Seaside property hotspots

Posted by The Oracle Group on 21st June 2019 -

INDUSTRY

Seaside property hotspots

Seven of the top ten most expensive coastal towns are in the southwest of England, including Salcombe, Padstow and Dartmouth, making it the highest-priced region, according to analysis byZoopla for Jackson-Stops. However those looking for a home with potential for strong capital growth may consider the east and southeast markets. "Towns in Kent, Essex and East Sussex take the top spots in our ranking of towns that have experienced the greatest capital growth in recent years," Laura Howard of Zoopla says. Meanwhile bargain-hunters must head north, where Blackpool and Morecambe in Lancashire, for example, register average house prices of just £120,254 and £144,256 respectively.The Times, Bricks and Mortar, Page: 8, 9

MORTGAGES

Banks sweetening mortgage offers to retain customers 

Lenders are extending their offer periods for homeowners, who are now enjoying increasing flexibility in the mortgage market. Aaron Strutt of mortgage broker Trinity Financial said several lenders had increased their "offer validity" periods, with those from Nationwide, NatWest, Santander and Virgin Money all now lasting six months, while Barclays has also extended its offer period - from 90 to 150 days for certain existing customers. Mark Harris of broker SPF Private Clients says he has even seen examples of lenders allowing existing customers to move to a cheaper deal immediately.The Daily Telegraph

RENTAL

Generation Rent demographics are shifting

Analysis by Hamptons International reveals that the proportion of over-50s in the UK rental market is at its highest level since records began, accounting for 15% of all rented households, up from 11% in 2012. This group is renting 791,580 homes in Britain, 61% more than in 2012. In total, renters over 50 are paying £9.2bn in rent a year, enough to fund the UK's annual bill for fire services, buses and nursery places put together, the estate agency calculated. Savills’ Lawrence Bowles commented: "Rather than spending more money on conveyancing and stamp duty, people are just renting for longer, either selling their main home or renting it out. It's far more economical."The Times, Bricks and Mortar, Page: 13

PLANNING

MSPs agree 'radical' reforms to planning system

"Radical" reforms to Scotland's planning system have been agreed by MSPs. The Planning (Scotland) Bill includes powers for people to draw up "local place plans" about issues including housing, open space and community facilities, that planning authorities will be legally required to take into account. Councils will also have to work together on "regional spatial strategies" with long-term plans for large-scale developments. Planning minister Kevin Stewart said the bill would give local authorities more powers, and "put sustainable development at the heart of the system".BBC News

No public inquiry into £650m York Central scheme

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed that no public inquiry will be held into the £650m York Central development project, which will see up to 2,500 homes and 86,600 sq m of office space built near the city’s railway station. The Ministry said planning consent for the development rested with City of York Council. The 45-hectare scheme was developed by the York Central Partnership.BBC News   Yorkshire Post, Page: 10

Historic England objects to ‘monolithic’ Manchester tower

Historic England has warned that plans for a 22-storey apartment block on Manchester’s High Street could harm the city’s heritage, due to the scheme’s “massive proportions” and “ungainly mansard form,” that would result in a “monolithic and top heavy appearance.” While a number of other objections have been raised over the scheme, Manchester City Council planning officers have said they are “minded to approve” the plans.BBC News

Bristol tower block approved over fire safety objections

The development control committee of Bristol City Council has approved plans for a 15-storey tower block, despite around 100 objections being received, including from Bristol Civic Society, which raised concerns over the building’s single-stairwell escape route. Councillor Richard Eddy said Avon Fire and Rescue Service had given the plans a “clean bill of health.”BBC News

TAX

Judge rules against stamp duty dodge

Property buyers who used annuities to avoid stamp duty could be pursued by the taxman, reports Sam Meadows, pointing to a case involving tax adviser David Hannah. Tribunal judge Victoria Nicholl threw out Mr Hannah’s appeal against a £30,600 bill, siding with HMRC to rule that a process which saw a property paid for via a complex web of annuities and companies registered offshore was a contrived way to avoid tax. Meadows says that while most schemes claiming to mitigate stamp duty are likely to fail, there are a number of ways to limit or eliminate the bill.The Daily Telegraph

