Residential Investor
Our experts on residential property investment and development share their thoughts on what’s happening in the sector
Latest Article
8th April 2024
From obscure 12th century statutes to amusing judicial wigs, there’s much to admire in the gradual development of Britain’s legal order. However, the outdated leasehold system which plagues more than 5m homes in England and Wales is an altogether less charming anachronism.
To cut a long story short, leasehold is effectively a form of quasi-ownership, in which a tenant buys a home for a set period of time, while a landlord – the freeholder – retains the legal rights to the... Read More >
Recent Articles:
11th December 2023
If you own a flat with a short lease, whatever it is worth now it will jump up in value if you ever extend the lease. On paper at least, you should make a profit.
If your lease has fewer than 80 years remaining at the point you extend it, you Read More >
11th December 2023
The Leasehold and Freehold Bill is the most significant reform of the leasehold system for a generation, and many - including me - hope that this assault on all its outrageous income streams are its death knell. Other jurisdictions have versions Read More >
20th November 2023
Auckland Council recently voted to decrease the amount of city fringe land available for development, citing flood risks and infrastructure costs.
Meanwhile in Christchurch, plans for an 850-home development north of the city have Read More >
20th November 2023
The Real Estate market has been on a tumultuous journey over recent decades. The 2007–2008 financial crisis left an indelible mark on the sector, causing property values to plummet and lending conditions to tighten. However, the market has Read More >
13th November 2023
Proposed Leasehold & Freehold Bill Valuation proposals - a viewpoint.
Whenever a Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers the annual budget, it is often best to avoid the excitement of the day and look at the detail the following morning when Read More >
13th November 2023
There is a saying about economists – that if you put ten of them in a room, you will get 11 opinions. Consensus amongst economists is reserved only for the most obvious, well-evidenced truisms. Yet, in a survey of 41 American Read More >
13th November 2023
The UK government is proposing to further relax planning rules as part of its long-term plan for housing. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities aims to extend what are known as “permitted development rights” (PDR) in Read More >
9th July 2023
It happened again. We were sucked into another pay-for-vacations-forever presentation. The first time we were enticed by a free helicopter ride if we agreed to a “90-minute” presentation. This time we were offered a 3-night stay at a hotel Read More >
3rd July 2023
UK house price growth is slowing. While prices rose 1.2% in June compared to last year, this is down on May’s 1.9% growth, according to property website Zoopla. Its house price index – which forecasts a 5% fall in house prices this year Read More >
30th June 2023
To many people, the image of a nuclear family in a stand-alone house with a green lawn and white picket fence still represents a fulfillment of the American dream.
However, this ideal is relatively new within a broader history of housing and Read More >
19th June 2023
I was dismayed when the Spring Budget was announced to realise that it made almost no mention of housing. Besides a few pounds spent on a couple of homes for veterans and some funding of questionable significance to support clearer routes for Read More >
11th June 2023
Anyone trying to follow the latest political debate over housing, urban intensification and development can be forgiven for feeling confused.
The National Party’s newly announced housing policy would allow local councils to opt out of Read More >
5th June 2023
Immigration statistics published by the ONS in May show that, when it comes to housing, we’re stuck running up the down escalator – one that is getting faster and faster.
Net migration soared to a record 606,000 in 2022. That Read More >
31st May 2023
Despite what the headlines might sometimes suggest, the housing crisis is not one, uniform problem faced by the whole nation, but rather a series of local and very different crises. The ratio between average house prices and average yearly Read More >
22nd May 2023
A little more than a year ago I wrote a piece in this space called “All Housing is Affordable Housing.” The claim was that the essential step toward reducing the housing shortage was to make it legal to build new affordable housing. I did an Read More >
22nd May 2023
The UK government has tabled the long awaited renter’s reform bill, the first step to change in England’s troubled private rented sector. The bill’s headline reform is to end “no fault” evictions, something Theresa May announced Read More >
22nd May 2023
Pretty much every renter in Britain has a horrible landlord story. Whether it’s a mouldy bathroom, exaggerated damage costs after a tenancy, delayed repairs, surprise rent increases or shock evictions, there is no shortage of horror stories. Read More >
15th May 2023
Oftentimes, NIMBYs are heralded as the archenemy of housing reform and the primary cause of the housing crisis. This, however, clouds discussion about other serious obstacles on the road to housing reform; not least the gargantuan land prices, Read More >
9th May 2023
...and how to stop them stealing your chips.
