Like every month, Rentila offers you an overview of the main real estate news of interest to landlords and tenants. This month, we focus on: Squeeze on home buyers’ budgets set to continue into 2024; Housing transactions down 22% year-on-year; Bank of England official hints at interest rate shift as UK faces recession; Sales of 30-year plus mortgages increase 13% in past year; 4 Property investment strategies in 2024; Landlords fear rising costs and rent arrears in 2024; 9 expert predictions on UK house prices, mortgages and renting… Happy reading and… renting!
ONS Records 2.1% Drop In Year To November – Steepest Fall Since 2011
Regionally, the North East of England saw the smallest falls (a drop of 0.4%), taking its average price to £160,000, the lowest average price of all English regions, while London saw the largest 12-month fall – down 6%.
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Will house prices rise or fall in 2024? All the forecasts – and whether you should trust them
Higher mortgage rates and double-digit inflation had many speculating at the start of the year that the housing market was in for an almighty crash. However, no crash has materialised.
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Squeeze on home buyers’ budgets set to continue into 2024
Home buyers’ squeezed budgets will continue to cast a shadow on property purchases in 2024, but some experts predict the market will have “bottomed out” by the summer.
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Housing transactions down 22% year-on-year
The latest UK monthly property transactions found the number of non-seasonally adjusted transactions reached 87,640 in November of this year, 22 per cent less than November 2022.
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Buy-to-Let landlords express confidence in the market in 2024
This is thanks to a solid final quarter of 2023, in which the Halifax and Nationwide House Price Indices revealed monthly property price rises in October and November. In addition, inflation fell further than expected, prompting lenders to lower their mortgage rates and encouraging buyers to take a chance on the market.
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Property industry delivers verdict on new UK house price data
Across all the UK regions, Northern Ireland recorded the strongest house price growth in 2023, with properties increasing by 4.1% to £192,153. Scotland saw property prices rise by 2.6% to £205,170.
At the other end of the scale, the South East fell most sharply, with houses there now averaging £376,804, down by £17,755 (-4.5%).
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Hottest rental markets for tenant demand revealed
The figures for the final quarter of 2023 show that across England, 30% of all rental properties had already been snapped up by tenants. However, as the market started to wind down for the Christmas break, this did represent a reduction in demand to the tune of -9% versus the previous quarter and -4% annually.
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House buying demand shows signs of bounce back
There were signs that the pace of house price falls was slowing but the largest declines were up to 4% and concentrated in southern England, where the most demand was during the height of the pandemic.
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UK rental market to remain strong despite supply recovery
The UK rental market is expected to see solid growth in 2024, despite a gradual recovery in supply.
Landlords had exited the sector in recent years due to higher taxes and regulations, which had driven up rents.
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Bank of England official hints at interest rate shift as UK faces recession
Official figures showed Britain is on the brink of recession, cementing bets that the Bank will start cutting interest rates in May.
The economy shrank by 0.1pc between July and September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which had previously recorded zero growth for the period.
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Will 2024 be the end of the short-term mortgage?
Since the 40-year-term mortgage became mainstream in 2021 following Habito’s launch of the first 40-year-fixed rate mortgage, the demand for long-term mortgages has skyrocketed and dragged the majority of searches away from shorter terms.
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Almost 150,000 landlords facing ‘significant’ jump in mortgage costs in 2024
Almost 150,000 buy-to-let landlords will see their monthly mortgage payments jump by hundreds of pounds in 2024 as long-term fixed deals come to an end.
144,000 landlords will come to the end of five-year fixed deals in 2024 and face remortgaging at starkly higher rates.
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UK house buying activity drops almost a third in a year as interest rates bite
This year’s fall in first-time buyer numbers also follows the 20-year high of more than 400,000 in 2021, which was fuelled by government initiatives including stamp duty incentives, changing working habits and low borrowing costs post-pandemic.
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How far will UK mortgage rates fall?
Mortgage rates have eased in recent weeks as lenders rush to reprice deals following positive data about the UK economy, an uptick in house sales and growing expectations that interest rates have peaked.
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Sales of 30-year plus mortgages increase 13% in past year
Higher interest rates force borrowers into longer mortgages to reduce monthly payments.
But borrowers risk paying far more interest over the long term.
