had reported a rise in the number of people who were in rent arrears, although this was slightly down on the 63pc who saw an increase in those struggling during the previous quarter. Ian Potter, operations manager of Arla, said: "Unemployment has been the primary factor behind rental arrears throughout the recession. "If the jobless total rises in 2010 it is inevitable that the number of tenants forced to default on their rent will also increase."
Househunters will be out in force shopping for a home this year, but those lucky few able to negotiate the many challenges bedevilling the market will be ruthless customers. In the property market of 2010, the prime homes in every location will outperform, but it will take a clever seller to secure a buyer for the rest. What’s on the buyer wishlist? Your home needs to be large and lovely, adorned with original features or immaculately finished with tasteful modern decor. It must be near good schools, shops and greenery, as well as having its own outdoor space. Such features are what financial experts like to call “the fundamentals” and, in that spirit of fiscal responsibility, the most in-demand homes must be within reach of work, by train, road or better yet, by bike. Welcome to the property market of 2010. Only the best will do Buyers are aware that they have probably missed the bottom of the market (few commentators predict falls on the scale seen over the past two years), but they still want insurance against further upset. According to Lulu Egerton, of the agent Strutt & Parker: “It is no longer about buying on the right street but about buying the best house on the right street.” And if that street happens to be in London, better yet. The capital is forecast to continue to outperform the rest of the UK again as the economy improves faster than that in other regions. Overseas buyers will fuel demand. The election effect Just another reason to dread the election. Not only will the protracted campaigning monopolise your papers, TV screens and conversation for months, but it may bring stagnation to the housing market. Agents and economists (still reeling from the surprises of 2009) are struggling to agree on where values will end the year, but almost all believe that the political uncertainty — a hung Parliament, anyone? — and the cutbacks and high taxes that must follow will freeze the property market from the middle of the year. With momentum expected to fall away, Michael Fiddes, of Strutt & Parker, says: “We will be advising those wishing to sell to put property on early.” Prices go up, and then down? Will the market’s good mood return once the installation of the next government is complete? Experts disagree. Hamptons International is tipping growth of up to 5 per cent, as homeowners prove eager to get on with their lives, while Chesterton Humberts thinks prices will close this year up 2 per cent. Robert Bartlett, chief executive of Chesterton Humberts, says: “For those living in areas of relatively stable employment, many now have considerably greater disposable income than just a year ago, and are now taking advantage of the historically low mortgage rates.” But Lucian Cook, the director of research at Savills, enumerates the factors working against a big house price rally as “the prospect of public spending cuts, higher taxes, continuing mortgage rationing, further unemployment, possible stock market correction, inflation or future interest rate rises.” Such factors are among the reasons why Savills predicts headline-grabbing falls of 6.6 per cent this year and a slow recovery thereafter. It’s all go in the country... Hamptons International thinks the country house market will remain immune to such gloom, rising by as much as 10 per cent, bringing prices back to 2007 levels. Liam Bailey, the head of residential research at Knight Frank, thinks the prime country sector will hold steady, while the rest of the market falls by 3 per cent. ...and in the Teflon towns Top-end agents elsewhere are also hoping for a good year. Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, says: “The areas that were the pressure points in 2009 — family homes near centres of employment — will continue to outperform.” Bailey tips über-towns such as Oxford, Cambridge and Tunbridge Wells to outperform, along with Cheshire and North Yorkshire. As Cook, of Savills, states, this year will be the one in which “you would rather be in Winchester than in Portsmouth, in Cambridge rather than Ipswich, or Harrogate rather than central Leeds”. see link for all article
Prices for country properties have shown a year-on-year increase for the first time in 18 months, shows research from Savills. Transaction levels have also improved significantly from the doldrums of 2008. In the last quarter of 2009 prices for prime regional property grew by 2.5%, leaving values 1.3% higher at the beginning of 2010 compared to 12 months ago. 'Clearly stability is returning to this market, but this price growth is modest when compared to other residential markets', says Lucian Cook, director of Savills residential research. 'Prime regional residential property has failed to keep pace with either the prime markets of London or the mainstream market of the UK as a whole but this points clearly to a less volatile recovery going forward. 'The relative underperformance of this market over the past decade points to a stronger capacity for growth during the coming decade compared to the last. In the short term, the less dramatic post downturn price growth should protect this market from the risks of a potential double dip.' Through much of the last decade prime regional property underperformed the mainstream market. Whereas prices in central London rose by 83% over the Noughties, the value of prime regional property rose by just 59%. The country house and prime regional markets were equally affected by both the credit crunch and the political and financial events of the first half of the decade as prime central London, but did not enjoy the same extent of growth in the boom 2006/07 period. Over 2009 the highest growth was seen in the markets of the South East which have most strongly benefited from the ripple effect out of London. Prime property prices rose by 4.6% in the region over the year and by 6% in the £1m to £2m price bracket where stock has been most constrained. Mr Cook adds: 'We expect this trend to continue over the early part of the next house price growth cycle, not least because this region accounts for 80% of overseas purchases of prime country house and it is here that demand flowing out of the capital is strongest. Other regions will lag but will be similarly sheltered from the volatility we expect to see in the mainstream market as growth occurs.'
