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Monday, March 12, 2012

Monday 27 February 2012

Stamp Duty avoidance crackdown speculation

The Financial Times reported comments made by the Chancellor on Stamp Duty avoidance, speculating that the Budget would include measures to clamp down on avoidance of Stamp Duty Land Tax by wealthy individuals.  In an interview withSky News, the Chancellor said that he found it"unacceptable" that"wealthy people" were able to avoid the levy, according to theFT, and further, that"we've already taken measures to make sure the tax system is fairer... I increased Capital Gains Tax for wealthier people in my first budget, and I have taken action on Stamp Duty avoidance and that's something we are definitely looking very closely at now."

Hometrack House Price Index - February

The Hometrack House Price Index for February has been published and shows similar trends to other indices.  The monthly house price change from January was flat at 0.0%, however there was a marked increase in the number of buyers registering with agents, property listing and sales agreed (in part from first-time buyers rushing to beat the end of the Stamp Duty exemption):

Monthly price change (%)	-0.2	0.0	0.0
% change in new buyers registering with agents	-6.3	-10.5	18.1
% change in volume of property listing	-3.4	-5.4	15.0
% change in sales agreed	-0.9	-14.3	35.7
Average time on the market (weeks)	10.1	10.2	9.9
% of the asking price being achieved	92.3	92.5	92.9
% postcode districts with priceincreaseover month	2.0	3.4	7.7
% postcode districts with pricedecreaseover month	33	19	19

Scottish Government Consultation - tenant information packs

The Scottish Government announced a consultation seeking views on tenant information packs in the private rented sector.  This follows a clause within the Private Rented Housing (Scotland) Act 2011, which places a duty on private landlords to provide new tenants with such a pack, "to enable more informed choices by tenants and prospective tenants".  The consultation includes two broad sets of questions as follows:

• Specifying the information within a tenant information pack
• What the pack should look like, and how it will work in practice

 

The deadline for submissions is 21 May 2012. 

 

Commons Written Answers - Tenants' rights

In response to a Parliamentary Question from Greg Mulholland MP on protecting tenants from"irresponsible landlords", Communities and Local Government Minister, Andrew Stunell MP, stated:"Local Authorities have powers, under the Housing Act 2004, to assess the risks and hazards in residential properties using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System. If a property is found to contain serious (Category 1) hazards, the Local Authority has a duty to take the most appropriate action. This could range from trying to deal with the problems informally at first, to prohibiting the use of the whole or part of the dwelling. It is in the interests of Local Authorities to collect information across all housing tenures through housing condition surveys. The Government does not stipulate the precise detail of local housing condition surveys. It is for Local Authorities to decide the best approach for their area."

Delegated Legislation Committee - Draft Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2012

The transcript of the Fifth Delegated Legislation Committee meeting to consider the Draft Housing (Scotland) Act 2010 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2012 has been published.

DCLG - £100m for empty homes

Communities Minister, Andrew Stunell, has announced that neighbourhoods will be able to apply for funding from a pot of up to £100 million to bring empty homes back into use.  The DCLG is now seeking expressions of interest for the scheme.  The DCLG is offering £50 million funding to areas with clusters of empty homes which have good market prospects (e.g. good transport links).  Councils that wish to apply will match the funding they receive - bringing the total investment to £100 million.

Scotland Office Press Release - Devolution of Property Tax

Scottish Secretary, Michael Moore MP, has urged the Scottish Government to set out its plans for property taxes in Scotland, given that it has indicated that it plans to depart significantly from UK Government policy on Stamp Duty when powers are devolved.

 

Mr Moore stated:"With a radical re-shaping expected, I would urge the Scottish Government to start setting out its plans long before we switch off Stamp Duty in 2015, so that there are no late surprises for anyone.  This shouldn't be the silent handover of tax powers at midnight in April 2015. This is a significant new power that should be debated now so that the Scottish people and the housing sector can join in and make clear their views on how the system can change to meet their needs."

