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: What’s been happening in the UK’s housing market in the first half of 2023?; Is London heading for a property market apocalypse?; Banks raise rates again in further mortgage pain; Brighton named among the most expensive UK seaside areas for renters in 2023; Landlords will have to hike rent by £614 to make a profit; The DPS provides top tips for landlords at the end of a tenancy; Landlords increasingly seek guarantors for well-paid tenants… Happy reading and… renting!
Average UK house price hits £286,000 but market is losing steam
The average price paid for a house in the UK increased 3.5% in April to £286,000 – some £9,000 more than a year ago – but the growth rate is slowing down, according to official figures.
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What’s been happening in the UK’s housing market in the first half of 2023?
UK house prices have stalled in recent months, driven in part by higher borrowing costs and the wider squeeze on household finances. But the longer-term lack of supply, due to planning restrictions and a shortage of new homes, means that prices remain stubbornly high for both buyers and renters.
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Property asking prices fall 5% amid rising mortgage rates
Zoopla’s latest house price index showed 42% of house sellers shaved 5% off their asking prices in June in order to achieve a sale – the highest proportion it has recorded since 2018. The report added sellers have to be “very realistic” if they want to secure a sale.
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UK house prices set for double-digit fall as mortgage rates rise again
A number of lenders yesterday announced another increase in mortgage rates offered via brokers, pushing many products above the 6% mark providing yet more bad news for many homeowners and potential homebuyers.
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Property industry reacts to latest house price data
The surprise monthly rise of 0.1% reversed a 0.1% fall in May and confounded economist forecasts of a 0.3% fall. It pushed the average cost of a house in the UK up slightly to £262,239.
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UK falls to 46th place in global house price growth rankings
The UK is now four places above Ukraine, which has seen property prices plummet since the invasion of Russia.
Overall, growth in global house prices fell to an eight-year low.
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One in three homes rose in value in last six months
Homeowners in the North and the Midlands are more likely to have seen price increases in the past six months, compared to other regions. Of the 10 postcode areas with the highest proportion of homes going up in value, four are located in Yorkshire and Humber.
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The UK housing market is facing its biggest test in 70 years
Despite being built of bricks, a house is, in many ways, a financial asset. This is because, for the most part, we use finance – debt – to buy real estate. And debt has been propping up the UK housing market since the 1950s.
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It’s started! UK house prices collapse 12.5% with ‘far worse’ to come
House prices in the UK have already dropped by 12.5 per cent in real terms with a lot more to come.
The housing market is being hit by surging mortgage costs, with average two-year fixes jumping to a 15-year high of 6.7% as interest rates keep rising to combat stubbornly high inflation.
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Is London heading for a property market apocalypse?
London homeowners were today warned of a crash that could wipe 20 per cent off the value of their houses and flats if mortgage rates stay high.
Property experts are increasingly fearful of an approaching “tipping point” that will send the market into freefall if the Bank of England does not call a halt to interest rate rises.
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‘The band has stopped playing’ for UK landlords
Mortgage brokers have reported a drought of new buy-to-let business as the reality of rising interest rates hits landlords en masse.
Many buy-to-let investors are now confronted with the choice of increasing rents or selling up, as the average buy-to-let fixed-mortgage rate edges further above 6 per cent.
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Banks raise rates again in further mortgage pain
The vast majority of the 10 million home owners with mortgages are on fixed rates, mostly two and five-year deals. About 1.8 million expire this year and will have to be remortgaged at far higher rates. London homeowners with a typical £350,000 loan face an £8,000 a year rise in their bills when they remortgage.
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Rishi Sunak: mortgage holders must ‘hold their nerve’ as rates surge
The Prime Minister said there was “no alternative” to the fight to bring down inflation, which flatlined at 8.7% in the year to May.
The Bank raised the base rate from 4.5 to 5% last Thursday, pushing up monthly bills for millions with variable rate mortgages and those coming off fixed rate deals.
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More mortgage ‘misery’ as rising rates likened to ‘rolling financial thunder’
Homeowners have been told to prepare for more mortgage rate “misery” as the average five-year fixed-rate deal jumped above 6% per cent for the first time since November as lenders anticipate more Bank of England rate rises.
