Like every month, Rentila offers you an overview of the main real estate news of interest to landlords and tenants. This month, we focus on: Stamp duty changes and budget uncertainty will impact housing market in 2025; UK house prices fell in December; Interest rates could fall to 2.5%, economist predicts; The importance of building insurance for landlords; Corporate landlords replacing private buy to let landlords; 2025: A perfect storm for landlords and tenants?… Happy reading and… renting!
Ten statistics that tell the story of the property market in 2024
The top location chosen by home movers in 2024 was central Birmingham, with the ‘B’ postcode alone attracting 2.87% of all movers throughout the year. Home to a growing number of global finance, science and tech businesses, the UK’s second city is fast becoming a hotspot for young professionals.
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Stamp duty changes and budget uncertainty will impact housing market in 2025
From April 2025, stamp duty thresholds in England will be lowered. For first-time buyers, the exemption threshold will drop from £425,000 to £300,000, while for standard residential properties, it will fall from £250,000 to £125,000.
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Housing sales end 2024 on a high
The housing market is set to finish 2024 strongly with more sales being agreed ahead of the stamp duty deadline, according to the latest House Price Index from Zoopla.
At the same time, buyers are becoming more cautious about what they pay for homes as mortgage rates drift higher and households consider the impact of the Budget on the outlook for the economy and jobs.
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Will house prices go up in 2025?
Over the last 50 years, the average UK property price has risen from £9,139 in October 1974 to £292,059 as of October 2024, based on the latest Land Registry figures. That represents an average increase of more than 3,095 per cent.
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Renters’ Rights Bill to return to Parliament in January
The government has confirmed that the Bill will be brought back after the parliamentary recess for the report stage and third reading.
The Bill will abolish Section 21 no-fault evictions and apply Awaab’s law to the private rented sector.
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House prices edge upward as market shows signs of recovery
House prices in England and Wales saw a modest increase in November, rising 0.2% to an average of £358,800.
This marks the second consecutive month of price growth, signalling a potential shift in the housing market.
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UK housing sector ‘is about to embark on some of the biggest changes seen in over 30 years’
The next few months are likely to prove busy for estate agents, based on sales stock coming to the market, while consumers are showing that they are keen to stay ahead of stamp duty threshold changes due in England and Northern Ireland in April 2025…
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UK house prices fell in December
Northern Ireland maintained the strongest property price growth with an annual increase of 7.4%.
House prices in Wales rose 4.6%, while Scotland saw a more modest increase of 2.4%.
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Mortgage rates will start with 3 next year
Mortgage rates are “likely to start with a three once more” with the market expecting a bumper start to the new year.
January 2025 looks set to be “no different from other years” as lenders often aim to get out of the blocks quickly and start the year well.
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Mix of mortgage rate changes from TSB and HSBC
TSB has reduced select mortgage rates by up to 0.25%.
The largest reduction was to its two-year fixed residential remortgage products up to 85% loan to value (LTV).
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Lenders raise mortgage rates despite Bank of England cut
Virgin Money and Halifax increased their fixed-rate deals by as much as 0.25pc, sparked in part by an increase to the cost of borrowing following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget last week.
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Buy to let lending set to soar
The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) is forecasting a 14% surge in buy to let lending in 2025, reaching £38 billion, followed by an 11% increase to £42 billion in 2026.
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Borrowers may feel ‘real squeeze’ of higher interest rates this year
Borrowers are yet to feel the true impact of higher interest rates as they have been shielded by five-year fixed deals, the head of a building society said.
However, the effects of higher interest rates will be realised as mortgages mature this year…
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Halifax hands customers with a mortgage in one part of UK £38,000 boost
Stoke heads the UK list of the biggest annual house price growth, according to Halifax. There has been a jump of 17.2 per cent in 12 months to September for the city, while Huddersfield had the largest decline of anywhere in the UK.
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Interest rates could fall to 2.5%, economist predicts
Interest rates will fall to 2.5% by late 2027, a much sharper drop than the 3.75% market consensus, according to an influential economic research company.
Economists at Oxford Economics think the Bank of England will reduce interest rates at a greater rate than financial markets are currently forecasting.
