The Market
“Significant” changes to listed building consent afoot
There's some pretty major planning changes on the way in 2014 for anyone with an interest in developing or buying listed buildings.
Global strife drives the London property market
If a junta flaps its warheads in China... What happens to London's house prices?
Long-term annual price growth in Prime Central London stands at 9%
The average property price in prime central London breached £1.5m in 2013, hitting £1,543,102 at the end of November after "robust" but "unremarkable" annual growth of 12.
Big annual rise in tenancies but void periods “creeping in” – W.A.Ellis
PCL agency W.A.Ellis has reported a beefy 50% leap in the number of tenancies it agreed last year (compared to 2012), although rents only increased by 2.8% overall (0.4% less than than in 2012).
Property market confidence hits four-year high
Homeowners are, apparently, even more bullish about house prices than most property "experts", forecasting a 7.
Demanding Times: Ten buyers chasing each property for sale – Countrywide
Demand is outstripping supply by a factor of ten, as an average of 9.7 buyers chased each property for sale in November, according to Countrywide.
That's up from 8.
Developing Market: 10% of Chelsea buyers are developers
International buyers accounted for 56.5% of Chelsea specialist Russell Simpson's sales last year, while nearly three quarters of new tenants were from overseas.
London’s £5m+ market climbs 24%, but under-performs the rest of prime
London's £5m+ market broke all the records for volume and value in 2013, says Savills, but price growth at the top of the top-end was slower than the capital's prime market's average, and per square foot…
Strong finish for D&G as December activity spiked
December kicked right off in Douglas & Gordon's patch, with a 50% increase in the number of properties hitting the market, a 20% jump in new buyer registrations and a 40% hike in the number of offers received.
£1.5bn of Section 106 cash “unspent”
A BBC investigation has claimed that £1.5 billion of Section 106 money remains "unspent" by English councils, with a whopping £421m yet to even be allocated to anything.
Savills launches interactive prime property price map
Savills has launched a new interactive property price map of the UK by pointing out that house prices rose, on average, by 7% in 2013.
NAEA and ARLA to advertise for licensed agents
The National Association of Estate Agents and the Association of Residential Lettings Agents are launching TV advertising campaigns to promote the importance of choosing a licensed sales or lettings agent.