Mortgage lending slumped to a 10 year low as the stamp duty holiday ended
Figures released last week show that mortgage lending slumped to a 10 year low during January following the end of Labour’s stamp duty “holiday”.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) www.cml.org.uk total mortgage advances were down 32% to £9.1 billion during January, the lowest level since February 2000.  To see the rest of this article click here
Whilst the annual shift in house prices for the 12 month period across the whole of England and Wales rose to 2.5% over the whole spectrum of residential property, according to the Land Registry, the numbers of transactions in the lower end (sub £175,000) of the market rose approximately 8% above normal.  For the rest of this article, click here
More evidence of the recovery in the UK property and housing market has been released from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).  HMRC has reported that completed residential property sales have hit a two year high in December. (To read more click here).
Officially after 6 quarters of negative growth, the UK economy is now formally no longer in recession according to the Office of National Statistics.Â
As per our Outlook for 2010 Article, we are as predicted no longer in recession but the rate of growth is literally as small as it could be having been measured at 0.1% of Gross Domestic Product compared with the previous quarter.
Whilst the outlook is more positive we have to take note that their is some artificial stimulus in the system with lower vat rates in the quarter, subsidised car scrappage schemes and £198,568 mn having been pumped into the economy via Quantative Easing supervised by the Bank of England.Â
For the property market as a whole enquiries and the number of transactions are up week on week over the last few weeks but this may have been partly as a result of the colder weather preventing activity for a period after New Year making the January’s workload compressed into three weeks.
Editor 26th January, 2010
Did you realise that almost 20,000 council workers now have the right to enter your home without a warrant or police escort?Â
Research has disclosed that the average local authority now has 47 employees who are authorised to enter your private home without a warrant and in some councils there are hundreds of these inspectors.Â
Believe it or not, in some instances it is possible to enter your home to clarify the the energy rating on your fridge and to measure your garden hedges. To read the full article, click here.
Welcome to the www.propertysurveying.co.uk property newsletter.
This free monthly e mail newsletter reports on a variety of factors that affect the property market.
All articles are from the perspective of our members and are written or edited by Independent Chartered Surveyors of the network.
Many more articles are available and are being added every month in the Property Surveying Article Archive.
The End of the Recession is Nigh!
The economic forecasting group Ernst and Young Item Club has reported today that not only are we officially out of recession, but that the next decade is likely to see a period of slow growth which will see a period of adjustment. They report that there will be a greater reliance on the world economy, with especial regard to the rate of growth in the Export sector as the worlds economy expands levels of trade by an estimated 23% over the next three years. To read more click here.
The UK Property Market Outlook 2010
Historically, the stockmarket has always shown a good spurt of growth between 6 months and 24 months before the majority of the UK economy and the Housing Market moves forward once again.  The financial markets have been moving generally upwards since January 2009. To read more click here.
The Marine and Coastal Access Act, 2009
The Marine and Coastal Access Act places a duty on the Secretary of State to make, where such access does not already exist, a continuous route open to the public next to the coast all the way around the coast of England and Wales. This could have big implications on a few properties next to our coast. To read the full article, click here.
Hips to be Scrapped ?
The housing spokesman for the Conservative Party, Grant Shapps, has said that they would scrap the Home Information Packs (HIPs) “in a matter of weeks” after coming to power.  He has said that it would be his first job should the Conservative party win the next general election. To read the full article, click here.
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The economic forecasting group Ernst and Young Item Club has reported today that not only are we officially out of recession, but that the next decade is likely to see a period of slow growth which will see a period of adjustment. They report that there will be a greater reliance on the world economy, with especial regard to the rate of growth in the Export sector as the worlds economy expands levels of trade by an estimated 23% over the next three years.
The pound not being prevented from adjusting, as is an economy tied into the eurozone, will undoubtedly assist the prospect of exports by helping to make our exchange rate more internationally competitive.
Official figures to be published on January 26 are widely expected to show that Britain finally emerged from recession in the final three months of 2009, the last major economy to do so.
The outlook however is for possibly only GDP growth of 1% in 2010, with 2.5% in 2011 and 3% in 2012.
The report also casts aspursions on the budgetary figures provided by the Chancellor.
To read the full report click here .
The ITEM club or Independent Treasury Economic Model is an economic forecasting group based in the United Kingdom. It produces quarterly forecasts, which are often mentioned in the UK news media. It was founded in 1977 and is sponsored by Ernst & Young a leading firm of business and financial advisers. Founded in 1977, ITEM is said to be independent of any political, academic or commercial bias. Its independence is underpinned by the untied sponsorship of Ernst & Young.
To read more articles on News Items click here .
Editor 18th January, 2010
Market conditions in both the UK and North America during 2009 were better than
those experienced during 2008, although they still remained challenging reports large scale developers, Taylor Wimpey Plc. in their Trading Statement released today.
They report that their UK business has maintained its encouraging performance since their Interim Management Statement in November and that they enter 2010 with a “very strong order book position”.
Taylor Wimpey are active in the land market and approved new land purchase commitments for
3,003 plots at 22 new sites during the second half of 2009.
The numbers of properties being completed and released to the market was down on 2008 but this is unsurprising due to the timelag between the strategic decision making process, and a site being built out or completed following development.
Sale prices of new homes has increased on average from £153,000 to £160,000, the company reports. The overall debt within the group was reduced by greater than 50 % to £750 million in line with expectations to the year end 31st December, 2009.
Taylor Wimpey plc builds homes in the UK, North America, Spain and Gibraltar.
Editor 18th January, 2010
Barratt Developments chief executive has stated that the off plan purchasing of new properties is again on the rise. This is most predominant in London and the South East.
Barratt Developments, Britains biggest New Home developer issued a formal “Trading update”. It noted that the company ghas been buying land again since mid 2009 and that the number of reservations of new homes was up as well as an average increase in achieved prices of 4%. (This can of course be partly due to a change in the mix of units that has come on line.)
It will be interesting if this activity is reflected in the announcements of Britains other major house builders over the coming weeks.
To connect to a Local Chartered Surveyor for advice on a new or older build property, click here.
15th January, 2010
Historically, the stockmarket has always shown a good spurt of growth between 6 months and 24 months before the majority of the UK economy and the Housing Market moves forward once again.  The financial markets have been moving generally upwards since January 2009. To read more click here.