 

Council of Mortgage Lenders' Press Release - House purchase loans in Northern Ireland

According to the CML, Northern Ireland was the only area of the UK to experience an increase in house purchase loans in Q4 2011. The 2,500 house purchase loans, worth £240 million, increased 4% by number and value from Q3.

 

Land Registry House Price Index - January

The latest Land Registry House Price Index for January shows house prices up 1.1% on December, bringing the average house price in England and Wales to £161,545.

 

 

Tuesday 28 February 2012

 

Federation of Master Builders' Press Release - Budget 2012 and the housing market

The FMB has called on the Chancellor to look to housing to support the Government's growth and jobs agenda in the Budget.  Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs at the FMB, stated:

"The FMB's recent report,Tackling the Housing Crisis, revealed that, by 2015, demand for housing will outstrip supply by more than half a million homes. First-time buyers are still struggling to get onto the housing ladder, and the impact of this has been fewer homes being built despite the pent up demand. Clearly, more needs to be done to help those currently struggling to purchase their own home, which is why we are calling on the Government to reverse its decision to reduce the Stamp Duty threshold for first-time buyers from the end of March.

"As well as measures to support growth in the house building industry, the Chancellor must provide more businesses with the confidence to respond to the forthcoming Green Deal energy saving programme. We know the market for upgrading our existing homes to make them greener and more energy efficient is potentially worth billions to the UK economy. Therefore, the Government must ensure the £200 million Green Deal incentive fund is used to drive demand and enable the market to grow. Currently, consumer confidence in the economy is rock bottom and the home improvement market is suffering as a result. For the Green Deal to be a success, the Government must use the incentive fund to help households that take part early on in the programme, to repay the Green Deal charge on their electricity bills.

"The FMB continues to believe that the Government should also introduce the reduced rate of 5% VAT for all home energy efficiency installations to support the Green Deal. A reduced rate of VAT is a logical step that will make energy efficiency measures more affordable and Green Deal packages more attractive. Recent research, commissioned by the FMB, suggests this change would come at a relatively small cost to the Treasury and would help to achieve a number of environmental, economic and social policy objectives."

Scottish Property Federation Press Release - Commercial property output

Following the Scottish Property Federation's annual conference in Edinburgh, the SPF has called on the Scottish Government to work with the sector to allow"the industry to unlock its potential for economic growth".  This follows new statistics which show that new orders for commercial development and repair work have fallen by one-third since 2007.  Furthermore, retail vacancies stand at 26% in some parts of Scotland.  The SPF is calling for:

• A step change in reforming the planning system;
• No increase in the cost of empty property rates;
• Pragmatic climate change regulations to improve the energy efficiency of homes and business premises in the light of continuing economic fragility;
• Incentives to support economic development: for example, exemption from rates for speculative development for new commercial property;
• New infrastructure investment to boost the economy.

Wednesday 29 February 2012

Commons Written Answer - Private rented sector and buy-to-let

In response to a Parliamentary Question from Graham Jones MP on what assessment the Government has made of the effects of buy-to-let mortgages on the size of the private rented sector, Communities Minister, Andrew Stunell MP, stated:"Based on data drawn from the English Housing Survey for 2010-11 and the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, we estimate that buy-to-let mortgages currently support some 39% of private rented sector stock. The Government's Housing Strategy outlines our support for a thriving private rented sector, as well as taking a series of measures to build more affordable homes and support home ownership."

 

Greg Barker speech to British Property Federation Conference

Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker, has delivered a speech on the Green Deal and energy efficiency to the British Property Federation's Annual Residential Conference.

 

Building Societies Association Press Release - lending up year on year

According to the BSA, building societies and mutual lenders continued to increase lending in January 2012, compared with the same month in 2011. Gross mortgage lending was up 32% and mortgage approvals increased by 54% on January 2011:

• 32% rise in gross mortgage lending in January, up to £1.9 billion from £1.4 billion in January 2011;
• £1.7 billion of mortgages were approved in January, up 54% on January 2011 (£1.1 billion).