On a summer’s day at the beach, the sound of seagulls is part of the ambience. But what about when they’re in the middle of a city, or when they’ve just taken your lunch? Not a lot of Read More >
9th May 2023
Write anything about housing and you’ll usually be hit with a classic non-gotcha: "What about empty homes?" What about those supposed millions of properties that lie unused? Surely all we need is to allocate those homes and our housing woes Read More >
9th May 2023
Housing has been one of the most essential services consumed by human beings and real estate has been a key store of wealth. Houses are a large proportion of household wealth, serve as a key collateral for bank lending and play a central role Read More >
9th May 2023
When 28-year-old artist Harrison Marshall moved back to London after a spell abroad, he couldn’t find anywhere to live within his price bracket. So in March 2023 he moved into a converted skip. He had parked the yellow container on a Read More >
3rd May 2023
One of the founding fathers of liberalism, Locke, in his Treatise of Government, writes that what renders the appropriation of property just is that one does not worsen the situation of others by doing so. He uses the example of water; it is not Read More >
26th April 2023
Prof. Dr. Tobias Just (FRICS) and Dr. Marian Dietzel
Given the current demand for housing, the number of residential completions in Germany is too low: Since the last census in 2011, the number of inhabitants in Germany has risen by around Read More >
26th April 2023
I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who thought house prices were cheap.
For example, a 30-year-old first-time buyer will need a 5% deposit at the very least.
The average UK house price (according to Nationwide) reached Read More >
17th April 2023
If you believe getting more homes built in the right places is the most important issue facing the country, this has been a pretty dispiriting few months.
First the Government agreed to significantly weaken the planning system in Read More >
17th April 2023
Earlier this month, RentCafe reported their analysis of IPUMS data indicating Millennials’ landmark transition from majority renters to majority homeowners in the United States in 2022. According to RentCafe’s commentary, the average Read More >
6th April 2023
There is a homelessness crisis in Ireland. More than 11,000 people including 3,500 children were living in emergency homeless accommodation at the end of 2022 – a 300% increase since 2014. And these figures do not even capture the Read More >
14th March 2023
Welcome to the UK, where affordable housing can often feel like an oxymoron. The average national house price is £294,000, but someone earning the average annual salary of £33,000 can expect to borrow no more than £140,000, Read More >
14th February 2023
In the UK, legal cases resolving alleged neighbour nuisances are ten-a-penny. Some – about overhanging trees or leylandii hedges that block out the sun – reach the local press. Few, however, have ever taken up the column inches devoted Read More >
30th November 2022
Originally published October 2022.
An engaged response to a passing Tweet, ‘Why do we fetishise plain old buildings?’
As someone who has built a business sourcing, acquiring, and adapting a variety of building types over the years, Read More >
30th November 2022
Sales of existing homes sank another 5.9% in October to a 4.43 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. That is the ninth consecutive monthly decline, leaving the selling pace at the lowest level since May 2020, the low of the lockdown Read More >
29th November 2022
Originally published October 2022.
After nine years of enticing first time buyers (FTBs) into – and consequently inflating the prices of – new build, help-to-buy (HTB) is finally coming to an end. Over in the wider mortgage market, recent Read More >
29th November 2022
Originally published October 2022.
In the United States, zoning laws are overwhelmingly local concerns, though heavily influenced by federal pressures, like lending and highway construction. So it’s somewhat novel that the California Read More >
5th October 2022
The rise of remote property investment is one of the more notable by-products of the altered post-pandemic housing market. While this trend has the potential to radically adjust how the UK property market functions on an enduring basis, it is Read More >
5th October 2022
Why a fall isn’t certain and wouldn’t help first-time buyers much anyway.
The UK remains a nation of homeowners, with two-thirds of all dwellings belonging to the people who live in them. But as interest rates swiftly rise, there are Read More >
1st September 2022
Why the housing market is collapsing – and the risks to the wider economy.
China has been trimming interest rates recently – in contrast to other major economies – as it tries to stem the economic effects of its zero-COVID Read More >
24th August 2022
Especially in a desert.
