If you’ve wondered what has been stealing the news about the property market – for both homeowners and landlords – in recent days, here is our selection of some of the leading stories.
Landlords urged to be on guard against cannabis farms
Hampshire police have warned landlords to be on the lookout for criminals who set up cannabis farms in let property, according to a story in Landlord Today on the 30th of September.
The alert follows swoops on two different addresses – in the Portsmouth and Southsea areas of the county – where thousands of cannabis plants were seized and destroyed. Individuals involved in renting the properties are currently helping police with their enquiries.
Hampshire police have asked landlords and neighbours to report suspicious activity in and around let property – especially if the tell-tale odour of cannabis has also been detected. If you are concerned whether your let property is at risk of such illegal activity, you might want to re-read our comprehensive Guide to landlords and cannabis farms.
Housing market continues recovery says Nationwide
After the slowdown and setbacks of the first half of the year, the House Price Index compiled by the Nationwide building society showed a resurgent and buoyant housing market to close the third quarter of the year.
The Index shows that activity in the housing market has “recovered strongly” says Nationwide, with a further 0.9% increase in average house prices in the UK during September, after an even more impressive increase of 2% in August.
This meant that the annual increase in house prices to the end of August was 3.7%. While, by the end of September, that annual increase had risen to 5% – its highest since September four years ago.
Accompanying the resurgence in house prices, mortgage approvals have also risen steadily. Where approvals stood at around 66,000 in July, they shot up to 85,000 in August – the highest number of monthly approvals in 13 years – and significantly higher than the usual monthly average of 66,000 throughout 2019.
Million-pound homes outperform the rest of the market
The recent release of pent-up demand has fuelled an increase in house sales across the market. None have been selling more successfully, however, than homes valued at £1 million or more, according to analysis published by Property Wire on the 29th of September.
In terms of the number of transactions agreed and the time spent advertising a house for sale, million-pound homes are outperforming all other categories.
From Norfolk to Wiltshire, and from Cornwall to favoured London boroughs, wealthier buyers are eager to snap up properties with more space and bigger gardens. As a result, multi-million pound homes are currently selling a whole 18 days more quickly than they did at the same time in 2019 – the fastest they have sold in six years.
Landlords in major UK cities see rental demand climb 13%
It is not only the homebuyers’ market seeing especially strong activity, according to a story by Property Reporter on the 30th of September. Buy to let landlords have also reported a 13% increase in demand for private rented accommodation.
The third-quarter surge in demand for rental accommodation has been most marked in Belfast, followed closely by Glasgow, Bournemouth, and Bristol. Some cities outside of London, however, have seen noticeably lower increases in demand from prospective tenants – namely, Aberdeen, Leeds, and Leicester.
In the capital, the average increase in demand since the second quarter of the year has been 10% – but for some notably stronger-performing boroughs and districts on the outskirts. Thus, Kingston saw an increase in demand of 18%, Richmond 15%, and Havering, Islington, Hillingdon, and Barking and Dagenham all registering increased demand of 13%.
