Brighten up your home

Nothing makes us more motivated to make changes to our home than the small wonders of spring. With nature coming to life and the evenings lingering on, now is the perfect time to think about brightening up your home with subtle updates to make sure it’s summer-ready.

Emma Brindley, interior design manager for Redrow, talks us through five ways to make the most of your space during this delightful time of year.

Start from the outside

Take a moment outside your home and consider how you can turn up the kerb appeal a notch for spring/summer. Even a small lawn can look stylish and inviting with clever planting and shaping of shrubs, softened with blooming hanging baskets and classic lighting.

 

 

Let the sun shine

 

Open up your windows and doors at the first opportunity to let the idyllic scents of nature flow in to your home. Nothing beats the smell of freshly cut grass at this time of year and it’s a great way of naturally boosting your mood too. Allowing the natural light flood into the most used spaces in the home, such as the kitchen and dining area, will guarantee to make you smile and improve overall wellbeing.

Grow your own

Whether it’s herbs and spices planted in the garden or on the window-sill in stylish zinc containers, my favourite thing to see in the home right now is ‘greenery.’ Not only is this bang on trend for 2017, it’s a practical and positive addition to the home. Cook up a rustic, home cooked meal with the kids using your home grown herbs and teach them how important it is to invest in their hard work.

Fix it up

Now is the time to get all those little jobs done around the home that you might have been ignoring through the colder months. Give some time to fix up furniture, steam your fabrics and touch up your decorating. Think about injecting a fresh look with a feature wall. The colour doesn’t have to be stark – we love the rich, classic tones of Dulux’s Heritage Colour palette and we guarantee there’s something for everyone.

Spring styling

Use plants throughout the home as a starting point for your spring styling. Incorporate artwork inspired by nature, such as botanic prints and fern carvings, which can easily be found on the high-street. Contrasting textures are key so refresh your fabrics with new cushions and throws in light linens and chunky knits (it might be getting warmer but those evenings can still be chilly) for a look that will create the perfect sanctuary.

Regional Trends

House Prices in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk

The majority of sales in Bury St. Edmunds during the last year were terraced properties, selling for an average price of £260,724. Detached properties sold for an average of £385,379, with semi-detached properties fetching £269,849.
Bury St. Edmunds, with an overall average price of £276,208, was similar in terms of sold prices to nearby Ixworth (£284,593), but was cheaper than Great Barton (£423,439) and Thurston (£322,288).
Overall sold prices in Bury St. Edmunds over the last year were 4% up on the previous year and 18% up on the 2014 level of £234,351.

Surveyors expect residential property prices and rents in Ireland to increase in 2017

National property prices in Ireland are set to rise by an average of 7% in 2017 while rents are expected to increase by between 8% and 10%, according to the latest outlook review report from surveyors.


The report from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) predicts that the biggest prices rises are likely to be outside of Dublin with the Leinster region named as the location likely to be the hottest in 2017.


The price of three bed semi-detached houses, the most popular house type in the country, is predicted to rise by an average of 9.4% nationally with the greatest increases across all housing unit types likely to be 11% for one and two bed apartments.


The survey predicts that residential rents will rise on average by between 8 to 10% outside of the rent control areas of the four local authority areas of the Dublin Region and Cork City Council area.


Annual rent increases are capped at 4% in these designated zones. The Government is reported to be planning to extend these zones to 20 more towns.


A lack of supply, public policy and projected economic growth may continue to inflate house prices, according to Ronan O’Hara, chair of the SCSI’s residential agency group, but he warned that the latter could not be taken for granted given the uncertainty caused by the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.


Indeed, 78% of surveyors outside Dublin believe Brexit will have a negative impact on Ireland’s economic growth and 50% in Dublin also doing so while 36% of surveyors across the country believe that Brexit has already had a negative impact on property activity market levels.


O’Hara believes that the figure show that there is uncertainty for the coming year. ‘The drop in Sterling has reduced the buying power of people looking to move here,’ he said.


However, he pointed out that the changes which the Central Bank made to its lending rules and the introduction of the Help to buy scheme are likely to contribute to an increase in activity in the short to medium term.


Some 80% of surveyors said that Help to will lead to price increases in the coming year. ‘While this is good news for vendors, struggling first time buyers will be disheartened. While rising prices will probably encourage more builders to start building houses it really is up to Government to tackle some of the underlying issues, including high construction costs, and to make housing more affordable,’ said O’Hara.


The report anticipates continued and strong rental price growth over the coming 12 months across all regions, fuelled by a sustained demand combined with a continuing housing shortage particularly in and around the regional cities.


Overall the greatest increases are forecast for both two and three bed apartments and townhouses at over 10%. The survey took place before the new restriction on rent increases were announced so while increases of over 11.5% were predicted for two and three bed units in Dublin, these will clearly not be happening now.


O’Hara said that while the proposals to extend the designated pressure zones to 20 more towns might be well intentioned they were also short sighted and in the survey the introduction of permanent rent control measures was ranked as the highest negative measure that will impact upon the supply in the rental market.