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UK interest rate of 7% may be needed from Bank of England, economist warns
Proactive Investors – The Bank of England may have to push interest rates as high as 7% and trigger a “hard landing” for the UK economy, a prominent economist has warned.
A hard landing for the economy “looks increasingly likely”…
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Squeeze on UK tenants tightens as rents outpace incomes
Britain’s housing market strains are spreading to the rental sector with the proportion of household income spent on rent hitting the highest in a decade in May, data showed on Tuesday, adding to wider cost-of-living pressures.
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160,000 Londoners falling behind on rent payments
The figures reveal that 24 per cent of private renters in the capital (about 650,000 people) are struggling to meet rent payments and six per cent (about 160,000) say they have fallen behind in the last six months.
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Brighton named among the most expensive UK seaside areas for renters in 2023
Brighton has been ranked among the top five most expensive seaside locations in the UK for renters, according to data from Rightmove.
The property site’s analysis reveals the latest trends by the coast, where homeowners and renters will be enjoying many warm summer days over the next couple of months.
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Landlords will have to hike rent by £614 to make a profit
Landlords in London and the South East will need to hike rents by a staggering £614 per month to make a profit when remortgaging at present rates.
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Fast-rising rents are creating an ‘unstable market’
HomeLet’s latest Rental Index data shows that the average rent in the UK is now £1,229 per month – a 10.4% increase from the same period last year and a 1.3% rise from May.
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How the Renters’ (Reform) Bill could backfire on tenants: Higher rents and fewer homes
The Renters (Reform) Bill, championed by the housing secretary Michael Gove, aims to protect renters from unfair evictions and improve standards in rented properties.
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Rental market crisis looms as landlords face ‘hike rents or sell up’ dilemma amid mortgage chaos
The UK rental market could be facing a crisis, the Bank of England warned, as landlords facing surging mortgage rates may have to choose whether to force renters to pay more or to sell and drive house prices down.
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The desperate battle to rent homes in the capital’s hottest district
Wandsworth has emerged as London’s latest rental hotspot with two reports this week highlighting how rapidly prices in the area are rising.
Demand is such that even these steep rises don’t deter would-be tenants, and many places are let for higher than their asking price.
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The DPS provides top tips for landlords at the end of a tenancy
The UK’s largest protector of deposits said that, despite landlords experiencing significant increases in cleaning and repair costs – in some cases up to 30% or more – some are not submitting invoices to support a dispute resolution claim against a deposit.
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New EPC Regulations: What You Need to Know
Nearly 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions come from the real estate sector. With the rising focus on carbon emissions reduction and improving energy efficiency, it was inevitable that the UK government would turn to Energy Performance Certificate (“EPC”) improvements as a vital element in achieving the goal of “net zero” by 2050.
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Landlords continue selling up – but it’s not an exodus
There is a consistent stream of private landlords leaving the UK’s property market – and it has been a steady flow since 2018 – but it is not an exodus…
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Labour urges no delay to renters’ protections
Labour has urged ministers to move ahead with plans to ban so-called no-fault evictions as part of a series of measures designed to protect renters.
The Opposition accused the Government of failing renters, warning that millions were being affected across England.
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Landlords and homeowners face hefty bills to meet EPC target
Landlords and homeowners are facing steep costs to upgrade their properties to meet potential Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings – with an average price tag of £13,981.
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Another UK city wants powers to impose rent controls
In a bid to combat its growing housing crisis, one UK city has launched an appeal for the government to hand over powers to impose rent controls.
The Bristol Living Rent Commission has published a report on the city’s housing situation.
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Majority of landlords do not intend to sell any buy-to-let properties
The majority of buy-to-let landlords (64%) are not planning to sell any of their properties in the next 12 months.
The strongest sentiment was found among landlords with individual properties (75%) and those with smaller portfolios of two or three properties (69%).
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Landlords increasingly seek guarantors for well-paid tenants
Landlords and letting agents are increasingly asking for guarantors from renters who earn between £25,000 and £75,000, research reveals.
5.8% of tenants are now asked to provide a guarantor if they earn between £25,000 and £49,999.
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Landlords made hundred of billions from the rising value of their properties
Landlords exiting the property market this year can expect to benefit from huge capital gain windfalls, as new research finds that the value of privately rented homes in England jumped an average of 432% between 1990-2022.
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