HOUSING

Hurting landlords doesn't help tenants

Sam Barker describes how the country is "hugely reliant" on landlords - a scenario which he argues is the fault of successive governments allowing housebuilding to tail off "for decades," fuelling house price increases and squeezing tenants. A better system, he suggests, would allow symbiosis between the needs of landlords, tenants and homebuyers, without one unduly suffering, at the heart of which would be a "surge in housebuilding, both social and private," which could help to bring down house prices and rents.The Daily Telegraph

Experts had identified Barking flats fire risk

A safety inspection carried out at a block of flats that became engulfed by fire on 9 June found that its wooden balconies posed a "significant hazard." An independent fire risk assessment of Samuel Garside House in Barking, built by Bellway Homes, was carried out in January. It warned that the wooden structures might not be fire-resistant and could “accelerate fire spread”. A spokesman for the building's managing agent RMG said "all of the actions identified by the risk assessor were addressed."BBC News   The Guardian

Is for-profit investment in social housing a good or a bad thing?

The FT explores rising interest in private investment in social housing across the world, including the UK, and rising opposition against the trend, with questions over for-profit’s long term commitment.Financial Times, FT Wealth, Page: 48

RETAIL

Monsoon seeking lower rents to stay afloat  

Monsoon Accessorize is asking landlords to reduce rents on more than half its 258 leased stores in return for a share of £10m future profits. Under the restructuring, which is taking place under two separate CVAs, no stores would close and no jobs are expected to be lost. Considering the use of CVAs by retailers. Nils Pratley in the Guardian asks, “how many more of these requests from wealthy individuals are landlords prepared to tolerate?” He suggests landlords “hold a poor hand, but they’re also playing their cards weakly” and says they have themselves to blame if an “open season for retail CVAs” occurs.BBC News   Financial Times, Page: 18   The Daily Telegraph, Business, Page: 4   The Times, Page: 41   Daily Mail, Page: 80   The I, Page: 44   The Guardian, Page: 34   Daily Express, Page: 50   The Sun, Page: 47   City AM, Page: 4

COMMERCIAL

WeWork strikes blow for flexibility as HSBC takes up 1,135 desks in London

WeWork has agreed a deal with HSBC to lease 1,135 desks in London, creating the world's largest co-working space and making HSBC one of the shared office provider's largest tenants.Financial Times

HOTELS

Hotel group seeks sale

Macdonald Hotels, the Scottish operator, is understood to be in exclusive talks over the sale of 27 of its properties, including the Randolph in Oxford and the Rusacks in St Andrews, to Centerbridge Partners, a New York-based private equity and real estate business. Gordon Fraser, group MD of Macdonald Hotels, declined to name the buyer but said: “The preferred bidder fits superbly with our ongoing aspirations for the hotels and they will bring significant investment and expansion.”The Times, Page: 42

INTERNATIONAL

European cities demand powers over Airbnb expansion

Ten European cities – Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Krakow, Munich, Paris, Valencia and Vienna – are demanding more help from the EU to tackle Airbnb and other holiday rental websites, which they argue are locking locals out of housing and changing their neighbourhoods. In a joint letter, they argue that local authorities must be able to counter the adverse effects of the boom in short-term holiday lets by “introducing their own regulations depending on the local situation”.The Guardian, Page: 3

ECONOMY

Bank freezes rates and cuts growth outlook

The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold at 0.75% amid heightened no-deal Brexit fears and as UK growth falters. The MPC voted unanimously to keep rates unchanged as it cautioned the “downside risks” to growth had increased since its last set of forecasts in May. The Bank also trimmed its expectations for second quarter growth, predicting GDP will remain flat against a previous forecast for 0.2% expansion, after official data showed the economy dipped by a worse-than-feared 0.4% in April. However, the Bank reiterated that “gradual” rate hikes would be needed over the next three years to keep inflation to its two per cent target.The Times, Page: 38     Financial Times, Page: 2   The Independent, Page: 51   The Daily Telegraph, Business, Page: 4    The Guardian, Page: 33

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