An increasing number of estate agents are more and more positive about house price rises in the spring of 2010. This is very much driven by a surprisingly high level of enquiries from purchasers, surveyors are reporting growing numbers of enquiries from buyers. There has been a certain level of pent up demand as many have waited to see what will happen to prices. With many purchasers now seeing properties changing hands faster for near the asking price they are starting to more act quickly as they fear they could be priced out of the market.
New property developments put the brakes on House price growth
December 20, 2009
The speed of UK house price growth has started to slow, which is a healthy adjustment and it is the traditional season of a slower market. With many property developers starting to come back to the market, will the completion of new property developments next year lead to the increased supply that both agents and buyers long for? Well only time will tell, but it does seem reasonable to assume that after a pretty sharp adjustment 2010 will be the year that some normality returns to the UK residential housing market.
Commercial property ends the year exceeding expectations
December 19, 2009
The commercial property yield for 2009 has exceeded many property investors and developers expectations with a broad average yield for the combined commercial sectors exceeding 3%.
This also means a raft of more bullish forecasts from many property consultants, many are predicting 2010 will see commercial property yields rise above 5% and are becoming more confident with market conditions. The whisper of the bottom of the UK commercial property market may still have some time before it becomes a war cry for investors rushing into the sector, but the whisper has defiantly turned into many audible rumors of serious acquisitions and deals.
Part E of the Building Regulations
December 18, 2009
When you’re involved in building, or refurbishing a property, then you will need to be aware of Part E of the Building Regulations, which were introduced in July 2003. This section covers sound insulation, and sets out to raise the standard of sound insulation, and so reduce the amount of complaints about noise transmission. Noise pollution is covered by Health and Safety, and so is taken very seriously.
10 things you should know….
1. Part e of the UK Building Regulations covers new buildings, refurbishments and extensions.
2. Part E contains section E1-4 which cover different issues.
E1 is protection against sound from sound from other parts of the building, and adjoining buildings.
E2 is protection against sound within a dwelling
E3 is reverberation in common internal parts of the building, such as flats or rooms for residential purposes.
E4 is the acoustic conditions in schools.
3. Pre Completion Testing is carried out before the build is complete to ensure that the building project meets or exceeds the UK Building Regulations Part E. One out of every 10 construction types is tested, and all tests are at the discretion of the Building Inspector. If the building fails the test, then the sound insulation will need to be improved, and then tested again.
4. Robust Detail is an alternative to Pre Completion Testing. If the acoustic flooring, and other sound reduction products used meet the Robust Detail standard, they have already exceeded the standards set by Pre Completion Testing, and so the building does not have to be tested. Robust Detail only applies to new builds.
5. New schools are also subjected to the UK Building Regulations Part E, to ensure that the amount of noise that transfers between classrooms is minimised.
6. Acoustic insulation, and noise reduction needs to be considered at the design stage, and not as an afterthought once the building project has started. Failure to implement proper sound insulation is likely to mean that the building will fail the Pre Completion Test.
7. Flanking noise is where the sound takes the easiest route. If there is sufficient acoustic insulation and the sound can’t go through the wall, then it will go up and over, or around the side. There are various ways to reduce flanking transmission.
8. Airborne sound is the sound created by voices, or music, or traffic.
9. Impact sound is sound created by something touching something else. Footsteps, a door banging, a vibrating washing machine, somebody playing a drum kit, are all examples of impact sound.
10. If you’re not sure how these Building Regulations will affect you, then why not seek professional help?
Cold snap for vendors before the green shoots of spring
December 17, 2009
Recent figures from a major internet property sales portal have revealed December asking price drops of just over 2% with many predicting small reductions in asking prices next month, as vendors adjust their expectations for this traditionally slow time in the UK property market.
Some of the more bullish London agents are predicting London property prices to rise above 5% next year as there is a continued lack of quality stock coming to market.
The number of properties being marketed has risen and as this continued supply hits the market it should act as a brake to slow the current unsustainable levels of house price growth.
House prices rise as property shortage persists
December 15, 2009
House prices are still being driven up by a relative shortage of properties for sale, says the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
Its latest monthly survey, for November, suggests that prices have risen for the fourth month in a row.