The rally in Dubai luxury villas has been as swift as it has been spectacular since the autumn of 2020, with anecdotal evidence of 50 to 70% cumulative price rises. Constructed villas were a mere 20% of the Dubai Read More >
8th August 2022
It’s going to be easier to get on the property ladder following a recent decision by the Bank of England to relax some of the criteria for getting a mortgage. Combined with expectations of a slowdown in the property market, this news will Read More >
3rd August 2022
Originally published March 2022.
UK house prices have been in a bubble for almost 20 years, which makes it one of the longest-running bubbles in history.
This is very interesting, because bubbles almost never last this long. Read More >
2nd August 2022
Originally published January 2022.
It’s time to widen the net.
Social changes accelerated by Covid-19 are shaking the property investor community to its core as risks increase from investing in traditional ways. This is important to us Read More >
1st August 2022
Originally published April 2022.
Long-held assumptions about rising house prices are being shattered by the affordability crisis.
When Nigel Lawson described the NHS as “the closest thing the English people have to a religion”, his Read More >
20th July 2022
UK borrowers may see the return of larger, longer-term loans as the government plans a comprehensive review of the mortgage market with the aim of boosting access to finance for first-time buyers. Rather than addressing the real problems Read More >
12th July 2022
In late June 2021, North America’s most severe heat wave in history hit British Columbia and the U.S. Pacific Northwest. In many areas, temperatures soared above 40 C, 15 C hotter than the normal average high. Although other places in Read More >
7th July 2022
Originally published May 2021.
Institutional investors in Europe face a housing supply problem – but America has already found the solutions
Despite the trauma of the 2008 global financial crisis, real estate has experienced Read More >
7th July 2022
Last week (June 21), in its biannual circus, New York City housing regulators once again decided how much landlords will be able to raise rents. Despite inflation raging at a 40-year high of 8.6%, they decided on an increase of 3.25%. In Read More >
6th July 2022
Originally published October 2021.
Since Epcot’s inception, millions of tourists have descended upon the theme park famous for its Spaceship Earth geodesic sphere and its celebration of international cultures.
But the version of Read More >
5th July 2022
Originally published March 2022.
Write anything about housing and you’ll usually be hit with a classic non-gotcha: "What about empty homes?". What about those supposed millions of properties that lie unused? Surely all we need is to Read More >
11th May 2022
How the Thames made an extraordinary recovery over 60 years.
It might surprise you to know that the River Thames is considered one of the world’s cleanest rivers running through a city. What’s even more surprising is that it reached that Read More >
25th April 2022
The average house price in Great Britain has risen above £350,000 for the first time, according to property website Rightmove. From 2021 to 2022, house prices in all regions and countries, except London and Scotland, rose by 10% and are now Read More >
28th February 2022
A plan to get houses built and please the public
Britain needs more homes. This is such a commonplace that I have doubtless started articles with that four-word sentence before. But although this has been widely accepted as a commonplace for Read More >
22nd February 2022
But mortgage rates also continued to rise.
Total housing starts fell to a 1.638m annual rate in January from a 1.708m pace in December, a 4.1% decrease. From a year ago, total starts are up 0.8%. However, total housing permits were very Read More >
10th February 2022
New tech can speed up Europe’s single-family rental sector.
As we end the last quarter of 2021, a second volatile year due to the pandemic, institutional investment in Europe’s residential sector is on the rise as landlords look Read More >
11th January 2022
Originally published November 2021.
It’s not often that I agree with Donald Trump, but on one thing he is surely right; the UK's new American Embassy in Nine Elms was a “lousy deal”. From Grosvenor Square to Nine Elms was quite a Read More >
8th December 2021
Our recent study, which is published by Energy Policy, shows that an improvement in air quality, an environmental amenity, will not only enhance the health and wellbeing of residents, but also offer some economic benefits to local housing Read More >
11th November 2021
Sales of new single-family homes posted a strong gain in September, increasing 14.0% to 800,000 at a seasonally adjusted annual rate from a 702,000 pace in August. Despite the gain, sales are down 17.6% from the year-ago level and are 19.4% Read More >
27th October 2021
Sales of existing homes jumped 7.0% in September, to a 6.29 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. Sales are still down 2.3% from a year ago. Sales in the market for existing single-family homes, which account for about 89% of total Read More >
26th October 2021
Total housing starts fell to a 1.555 million annual rate in September from a 1.580 million pace in August, a 1.6% decrease. From a year ago, total starts are up 7.4%. Total housing permits also fell in September, posting a 7.7% drop to Read More >
21st October 2021
Originally published November 2020.
