The UK housing market is off to a strong start in 2022 with prices rising at the fastest rates since 2005. House prices are 11.2% higher than this time last year, now setting you back an average £255,556. The average house price in the UK cost £216,000 this time last year. Robert Gardner, the chief economist at Nationwide, commented: “Housing demand has remained robust.” “Mortgage approvals for house purchase have continued to run slightly above prepandemic levels, despite the surge in activity in 2021 as a result of the stamp duty holiday, which encouraged buyers to bring forward their transa ..read more

New research has found that investors are driving up house prices in European cities. Institutional investors are buying up property at rapid rates and currently own about €150bn worth of housing in Europe. Blackstone owns around $230bn in real estate posted record profits in October 2021, A spokesperson for the group said: “The significant undersupply of housing across the globe is the cause of rental rate increases. “Blackstone owns a tiny fraction of the tens of millions of rental properties in Europe. Given our ownership levels, we have no ability to impact broader rent trends and anyone s ..read more

New figures have found that the average property price in the UK jumped 10% in the year to November 2021. In November, the average home cost £271,000, which is £25,000 higher than the same period a year previously. The November house price was up from 9.8% in October. “The performance has been remarkable despite the seismic impact of the pandemic, which though highly disruptive, has actually sparked even higher demand across the property market,” said Jamie Johnson, CEO of FJP Investment. “The picture might look a little different in 2022. Homebuyers’ ‘race for space’, combined with the s ..read more

Asking prices for homes in the UK have increased at the fastest rate in 20 years. Rightmove has shared data that found sellers are overpricing their homes by as much as 21%. Managing Director of HBB Solutions, Chris Hodgkinson, said: “British homebuyers have swamped the market and those looking to sell are benefiting from some record levels of house price growth in current conditions,” “Despite this, we’re still seeing quite a notable gap between the price a home is listed at and the price that buyers are ultimately willing to pay,” “This is a pretty normal occurrence in any market and sellers ..read more

Morgan Sindall has posted a record set of results as pre-tax profits doubled in the past year. The construction group’s dividend increased from 21p to 92p. Revenues also increased by 6% to £3.2bn. Chief executive John Morgan said: “2021 has been an excellent year for the group with progress across the board. Our record results reflect the high quality of our operations and the huge talent and commitment of our people,” “We continue to make strong positive progress in our chosen markets, with the size and quality of our secured workload increasing in the year. This leaves us well-posi ..read more

The average rent in the UK is approaching £1,000. The rate at which rents are rising is at a 13-year high and the soaring demand is pushing up prices. The average cost of renting a home in the UK is £1,000 and according to Zoopla, rents account for an average of 37% of a single earner’s pay before tax. Average rent is £969, which is £62 higher than at the start of the pandemic. Gráinne Gilmore, head of research at Zoopla, said: “The January peak in rental demand will start to ease in the coming months, putting less severe pressure on supply, which will lead to more local market competition, an ..read more

House prices in the UK are continuing to rise according to the Office for National Statistics. The average cost of a home now costs £274,712, which increase by 0.8% over November and December 2021. Over the whole year, prices increased by 10.8%. Whilst there has been a housing boom and prices have soared since the pandemic, experts expect the price growth to slow down over the next year. Michael Bruce, CEO and founder of Boomin, said: “While the scales of supply and demand remain firmly tipped in favour of the nation’s home sellers, there’s a good chance that the high rate of house price growt ..read more

New data from Benham and Reeves has found that Londoners spend 72% of their monthly household income on renting and other essential items including food and travel. Essential outgoings set the average person back £1,138 per month in the UK and a further £808 per month in rent – leading to a total of £1,946 each month, which is 63% of an income. This number jumps to £3,919 in London, which is 72% monthly expenditure as a percentage of household income. Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, commented: “Although we saw rents drop across many areas of the UK during the pandemic, they ..read more

New research has found that private rents in the UK are rising at record rates. Rightmove has found that rents outside of London are 9.9% higher than a year ago. Rents in London are also rising at record rates as people are returning to the workplace. In London the average rent per month is £2,142 whilst outside of London it is £1,068. “The imbalance between high tenant demand and low rental stock is supporting asking rent rises, and has led to competition between tenants for the rental properties available nearly doubling compared to the same period last year,” said a spokesperson from Rightm ..read more

If they continue to work at their current pace, it will take the government 400 years to resolve the unsafe cladding issue. Since July 2020, 12 buildings have been completed. In total, 3,191 buildings have unsafe cladding. Property developer StripeHomes has found that it will take 397 years to complete all of the buildings. “The chances are they will be waiting a while as in the 18 months since the building safety fund was announced, the government’s efforts have been woeful and so the further pledge of £4bn announced last week will bring little reassurance,” said managing director, James Forr ..read more