“Right to build” plans to be unveiled Under reforms of the housing industry to be announced this week councils will be forced to make land available for people to build their own homes. Nick Boles, the housing minister, will announce details of the Governments right to build scheme which will form the centrepiece of the Conservatives housing policy. Under the plans, anyone with a local connection, expected to be three years residency, would have the right to go to their town hall and demand the right to buy a plot of land on which to build a home. Councils would have to meet the demand for land as well as supplying water, energy and other services or see empty land they own seized from them by the government. They could also be stripped of Government money handed out under the new homes bonus, which is designed to boost housebuilding. The Sunday Times, Page: 16 Housing policies designed to win votes Andrew Rawnsley writes in the Observer that Ed Milibands proposed reforms for the private rented sector looks like a bid for votes, with 9m people in the country renting. Mr Rawnsley goes on to look at previous housing policies designed to win elections, including Margaret Thatchers Right to Buy policy, and comments that these tactics have left Britain with an acute housing shortage and that Britain, a wealthy and resourceful country with 90% of its land still undeveloped, cannot properly house its people. The Observer, Page: 35 INDUSTRY FPC recommendations must be taking into account The Sunday Times reports that the Bank of England has adopted new tools to cool the housing market, with an intervention now expected as early as next month. On Friday, the Financial Conduct Authority changed its rules so that lenders will have to take the Banks Financial Policy Committees (FPC) recommendations into account when setting their stress tests. Under new rules introduced last weekend, lenders must ensure borrowers could afford a rise in mortgage rates to about 7%. The FPC now has the power to ask lenders to test against higher rates of interest. The Sunday Times, Business, Page: 1-2 Trading up to 4-beds costs £150,000 New research from Savills suggests that the average cost of upgrading from a three-bedroomed to a four-bedroomed house has reached £146,183. In the capital, a four-bedroom house costs £315,756 more than a three-bedroom property, and in the southeast outside London the figure is £176,330. The research, conducted by Savills using data from Rightmove, showed the regions with the lowest increases in price were the northeast and Scotland, where moving up to four bedrooms costs £111,291 and £110,766 respectively. Savills’ Lucian Cook said a scarcity of four-bedroom homes and a clampdown on mortgage lending were driving up prices. The Sunday Times, Page: 16 The Sunday Times, Home, Page: 8-9 PLANNING Green belt must be protected In a letter to the Observer, John Rowley from the CPRE, says that without the green belt, low-density sprawl, such as that found around Croydon, would have happened across much of the country. Mr Rowley says that the Government should take steps to reduce the pressure for development in the green belt, and actively encourage the reuse of brownfield sites. Some small-scale revisions to green belts may be required, but any wholesale weakening of the policy would have a catastrophic effect on the countryside and the nation as a whole, he adds. The Observer, Page: 38 RESIDENTIAL Insurance companies not being told of basement extensions Home-owners are increasingly choosing to dig basement extensions as the cost of moving rises, but the vast majority are failing to arrange the proper insurance, according to brokers. Knight Frank says the basement dig is spreading out of central London and that the number of basements being built in Oxford has doubled over the past two years. Savills expects the trend to expand to other cities, including Cambridge. However, a survey by the broker Insurance Tailors in 2013, revealed that only 5% of people who had carried out structural work, including digging basements, had informed their insurance company. The Sunday Times, Money, Page: 2 Using buying agents The Sunday Telegraphs Caroline McGhie says that as the property market hots up, buyers are increasingly turning to buying agents to do their groundwork. She says you can use the buying arm of big agents such as Savills, Knight Frank or Strutt & Parker, but she recommends using a local who knows the territory blindfolded, commenting that it is all about contacts, rumours and charm. She meets Lisa Dawson, a buying agent for Jackson-Stops & Staff, in East Anglia. The Sunday Telegraph, Life, Page: 2-3 RETAIL Plans for Londons abandoned Tube stations The Telegraphs Anna White reports on plans to turn the network of abandoned Underground stations and old horse tunnels dormant beneath London into retail and leisure attractions. So far 34 sites have been identified, with the first phase involving 13 flagship stations, including