I don’t like repeating a story that brings any disrespect to the Beatles, especially one so clearly unlikely as the exchange attributed to John Lennon when asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the Read More >
20th October 2021
Originally published January 2021.
With the government under pressure to tackle the UK homes shortage, social housing offers yield opportunities to high-net-worth investors.
As a developer in the North of England dealing in high-volume but Read More >
13th October 2021
In a housing crisis, that just doesn’t add up.
When I first moved to New Zealand – even after living in some of the highest-priced US property markets – I was taken aback by house prices. My shock was reinforced by the condition of the Read More >
11th October 2021
It worsens the housing crisis – but there is a fix.
The UK’s housing crisis hardly requires an introduction. It affects people across the housing spectrum – from leaseholders stuck with flammable cladding Read More >
6th October 2021
Sales of new single-family homes posted a small gain in August, increasing 1.5% to 740,000 at a seasonally adjusted annual rate from a 729,000 pace in July. Despite the gain, sales are down 24.3% from the year-ago level and are 25.5% below Read More >
5th October 2021
The vast majority of the British public thinks that affordability is one of the big issues in the housing market, with half rating it is the single most important issue. Those are the results of an exclusive poll for The Property Chronicle by Read More >
29th September 2021
Sales of new single-family homes posted a small gain in August, increasing 1.5% to 740,000 at a seasonally adjusted annual rate from a 729,000 pace in July. Despite the gain, sales are down 24.3% from the year-ago level and are 25.5% below the Read More >
13th September 2021
How to avoid the pitfalls of building down.
In early November last year, the residents of Durham Place, London, which looks over Burton Court and the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, had a rude awakening when a house there collapsed, luckily Read More >
2nd September 2021
Sales of existing homes rose 2.0% in July, to a 5.99 million seasonally adjusted annual (see top of first chart). Sales are up 1.5% from a year ago. Sales in the market for existing single-family homes, which account for about 88% of total Read More >
23rd August 2021
How technology is opening up single-family rentals as an emerging asset class for investors.
Today, technology plays an integral role in society, heightened ever more by the global pandemic. Traditionally rooted, the real estate sector is one Read More >
26th July 2021
Sales of existing homes rose 1.4% in June, to a 5.86m seasonally adjusted annual (see top of first chart). Sales are up 22.9%t from a year ago. Sales in the market for existing single-family homes, which account for about 88% of total Read More >
1st July 2021
There were two recent events of importance to the private rental sector. These were, first, the announcement on how the Government will take forward the various limitations on termination of tenancies and evictions which were introduced as a Read More >
29th June 2021
The efficiency of the UK’s vaccination roll-out and the subsequent easing of lockdown restrictions have brought a renewed sense of confidence into London’s Prime Central London (PCL) market. This is most welcome, given how challenging, Read More >
6th May 2021
It is no coincidence that the right to adequate housing is included in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The place you call home has a fundamental impact on your life. It is at once your roadside inn, your granary and your Read More >
30th April 2021
Sales of new single-family homes rose sharply in March, increasing 20.7% to 1.021 million at a seasonally adjusted annual rate from a 846,000 pace in February. Sales are an astonishing 66.8% above the year ago level (see top of first chart). Read More >
19th April 2021
This article was originally published in November 2017.
The old paradigm of an 18 hole golf course providing sufficient content to sustain an interesting and vigorous club can now be seen as out of time, out of tune and out of favour. Life has Read More >
5th April 2021
The campaign in Berlin to drive a stake through the heart of large German residential landlords moved into its second phase last week, when the Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co. movement began collecting signatures in its petition to cut Read More >
26th March 2021
You might be surprised to hear that when it comes to applying for debt, high net worth individuals (HNWIs) find themselves at an immediate disadvantage. This stems from the inherent complexity of their income structures and finances.
