This week was full of scandal, apologies and reprimands. Landlords stepped away, budgets were stretched as rates and house prices tiptoed up. Developers put on a brave face while commercial landlords felt the EPC heat and all the time Rightmove capitalized on the market turmoil. Welcome to another UK Property News Recap – 28.02.2025.
Landlord purchases fall on the back of rental reform
According to Hamptons, the estate agent, landlords were behind 9.6% of house sales in January 2025. At the same time only 7% of purchases in London were from landlords and 4.6% in Scotland. This meant there were 39% fewer homes available for rent than in January 2019, with London seeing a decrease of nearly half. This shift is due to higher rates and incoming rental reform measures that have sifted out indebted landlords, leaving behind the predominantly cash rich or build-to-rent institutional investors to hold the reins.
Council budgets blown with temporarily housing
In the year 2023-24, the number of households requiring housing support increased 24% while spending increased 78%. Overall, the total number of UK households eligible for homelessness support increased 9% to almost 325,000. This has meant councils have had to budget for their mounting temporary housing shopping list, taking off other essentials to afford it.
Stamp duty deadline
According to Rightmove, the government stands to gain an additional £34 million as a result of 74,000 movers in England missing the stamp duty deadline in April, 25,000 of which will be first-time buyers. For those situated in the South of England the financial impact of not making it will be hard to swallow.
Making the deadline so you have additional funds to put your own “stamp” on a property is adding additional stress to buyers, sellers and conveyancers. The queue for the checkout is long, so it’s anticipated tempers will fray and some last-minute haggling will ensue with some items being removed.
Rates gains
According to Moneyfacts while we were sleeping on Monday, rates snuck up; the average two and five year fixed residential mortgage increased by 0.01% to 5.40% and 5.23% respectively where they currently remain.
Commercial property deemed not EPC ready
As it currently stands 80% of commercial property would be unlettable by 2030 EPC standards. The cost to upgrade properties to an A/B rating in time is deemed “commercial” not viable by landlords while decent rates aren’t at hand and contractors, hard to come by.
The fox among the pigeons
A Bloomberg news investigation revealed harassment in the workplace after employees at the estate agency Foxtons reported some senior co-workers either ignored inappropriate behavior or were complicit. As a result, shares in Foxtons Group Plc dropped by 5%.
UK Companies named and shamed after Grenfell report
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner committed on Wednesday to establishing a new super-regulator to cover all the construction sector by 2028. At the same time, the government set out its plans for tough new rules on construction product safety to be published in a separate Green Paper. There is also the promise of an investigation into seven companies linked to the downfall of Grenfell, which could lead to their disbarment from future government contracts. No further funds are due to be coughed up by these same companies, however.
DWP programme is scrapped
Ministers scrapped a DWP programme after a judge ruled the program was unlawful for the program to automatically dip into tenants’ benefits for landlords requesting deductions without their consent or fair hearing.
Taylor Wimpey remains hopeful in the face of rate adversity
Developer Taylor Wimpey tried to put 2024 in its rear view mirror, focusing on a rise in new orders, its increased private sale rate, which is up 12% year on year, and slight market price rises. The group’s total order book, excluding joint ventures, was £2,255 million v £1,949 million for the equivalent period, which equates to a 619 increase in new homes to 8,021. This, they believe, signals the start of a buoyant spring selling season, rates permitting…
Putting stock in freeholds
In Zoopla’s HPI for January 2025, overall activity was shown to be on the rise with stock, demand and agreed sales up on last year’s efforts. However, house price inflation appeared to plateau as rates remained high and the realisation dawned on first time buyers that the chances of making the stamp duty deadline were over.
The post pandemic preference for a house over a flat continues as cladding issues, increased service charges and fire and safety upgrades loom over the mounting stock being listed for sale online. In contrast, freehold housing stock remains low while demand remains high, however, I suspect stock levels will increase come spring, once many gardens are in bloom. As a result, the average price of a flat has increased by just 7% over the last five years, compared to house prices which increased by 24%.
Landsec moves away from retail to rental housing
Land Securities ditches unwanted retail stock in favour of more profitable rental housing. The group intends to sell off its remaining retail parks and leisure parks to focus on destination malls and create a “£2 billion-plus residential platform.”
House prices continue to rise
According to lender Nationwide, house prices rose for a sixth consecutive month in February, spurred on by first time buyers keen to make the stamp duty deadline, and cash buyers taking advantage of desperate landlords wanting a clean break. The average property price now sits at £270,493, a 0.4% rise on the previous month.
Rightmove’s end of year results
Rightmove’s revenue jumped a further 7% off the back of desperate developers being upsold marketing space and estate agents vying for top billing. Underlying operating profit also increased 4% and while operating profit fell 1%, this was only due to legal and professional fees of £6.2m relating to the HomeViews acquisition and £3m being invested in Coadjute.
And that concludes another UK Property News Recap – 28.02.2025. If you have any comments or suggestions, please get in touch