Down Street, Leinster Gardens and York Road, which will be converted into art galleries, night clubs and, potentially, a National Fire Brigade museum. According to the business plan, each station would be comprised of three parts, “the underground, above and retail”. York Road would become part of the nearby King’s Cross development, to be converted into apartments and offices. The spaces would be leased by TfL to businesses. The Sunday Telegraph, Business, Page: 6-7 Asda starts search for new premises Asda has instructed property agents to hunt out locations in retail parks, high streets and former petrol stations for 20 new stores within the M25. The stores are part of a five-year expansion strategy that aims to create 12,000 jobs. Sunday Express, Financial, Page: 3 MORTGAGES Advice on navigating the MMR Borrowers are being advised to cancel any non-essential regular payments before applying for a mortgage, as lenders under the mortgage market review (MMR) will scrutinise everything from charity direct debits to voluntary pension contributions. Ray Boulger of John Charcol said some lenders were asking specific questions about regular direct debits and standing orders. These can lower the amount customers are allowed to borrow, he said. He is advising borrowers with charitable direct debits of more than £50 to cancel them temporarily so the payments do not show up in bank statements submitted with applications. Separately, the Independent on Sunday looks at how potential borrowers can best navigate the new rules. Jonathan Harris, director of Anderson Harris, provides commentary. The Sunday Times, Money, Page: 1 The Independent on Sunday, Page: 62-63 Over payers may not be able to access funds The Times reports that homebuyers who have overpaid on their mortgages may no longer be able to access the extra funds in an emergency because this option may be restricted due to affordability rules in the Mortgage Market Review. The Sunday Times, Money, Page: 4 PRIME The foreign money is making us all richer The Sunday Times Eleanor Mills comments that the forces behind last week’s sale of a London flat for £140m are making all of us rich. She says that the influx of money from foreign billionaires is pushing up house prices that are making all homeowners richer. She adds that the stamp duty paid on such property is a boon to the national coffers, and notes that this money should be funnelled into schemes to build more affordable houses to help young people onto the property ladder. The Sunday Times, News Review, Page: 6 Most expensive US house Jana Partners hedge fund manager Barry Rosenstein has paid $145m (£86m) for an 18-acre estate in the Hamptons, making it the most expensive house to be sold in America. The beachfront property on Further Lane in East Hampton, Long Island, belonged to the late Wall Street investor Christopher H Browne. The Sunday Telegraph, Page: 33 INTERNATIONAL Quality of life attracting emigrants The Sunday Telegraphs Nicole Blackmore reports that Britons are abandoning their place in the Spanish sun for countries with better work opportunities and more stable house prices, with the Middle East being one of several areas attracting a growing number of emigrants. NatWest’s latest International Personal Banking Quality of Life Report shows Dubai is now number three in the table of nations offering the best quality of life for British expats, behind Australia and Canada. It has risen from the 10th spot in 2010. By contrast Spain fell from seventh to ninth place over the same period, and in 2013 almost 90,000 British expats left Spain, mostly to return home. The Sunday Telegraph (Web) Property markets of France and Spain explored The Mail on Sunday looks at the property market in France and says that while UK prices have grown by nearly 11% over the past year, the market in France has hit rock-bottom, with house prices plunging in since 2008. The paper suggests a chateau can be bought for the price of a humble Home Counties semi. Elsewhere, the Sunday Telegraphs Catalina Stogdon reports on the Spanish property market. One Spanish property agent says that things will not get any worse and that good properties in established towns or unspoilt coastal areas are moving quickly, but huge high-rises in over-developed regions will take years to shift. The Mail on Sunday, Page: 26-27 The Sunday Telegraph, Life, Page: 5 OTHER Streets or garages? A row of 10 terraced houses in Yorkshire are on the market for £360,000, less than two-thirds of the price of a dilapidated garage on a London industrial estate which sold last month for £550,000. Miles Shipside from Rightmove said: “Whats ridiculous is the shortage of housing supply in London, which means people are potentially paying this sort of money to create a home because there is such a shortage of more traditional residential properties.” The Sunday Times, Page: 20
Posted on: Sun, 04 May 2014 06:23:08 +0000
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