Property News Update

Heres the latest round up of property news:

The average age of the UK house buyer has dropped to 36 in April 2014 according to the Mortgage Advice Bureau. The average age of the London homebuyer is higher at 38 and this reflects the considerably higher price of housing in the Capital.

According to a report from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) the high cost of living in the Capital is affecting competitiveness amongst City businesses. Soaring house price increases have outstripped wage increases making living in London unaffordable for many. And things are set to get worse as London’s population is expected to grow by the equivalent of the entire population of Birmingham in the next ten years. The report from LCCI concludes that rent costs and house prices are all pushed up because of a lack of supply so it is essential that more developers are attracted into the market.

Home buying continues to grow much faster than home building. A new raft of data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed home prices soaring at a far higher pace than house building. Mortgage lending jumped by 17.4 per cent in the year to March. While home buying is taking off, growth in construction remains far slower. The limited supply of houses is of course pushing up prices in an increasing number of areas including London. Rents have continued to rise at below the pace of inflation. Rents have risen by 12.9 per cent since the start of 2010, below the 14.5 per cent increase in prices over the same period.

Before the crash 170,000 houses were being built each year. In the 12 months to March this year 112,630 houses were built. The Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said that we need another 120,000 built each year. There is some cause for hope as building started on 133,650 homes in the year to March, up 31 per cent on the year before.

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