‘If this goes ahead it will discourage landlord investment in the rental market. Similarly anyone involved in buy to let properties will exit the market and it’s likely a lot of owner occupiers will purchase them. That might be good news for them but not for those renting as rents will continue to rise. The Government may be putting out one fire, but they are simply starting another,’ he added.


According to the report the estimated figure for new builds at the end of 2016 will be 14,800 which falls significantly short of the 20,000 to 30,000 required. O’Hara said that while demand for housing is greatest in Dublin the fact that commencements outside the capital are running three times higher is a concern.


‘This is a huge issue for first time buyers hoping to get on the property ladder. But given the concerns raised by our members over Brexit, it is also a huge issue for the country as a whole,’ O’Hara explained.


He added that the SCSI is urging the Government to cut the Vat rate on new houses. ‘It has worked for the hospitality sector, it would also work for the construction and property market,’ he said.

Ban on letting agent fees divides UK rental industry

Opinion is divided over whether or not the decision to ban letting agent fees in England is a good move for the private rental market.

The announcement by Chancellor Philip Hammond that the ban will be introduced as soon as possible was met with dismay by letting agent and landlord organisations who warned that agents will pass the cost of administration onto landlords who will in turn pass it onto tenants in the form of higher rents.

Some experts pointed out that when a ban was introduced in Scotland it led to higher rents while others said that it did not lead to direct rent hikes. This issue aside, some other pertinent points have now emerged such as landlords possibly avoiding using letting agents which is not always advisable if they are not aware of current legislation and short cuts being taken in terms of tenant checks to keep costs down.

Charles Curran, principal at Maskells, pointed out that lettings agents do incur costs in setting up a new tenancy such as credit checks. Landlords are also now required to check that a prospective tenant has the right to live in the UK so there is paperwork involved.

He also pointed out that a lot of questions remain to be answered. For example, there are costs involved in carrying out checks and if fees cannot be charged it is not clear how these costs will be paid for.

‘We do expect landlords to seek to increase rents to take into account any additional costs. We will have to see the language of any proposed law before making our final analysis,’ he said.

While it is known that there are unscrupulous lettings agents who may be charging more than the average of £220 in fees for a new tenant, Mark Pollack, director at Aston Chase, said that the majority are reasonable.

‘We believe our charges are reasonable in comparison to many of the larger corporate agencies who also charge their landlords an administration fee. Indeed, we have always considered it surprising to charge for a tenancy agreement that we already have on file, although this is an industry norm.

However, the reference fees are a cost that we have to pay to a third party so under the new legislation, in the future agents would presumably have to pay for these themselves,’ he added.

Ali Carter, head of lettings at Russell Simpson, believes there is no place for some of the high fees that are charged. ‘Letting agency fees are in place to cover the cost of drawing up a tenancy agreement. This cost is split between the tenant and landlord. The tenant will also be charged a fee for their reference check,’ he said.

‘This could be a good opportunity for us, as well as other agents, to say that they are no longer charging an administration fee which is usually £150 plus VAT from today. Quite often we will promote a particularly property with a no admin fee tagline. In general we don’t charge the landlord their portion as they are paying us a fee already so we’ve always felt it was unjustified to ask for anything else on top. Overall, we’re quite in line with Hammond’s thinking,’ he added.

Others in the industry believe that regulation of letting agents might have been a more positive view. ‘I can’t help but feel that this is an issue of overall high rental costs and lack of trust in letting agents that do little to earn the respect of their tenants,’ said Bevan Smith, director of BPM Estates, which has offices in central London, Barnet and Potters Bar.

‘Rather than the removal of fees entirely, we would have liked to have seen stricter restrictions on what can and can’t be charged for and what fee levels are justified. This would have helped to put a curve on the immoral practices without punishing the honest, reputable agencies,’ he added.

Sarah Bush, director of Cheffins Residential Lettings, also things regulation would be a better option. ‘The Government needs to focus on the regulation of agents rather than banning upfront fees in their entirety. Rogue agents charging astronomical fees create the headlines and subsequently all agents are deemed guilty by association,’ she said.

‘Fees that are charged by reputable agents can be accounted for and justified at every step of the letting process. The banning of fees across the board will ensure that the costs are passed directly to the landlord, who in turn will increase rental prices to cover their respective costs,’ she explained.

‘A prohibition by the government on fees, combined with mortgage interest relief, will stifle a housing market that is already at breaking point and landlords are likely to leave the private rental sector en-masse. By trying to help tenants and pour cold water on the private rented sector, in reality the Government is doing nothing but heating up the situation for both tenants and landlords alike,’ she added.

Lucy Morton, head of agency at JLL, flagged up that the ban could lead less scrupulous agents to cut corners. ‘It is essential that agents do not cut corners and fail to carry out stringent referencing checks. At JLL and W.A.Ellis we have always advocated complete transparency of all charges made by agents to both landlords and tenants. We have also historically campaigned for the Government to regulate letting agents which it still fails to address,’ she said.

Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action, warned that there could be a surge of landlords opting to self-let and manage and he believes that this would have a detrimental effect on rental property standards.