The number of mortgages that last more than 30-years that have been sold to UK borrowers has jumped 13% in the year to September 30th, from 459,296 in 2021/22 to 520,779 in 2022/23.
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Bidding wars, huge rent spikes and eviction threats: Inside London’s growing rental crisis
Bidding wars, eviction threats and shock price hikes are now the bleak reality of renting a home, tenants warn.
At the epicentre of the crisis is the capital where there are 25 people for every available dwelling…
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Landlords and tenants warned over fake energy efficiency schemes
The alert comes after the UK Government launched several grants to help households install energy efficiency measures, such as insulation, heating and renewable energy.
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Landlords face challenge to get rents right in 2024
In the final months of 2023, the number of rental properties seeing a reduction in asking rent during marketing ticked up, with 23% of properties now seeing a reduction in advertised rent, compared to 16% this time last year…
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Flatshare rents begin to fall as market stabilises
Flatsharing Londoners have seen their rents drop for the second month in a row, after reaching an all-time high in October.
Data shows that the average monthly room rent in the capital was £1,030 in October, the highest ever recorded.
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More tenants looked to move to areas with lower rents in 2023
A new report reveals that one of the main trends in the private rented sector (PRS) last year was the shift of renters from urban to rural areas, as they sought more affordable and spacious homes.
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Rental prices fall in all regions across the UK with the exception of one
Monthly rental prices in the UK are down by -0.9% in the UK in general, and as much as 2.2% in Greater London, saving tenants around £50 per calendar month (pcm) in rent, according to the data provided by HomeLet.
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Rent rises set a record in 2023 amid landlord costs and housing shortage
Renters in the UK paid an extra £1,488 per year on average in 2023 as rent prices soared by a record high of 10.2% year-on-year in December.
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ScotGov rent rise curbs blamed for ‘forcing’ landlords out
Scotland has become the only part of Great Britain where sales of properties by landlords has gone up, amid claims that government rent curbs are forcing them out.
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Property demand is returning to the housing market – is now the time to buy?
High mortgage rates and the cost of living crisis have deterred many buyers from purchasing property throughout 2023 but there are signs of a turnaround as the new year approaches.
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4 Property investment strategies in 2024
It is no secret that the market has endured a subdued period following months of high inflation and rising interest rates.
However, inflation fell during the latter months of 2023, and mortgage rates became more affordable.
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Is Off-Plan property a good idea in 2024?
In recent years, the UK rental market has been characterised by a chronic supply-demand imbalance. This unmet tenant demand has kept property development attractive for investors, and new-build properties are on the rise.
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Rental growth slowed in 2023 – is buy-to-let still profitable?
Rental growth slowed last year as the cost of living crisis limited how much landlords could charge tenants to boost their buy-to-let portfolios.
The latest HomeLet Rental Index for December shows average rents were up 8% annually during 2023, below the 10.8% recorded in 2022.
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Location, flexibility and direct landlord relationships key to tenant satisfaction
Three quarters (76%) of the 2,500 past, present and future renters surveyed say their current rental tenure suits them. More than half (54%) live in their preferred area, and 74% say they are satisfied with the level of security.
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How hard is it to get on the property ladder?
NatWest’s chairman claimed that jumping on the property ladder is not that difficult, even as data shows that it takes around 10 years to save for a deposit amid rising house prices.
Howard Davies said people “have to save and that is the way it always used to be” if they want to buy their first home.
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Landlords urged to undertake regular inspections as tenants break rules
A survey has revealed that 83% of landlords in the UK have experienced breaches of their tenancy agreements by their tenants.
According to the survey, the most frequent breaches are related to the cleanliness and maintenance of the property.
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Landlords fear rising costs and rent arrears in 2024
The top worries for landlords in 2024 have been revealed in a survey which found that rising mortgage payments and interest rates are the number one concern.
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Almost 60% of landlords in the UK have seen an increase in late payments amidst the cost of living crisis
Late rent payments are only the tip of the iceberg too. Over half (56%) of landlords have had tenants move out as they could no longer afford the rent. Meanwhile, a further 55% have also found themselves reducing the price of rent to support tenants during this time.
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9 expert predictions on UK house prices, mortgages and renting
Whether you’re a tenant, landlord or homeowner, 2023 was a turbulent year across the board, with rising rents and mortgages coupled with falling house prices.
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