The number of surveyors reporting price rises outstripped those reporting falls, with a positive balance of 35%.
Separate government figures showed that UK house prices rose by 2.3% in the three months to October.
Read more….
Article source: BBC News.
Why now is the best time to self build your dream home?
Just because there is a recession and 2009 is proving not be a great one for the housing market it is not all doom and gloom. Like most things you can always find the good or positive in bad or unfortunate situations and today is no different. Did you realise that this is the best time in years to build your own home from scratch. With cheap land and cheap labour and finance for self build available, now is the time to plan and build that dream home you once thought was unattainable.
Grand Designs is proving to be one of the most successful shows on channel four with over 4 millions viewers each week. This means there are millions of us who either just love the show or watch with envy and wish we were building our dream house. Well now is the time to put your dreams into action.
In the past one of the difficulties self builders had was finding land. Any land available would be hard to obtain as the developers in the boom days would be competing for it left right and centre and prices would rocket. But now there is an increasing amount of plots available and even developers are selling off some of their land, some with planning permission in place. According to Liam Bailey who is head of residential research at Knight Frank estate agency land prices are down by 50%. This is why now is a great time to buy land and plan your self build.
While regular mortgages are not so easy to obtain these days, lenders are still keen to finance self builders. Why? Because generally you will end up with up to 35% equity which means up to a 60% mortgage once the build is complete.
Labour is becoming cheaper as most builders are feeling the pinch and have had to reduce prices. The most important part of hiring builders is finding competent companies that have access to all the right trades? people. Finding a building contractor that will take you through the whole build makes the whole project run more smoothly. Plus you want builders and trades people to take pride in their work, the last thing you need is to hire cowboys. So how do you tell a cowboy from a decent builder? Well for one they will be proud of their work and will happily point you in the direction of some of their previous projects. If you?re looking through websites, make sure the site shows their name address and phone number, this means they have nothing to hide. It is very important to see examples of their previous work so check for any testimonials pages which should show pictures of past projects.
So if you want to be the next star on Grand Designs, or maybe just want to design and build your not so grand home, then there is nothing to stop, now is definitely the time to do it. Why not build your dream home and be one of the few who actually make some money in these gloomy times of recession.
Second dip in 2010 for UK house prices
December 13, 2009
How many families are having dinner and discussing putting their properties up for sale after Christmas, well this could be more important for UK house prices than people think. The market is of course driven by many factors but sentiment is always a key factor, and supply and demand is the biggest factor in every market place.
Many professional believe that a lot of vendors have hung back and put off marketing their properties in a falling market. The ?let?s wait and see? vendors are becoming more comfortable with rising house prices and there could be many more properties being listed with agents early next year.
Move over Darling
December 12, 2009
Many economists believe that the recent announcement to end the current stamp duty holiday will have little if any effect on the continuing UK property recovery.
Chancellor Alistair Darling has stuck to his guns and plans to end the current stamp duty holiday which has allowed properties below ?175,000 to be sold without the need to pay stamp duty. The New Year will see properties above ?125,000 returning to the stamp duty tax band. The chancellor believes the stamp duty holiday has helped in the sale of 240,000 properties in the UK.
There are still economists that believe the UK house price is overvalued by up to 10%, with a downward correction a certainty, with a ?when? not an ?if?. Given that 12months ago we were discussing a depression and people were taking about further falls in UK house prices of 40% plus, 2009 has proved the resilience of both the UK house price and the sentiment of the UK public. 2010 may not be a great year for house prices but it certainly will not be the worst we have faced in recent years.
House prices continue to beat economists expectations
December 11, 2009
House prices have risen greatly in November more than double the amount of house price inflation that many economists had expected. The demand for property has far out stripped supply causing the usual inflationary pressures on the house prices.
House prices have seen a large bounce and many now believe we have seen the bottom of the market, but few believe 2010 will be a period of dramatic house price gains. There are an increasingly large number of property professionals that believe 2010 will be the flat bottom of the market with slow and progressive gains starting in earnest in 2011.