CML Budget Submission

The CML has published its Budget submission.  In the submission it welcomed the NewBuy initiative and highlighted four other key issues that it hoped the Chancellor was considering:

• Mortgage funding, and the extent to which policy interventions can strengthen and diversify funding structures, and encourage domestic institutional investment in mortgage assets;
• Stamp Duty, where they believe reform remains necessary;
• Welfare reform,"where both Housing Benefit and support for mortgage interest face operational changes, which must not have unintended negative consequences if they are to be pursued".
• Creative thinking about fiscal measures to optimise use of the existing housing stock.

 

BPF Press Release - National Planning Policy Framework

The BPF has welcomed a commitment from Sir Bob Kerslake, Head of the Civil Service, that the Government will press ahead with the presumption in favour of sustainable development, as presently included in the draft National Planning Policy Framework.

Thursday 1 March 2012

London Planning and Housing Committee report on service charges published

The London Assembly Planning and Housing Committee has published its report on service charges in the capital, entitledHighly charged: Residential leasehold services charges in London. The report highlights issues within the service charges regime to which, according to the Committee, more than half a million leaseholders in the capital are subject, and calls for a change of approach.  A press release from the Committee states that:

 

"Leaseholders in London now pay more than half a billion pounds in service charges every year.  The number of disputes has increased by more than 50% and thousands more leasehold properties will be built in London over the next ten years - prompting growing pressure for reform.  Highly chargedrecognises there is little immediate prospect of further legislative reform... in the meantime, the report sets out a number of actions that can be taken to make the present leasehold system operate more equitably.
 
"The lack of transparency that pervades the system ranges from leaseholders being unclear on what they're paying for, to a perception that some charges - particularly for insurance - involve excessive commissions.  The report calls on private landlords and managing agents to make contract procurement and bills more transparent, with key stakeholders like ARMA and RICS setting an example of good practice. Improved consultation - which is beneficial to both leaseholders and landlords - is recommended, with the private sector urged to learn lessons from public sector landlords, who tend to have more comprehensive consultation processes."

The report also calls on the Government to look at making mediation a compulsory first step of the dispute resolution process to help leaseholders avoid potentially costly court cases altogether.

Date of Queen's Speech announced

The Government has now confirmed that the Queen's Speech will take place on 9 May 2012. This will be the start of a new legislative session and any current Bill that has not been passed before then will need to start again.

 

Commons Written Answers - Housing Benefit and the private rented sector

In response to a Parliamentary Question from Caroline Flint MP on the proportion of tenants in the private rented sector who are in receipt of Housing Benefit, Pensions Minister, Steve Webb MP, stated: "Accurate estimates of the proportion of tenants in the private rented sector who are in receipt of Housing Benefit are not available. For instance, the2009-10 Family Resources Survey (FRS) reported that 25% of households in the private rented sector were in receipt of Housing Benefit. This is an underestimate owing to under-reporting of benefit receipt.

 

"Our more recent estimate, derived from combining the FRS and administrative data, is that around one-third of households in the private rented sector are in receipt of Housing Benefit. There remains considerable uncertainty around this estimate. This estimate used the number of claims to Housing Benefit from theSingle Housing Benefit Extract(SHBE), expressed as a proportion of the number of benefit units renting in the private rented sector from the FRS, excluding from the number of benefit units, non-dependants in the same household with no rental liability. These non-dependants would not be present in the SHBE data. Benefit units were used because households can include a number of people not related who share the living accommodation, one or more of whom might have a separate claim to Housing Benefit."

 

Nationwide House Price Index

The Nationwide House Price Index for February shows:

• House prices increased by 0.6% in February;
• Prices are 0.9% higher than February 2011;
• Price of a typical home is now £162,712.