DATA: Rightmove reported asking prices rose 1.2% in year to Oct/Nov 2024
They report(PDF) a “larger than usual” non-seasonally adjusted drop compared to last month – though our analysis suggests this is because the index is overly weighted to the top end of the market. They also report “The number of sales being agreed is still 26% ahead of the quieter market at this time in 2023” and “The number of new sellers deciding to move and coming to market is 6% ahead of the same period a year ago”.
DATA: ONS/HMLR reported UK prices rose 2.9% in year to Sep 2024
They report the highest annual price rises in Northern Ireland (6.2% based on quarterly data) and the North East (6.5%) while prices fell in London by 0.5%.
DATA: ONS reported UK private rents rose 8.7% in year to Oct 2024
This was higher than the 8.4% recorded in the previous month and they report “rents inflation was highest in London (10.4%) and lowest in Yorkshire and the Humber (5.9%)”.
DATA: ONS reported CPI rose 2.3% in year to Oct 2024
This was higher than the 1.7% reported for September and was “mainly because of electricity and gas prices”.
DATA: ONS reported a sharp increase in SDLT receipts in Oct 2024
The value of stamp duty land tax receipts for both residential and commercial property was 21% in October 2024 when compared to the same month in 2023. It appears there was a rush to complete before the Budget and it will be interesting to see if this increase is also reflected in the overall transaction data or if it is limited to the top-end of the market.
DATA: MHCLG published Affordable housing supply in England: 2023/24
See Chart of the Week for more details.
DATA: ONS published Construction statistics, Great Britain: 2023
The release includes “Statistics on the construction industry, including value of output, new orders by sector, number of firms and total employment, and construction Output Price Indices”.
DATA: Financial Market Expectations For BoE’s Bank Rate
The chart provides a summary for the expected future level of Bank Rate based on daily data. The One Year figure was 4.09% on 20/11/2024 compared to 4.19% on 13/11/2024.
DATA: New Build Energy Performance Certificates, England
This chart provides a summary of the number of EPCs on new build properties, a useful leading indicator for net additions. The 52-week rolling total was 217,323 for the week commencing 11th November, down from 217,466 the previous week.
POLICY: MHCLG announced further details of Right to Buy reforms
They have launched a consultation on “the qualifying criteria for tenants”, “initial and maximum discounts as a percentage of the property value”, “which types of properties should be exempted under the scheme”, “whether there should be increased restrictions on properties after sale”, “the replacement of homes sold under the Right to Buy”, and “rules governing the use of Right to Buy receipts and how these could be simplified”.
POLICY: MHCLG announced further leasehold reform
They announced “Measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act will be implemented at pace in the new year” and “The government will also introduce its new draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill in the second half of 2025” in plans to “give leaseholders more powers and protections”.
REPORT: NEF published Trapped Behind The Wheel
They report “New builds have become more and more car-dependent relative to existing homes, and this trend is present in all regions outside London” thanks to “the outsized share of new homes being built in rural areas” and “new homes have tended to be located in peripheral areas without good connections to nearby cities and towns”.
REPORT: NEF reported on reforming the land market
They suggest limiting hope value on valuation subject to Compulsory Purchase Orders could “reduce the public grant required to build 90,000 social homes per year by £4.5bn”.
REPORT: Resolution Foundation published an intergenerational audit
They report “After five years, young adults who began by living at home are just as likely to be employed as their peers, and no more likely to be low paid” and “Among the non-retired over-50s, those who received an inheritance of £50,000 or more were 4 percentage points more likely to retire early than those who did not receive an inheritance”.
REPORT: Resolution Foundation reported on labour market statistics
Given the ongoing issues with the ONS Labour Force Survey, they “present an alternative time series for the employment rate which suggests that the true rate is likely materially higher than that recorded in the current LFS data”.
REPORT: House of Commons Library published SDLT briefing
The report provides an overview of the current structure of Stamp Duty Land Tax including recent changes.
REPORT: Lichfields reported on Co-living in London
They report “The appetite for co-living amongst prospective tenants, developers and investors is growing” and “The number of planning applications for co-living is following suit” but “co-living is a still-nascent sector imbued with myths and misgivings”.
REPORT(PDF): IMLA published Intermediary Mortgage Market Tracker
They report “The average number of DIPs in the last 3 months decreases in Q3 by -6, now at 27. However conversion from DIP to completion sees a minor increase of +3% to 39%”.
REPORT: Regulator of Social Housing published quarterly survey
They report “Providers continue to invest record amounts in existing homes, with spend on repairs and maintenance totalling £2.1 billion in the quarter” while “Providers also invested £3.2 billion on building and acquiring new homes (down from £3.5 billion in the previous quarter)” and “cash balances remain at historically low levels”.
REPORT: Propertymark published Housing Insight Report for Sep 2024
They report “Prospective buyer registrations see a two-year high” but “There was a slight dip in the average number of viewings per available property” and “The average number of sales agreed per member branch saw further positive progression in September”.
CORPORATE: Crest Nicholson published update on trading
They report “FY24 open market sales rate at 0.48 (FY23: 0.52), with the sales rate for the last 10 weeks of the financial year at 0.53” and “Limited build cost inflation with stable materials costs and modest labour wage growth”.
CORPORATE: Grainger published Preliminary Full Year Financial Results
They report “6.3% like-for-like rental growth in our BTR/PRS Portfolio” with “+5.6% on new lets (FY23: 9.2%)” and “+6.8% on renewals (FY23: 7.2%)”. They also report “Occupancy of 97.4% in our BTR/PRS portfolio” and “Customer affordability remains robust at 28% of gross household income”.
Chart of the Week
This week MHCLG published their affordable housing supply data for 2023/24. They report there were 62,289 affordable home completions which was “a decrease of 2% compared to the previous year but the second highest delivery since 2014-15”. The number of Social Rent homes increased to 9,866, a 3.9% increase on the previous year, while the number of Affordable Rent homes fell to 28,071 (2.6% lower than the previous year).