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Call to build more rented homes as tenants struggle to pay rent
Nearly two-thirds of workers living in private rented housing struggle to pay their rent, a poll by Shelter reveals.
Only 32% of workers said they could keep up with rent payments without difficulty, with 40% sometimes struggling and 23% constantly struggling.
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The Lancashire seaside town that has become a ‘haven for London landlords’ as rents soar
Blackpool is seeing rental yields skyrocket into double digits, nearly twice what investors can expect to earn in the capital. Agency data reveals a significant increase in the proportion of homes in Blackpool bought by Londoners, rising from 4% in 2019 to 9% this year.
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New Renters’ Rights Bill to end no-fault evictions and allow pets in the UK
The British Labour government has announced changes in the law regarding property rentals. The media has called the Renters’ Rights Bill the biggest revolution in the housing market in the past 30 years. The most significant change introduced by the new regulations will be the prohibition of no-fault evictions.
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UK’s top 12 cheapest towns and cities to rent a room revealed
The UK rental market is showing some signs of stabilising after a chaotic few years, as rent hikes slow down across the country. Renting a room in a flat or house is a common way for tenants to save money on rent costs, and is especially popular amongst students and young professionals.
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Average rents in the UK climb in December
The average private rent in the UK increased by 9% in the 12 months to December, a slight fall on November numbers.
According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), this compares to 9.1% in the 12 months to November 2024, but is a rise from the 8.3% reported in December 2023.
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Landlords warned against costly EPC upgrades
While the government strongly promotes heat pump adoption, analysis reveals that these systems may not always translate to higher EPC ratings and could significantly increase running costs.
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The key areas for property investors to watch in 2025
The UK’ property investors will be facing a turbulent year, navigating a complex landscape of economic and political headwinds, one expert predicts.
“The rental market is expected to maintain strong momentum as homeownership remains difficult for many…”
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The importance of building insurance for landlords
When renting out a property, you need to be careful of several risks.
Imagine your property being damaged by a fire, flood, or even a car collision – and worst of all, not having the proper insurance to cover the costs.
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Where in the UK have estate agents sold the most homes this year?
New research has revealed where the nation’s estate agents are on course to have sold the most homes in 2024, with Scotland, the South East and North West proving the most active regions of the UK property market.
Regionally, Scotland tops the table with 54,428 transactions, accounting for 15% of the national total.
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First-time buyer penalty: new buyers are paying eight per cent over asking price for first homes
The average asking price for a first-time buyer home in the UK is £227,570, according to Rightmove, while the UK House Price Index shows the average price that a first-time buyer home actually sells for is £245,208 — 7.8 per cent higher on average than the original asking price.
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Corporate landlords replacing private buy to let landlords
More corporate landlords will enter the private rented sector in 2025, as they are less impacted by new rules and regulations, while buy to let landlords will leave the sector…
The Renters’ Rights Bill will have a huge impact on the private rented sector but less on the Build to Rent (BTR) sector.
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The new property laws and changes coming into force in 2025 that every homeowner and renter must know
With the new year soon underway, there are set to be some key legislative changes being made to the property sector. These new laws and rules set will affect millions of homeowners and renters across the country, so it’s important to familiarise yourself with them.
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2025: A perfect storm for landlords and tenants?
It’s 2025 and the private rented sector is set for one of its biggest upheavals in years – possibly decades.
Landlords are facing unprecedented challenges, thanks to the Renters’ Rights Bill and EPC deadline nonsense, but there’s more for small landlords, in particular, to consider.
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Landlords to be banned from demanding several months’ rent in advance
Private landlords will be banned from asking tenants for several months’ of rent payments in advance as part of Labour’s push to reform private renting.
The Government will introduce new rules that cap advance payments at one months’ rent under the upcoming Renters’ Rights Bill.
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Landlords saw a big surge in tenancy fraud last year
The biggest issue facing landlords is that 94% of fraud cases involved forged documents – doctored bank statements being the most common.
Data reveals that 60% of all flagged fraud cases originated in London, with west London experiencing a substantial increase.
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