There is Read More >
26th March 2021
Total housing starts fell to a 1.421 million annual rate from a 1.584 million pace in January, a 10.3% decrease. Month-to-month volatility in housing construction can be influenced by weather conditions and conditions in significant portions of Read More >
26th February 2021
Housing permits, considered a leading indicator for future construction activity and the broader economy, surged to a 15-year high in January. The jump was supported by increases in the dominant single-family category and the multifamily Read More >
16th February 2021
Don’t fall into the trap of designing a building people like – design one they’ll either love or hate and you will reap the rewards. As a brand, it’s not good to be vanilla. Like marmite, you want people to either love you or hate you. Read More >
8th February 2021
The resilience of prime residential markets was highlighted over the second half of 2020. Savills World Cities Prime Residential Index recorded an average capital value increase of 0.8% for the cities in the index at a time when global GDP was Read More >
14th December 2020
Investment into Swedish and German care homes between January and September 2020 has increased by 80% and 21% year-on-year respectively, according to our latest research. These two countries accounted for 42% (Germany) and 23% (Sweden) of the Read More >
4th December 2020
The property market was allowed to continue operating during the second lockdown, which was good news for the 500,000 or so current transactions that are proceeding (albeit slowly). However, strict protocols on viewings and valuation Read More >
27th November 2020
Sales of existing homes rose 4.3% in October to a 6.85 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. Sales are now up 26.6% from a year ago and are at their highest level since November 2005 (see top of first chart).
Sales were up in all four Read More >
19th November 2020
This article was originally published in March 2019.
Over almost 30 years UK house price gains have outperformed the best of British businesses. What next?
Index performance rebased to 100 in January 1990 %
What’s your biggest Read More >
2nd November 2020
A future with less need to commute is making country life more feasible, and rural estate agents’ phones are ringing off the hook.
“At the beginning of the plague, when there was now no more hope but that the whole city would be visited; Read More >
26th October 2020
There’s one question above all that, in the real estate industry, we are constantly asked: ‘Is now a good time to put money into property?’
The consensus is, despite the uncertain environment, residential property in particular is still Read More >
12th October 2020
Considering that the present crisis is likely to burst inflated bubbles, it’s especially relevant to look at overvalued assets now. The first chart below compares the current housing market in various countries around the world. Using data Read More >
23rd September 2020
What will be the lasting impact of the stamp duty holiday announced in July by the UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak? The holiday has been great for the vast numbers of purchasers who are acquiring UK properties up to £500,000 in value. The maximum Read More >
10th September 2020
With yields averaging 3.35%, the asset category ‘multi-family housing’ is moving out of the ‘alternative’ sector and becoming ‘core’, according to property adviser Savills. Germany, with its disproportionately large rental market, Read More >
27th August 2020
German financial analysts are forecasting an increase in property foreclosures of at least 20%, and loan defaults of up to €100bn as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, once the laws introduced on 23rd March to protect borrowers lose Read More >
13th August 2020
The last 12 years have seen a myriad of crises in various areas - international relations, climate, economies and, most recently, a global pandemic. Though the economic repercussions of COVID19 haven’t been because of inadequate Read More >
6th August 2020
What’s the solution to the great pandemic debt pile-up? Tax Britain’s housing wealth. According to James Kirkup, head of the Social Market Foundation think tank, writing in the Times, higher property taxes are both sensible and inevitable Read More >
29th June 2020
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on German real estate began to be quantifiable in April, according to new figures released by property advisor Savills, and based on research provided by Bulwiengesa.
While investors transacted Read More >
25th June 2020
Brand matters in agency. A potent brand drives consideration and thus leads; it helps substantiate higher prices or fees as we call them; it acts as a halo during and after the valuation; it helps attract and retain better staff. As the saying Read More >
25th June 2020
ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 21ST AUGUST 2017
As I touched upon in my last article, long term out-performance is the principal aim for a residential investor in our era of lower returns.
Residential investment is a completely different mindset Read More >
29th May 2020
The pandemic affected international real estate markets in strikingly different ways. Markets with stringent lockdowns saw new listings plummet by 90 percent, while other markets saw no change. And as the world begins to recover, the data Read More >
15th May 2020
The price level for German residential housing has remained so far unchanged since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, according to German consulting group F+B, whose CEO Bernd Leutner warned it would be wrong to make premature and knee-jerk Read More >
5th May 2020
We are starting to appreciate some of the damage that the Covid-19 crisis is doing to the economy but in the western world the first warning lights came when stock markets lurched downwards in late February. In the past 6 weeks There has been Read More >
7th April 2020
Germany’s residential market remains buoyant, despite deals taking longer to go through due to an operational slowdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘The market hasn’t stopped yet but deals are getting slower because of the Read More >
11th February 2020
We move to cities and we live in small groups when we get there. These two trends, urbanisation and smaller households, are contributing to housing shortages in cities across the world.