‘Agents will need to be forward thinking about how they can absorb some of this cost and the loss through other areas of their business. It has never been more vital for agents to educate less experienced landlords on the importance and benefits of a managed service, making sure they are compliant with industry legislation and preventing them from exiting the sector altogether,’ he added.

Property Tops The List For Investment Options Over The Last Decade

Since the financial crisis in 2008 the economy seems to have been in a constant state of uncertainty, leaving many questioning where exactly is the best place to invest their money.

There are plenty of options from the stock market to savings accounts, but what may surprise some is that findings from a recent study have shown property to bring the biggest return on investment over the last 10 years.

A recent study from estate agents Romans and Leaders has shown property to be the best investment option by some margin, by carrying out a comparison between the four most popular investment options, which are savings accounts, FTSE 100, property and gold.

This research looked into how much return you would see from an investment of £50,000 in 2006 into each of these investment options.

The results showed property at the top of the table by some distance. An investment in FTSE 100 would’ve seen a profit of £3,000, a savings account would bring in roughly £15,000 of profit and an investment in gold would fetch an extra £50,000 across the 10 years. While £50,000 is still a great return, property showed to be the clear leader with approximately £90,000 higher return than gold and an overall profit of £140,000 based on annual house price increases.

Managing Director at Leaders, Allison Thompson spoke on the results explaining why property comes out on top, she said “Despite many changes over the last ten years to the housing market and wider economy, buy-to-let is still the clear winner. As well as the most rewarding, it is also the safest of all the investment options over the long-term. We have seen historically that, although cyclical, house prices always rise in the long run. With the acute shortage of housing across the UK, this is only likely to continue.”

Thompson also suggests that while many are looking for the right time to jump into property investment, short term fluctuations in the market shouldn’t deter potential investors:

“Understandably, a lot of investors want to get the timing right when purchasing a property, but inevitably if you’re in it for the medium to long term, just learn to accept these fluctuations as any short term gains or losses. Second guessing and predicting the market will more than likely pale into insignificance in comparison to your overall return after ten years.”

Remortgages drive growth in UK home lending market

Gross mortgage lending in the UK held steady in October but is being driven more by remortgages than new buyers due to a lack of supply in the current housing market.

It reached an estimated £20.6 billion, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders and closely matches September’s gross lending total of £20.5 billion, but is 5% lower than October last year when it was £21.8 billion.

‘Housing market sentiment is holding up well, with demand still strong. This has led to a pickup in approvals, as expected. The more pressing issue is on the supply side, where the lack of private sellers continues to be an obstacle for would-be borrowers,’ said CML senior economist Mohammad Jamei.

‘For this reason, we expect lending in the months ahead to be driven more by remortgaging activity and less by house purchases. Remortgaging will be helped by competitively priced mortgage deals, which are encouraging borrowers to refinance,’ he added.

According to Ishaan Malhi, chief executive officer of Trussle, the figures conceal two very different stories in the mortgage market. ‘On the one hand, new purchases are seeing a slight fall as first time buyers continue to face challenges saving for a mortgage deposit. This is having a long term impact on home ownership,’ he said.

‘On the other, we’re witnessing a surge in remortgaging, up 17% in the last 12 months, as existing home owners take advantage of record low rates to secure better deals,’ he added.

John Goodall, chief executive officer of peer to peer platform Landbay, also believes that the push is coming from home owners changing to lower interest products. ‘Many existing homeowners are choosing to take advantage of low interest rates to refinance their mortgage. However, this growth in lending volumes belies a much more mixed picture across the sectors. Buy to let lending levels remain around 24% down on this time last year, as April’s 3% stamp duty hike caused an initial wave of transactions, but left in its wake a much more subdued market,’ he pointed out.

‘The fundamentals of the buy to let market are still pointing toward long term sustainable growth, but landlords have had a white knuckle ride over the last 12 months, and we hope to see them given some relief at next week’s Autumn Statement,’ he added.

The lack of homes for sale is also highlighted by comments from John Eastgate, sales and marketing director at OneSavings Bank. ‘Mortgage activity is in good health, reflecting growing consumer confidence after the European Union referendum and impressive resilience in a quite exceptional year. Borrowers are benefitting from record low interest rates, with remortgage activity buoyant, although purchases are constrained by lack of homes for sale,’ he said.

‘However, with the Government set to fall short of the 200,000 new homes it had committed to providing annually, the UK’s chronic housing shortage, and resultant rising house prices, are set to remain a major barrier towards lending growth. Tax changes on buy to let will only make matters worse. The mortgage market needs to be supported by house building of all tenures which is the only long term solution that can prevent further deepening of the housing crisis,’ he added.

Henry Woodcock, principal mortgage consultant at IRESS, believes that the mortgage market remains vibrant. ‘Low interest rates, a levelling of house prices and continued consumer confidence have all combined to maintain market momentum,’ he said.

‘It’ll be interesting to see if the Chancellor has any good news for the mortgage and housing markets in the Autumn Statement. It’s expected he will confirm earlier announcements of funds towards new homes to be built by small firms, but many would like to see further investment into rental properties,’ he added.