The challenge can be met by having the right sort Read More >
22nd January 2020
The housing sector has potential to unlock a vast amount of political capital for the new Government. With new-found support for the Prime Minister across the country, the housing sector can support Government by delivering a new generation of Read More >
9th January 2020
Human psychology can have a big impact on decision-making. We make cognitive errors on a routine basis by using rules of thumb and over-simplifications. We follow stories rather than facts. We are prone to social biases, such as groupthink and Read More >
30th October 2019
What do high-net-worth individuals look for in a financial services provider?
It’s fair to say that now is an exciting, if challenging, time for the UK financial services sector. The market is moving at a rapid pace as new technologies and Read More >
18th October 2019
Political risk factors have put the UK property market on pause, especially in London – but there are rewards to be had
Political risk factors have put the UK property market on pause, especially in London – but there are rewards to be Read More >
27th September 2019
Against a backdrop of Westminster turmoil, the British economy has proven itself to be more robust than many predicted. But with many expecting a global economic downturn, it’s difficult to quantify the impact the current uncertainty is having Read More >
17th September 2019
Tech-driven real estate brokerage Purplebricks released its 2019 results last week. After a failed U.S. expansion, the core U.K. business is still growing and remains profitable, but is facing headwinds in a soft property market. The results Read More >
16th September 2019
Proper regulation is needed, while far-reaching leasehold reform must accompany changes to the building safety regime
Residential property management is broken and the regulation of managing agents long overdue. Not just from a financial Read More >
6th September 2019
With the support of the Atlas Network, CapX is publishing a new series of essays on the theme of Illiberalism in Europe, looking at the different threats to liberal economies and societies across the continent, from populism to Read More >
30th August 2019
Earlier this year CapX launched a major new project with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation focusing on how the Government should tackle the longstanding imbalances in the British economy. ‘Rebalancing Britain’ focuses not only on the Read More >
30th August 2019
Whilst many of us were baking in in the sunshine on bank holiday Monday, the Berlin Senate cooked up its freeze for residential rents in Germany’s capital. That rocked the sector on Monday, neutered by a dead cat bounce yesterday, and steady Read More >
29th August 2019
“So many of the parishes in our district are merrily approving more houses around their village,” an official from Oxfordshire fumed to me last month, “and that’s against Council policy!” I had to pinch myself: living in London, it’s Read More >
22nd August 2019
Last week saw the long- trailed publication of the Regulation of Property Agents Working Group report, introducing a raft of proposals to regulate sales, letting and leasehold managing agents in what has until now been essentially a collection Read More >
26th July 2019
Robert Jenrick, the new Secretary of State for Housing, wrote a striking call in 2017 to boost home ownership by building homes on government land and selling them at cost to the under-40s of that area. In the South East, that could mean a 75% Read More >
23rd July 2019
Britain’s housing crisis is uniquely severe. We build houses more slowly than anyone else, we have seen a fastest house price rise than any developed country, and our homes are the most expensive houses compared to the average salary.
Quite Read More >
8th July 2019
A ray of hope for the central London property market
The prime central London market has been a tough place over the last year, with a continuing decline in both flats and houses. Against the trend of the past four years, flats in 2018 Read More >
27th June 2019
Rumours of the agency’s demise are premature. And even if such disruptors fail, the fortunes they are spending on marketing could change customers’ expectations forever.
If you believe everything you read in the media, you could be Read More >
24th June 2019
Plus, is the AirBnB boom coming to an end?
I write this camping beneath the canvas cover of a tent – a novel experience for me. I should add, though, the healthy caveat that I am glamping. Essentially, a luxurious form of camping. Camping Read More >
19th June 2019
Emoov and Countrywide: what a pair, observers might say.
They present a tale of two failures - although, in the case of Countrywide, it’s still theoretically possible that victory could be snatched from the actively-snapping jaws of Read More >
17th June 2019
An analyst on shares website Motley Fool says Purplebricks is not only in surprisingly strong financial health, but is actually outperforming some longer established bricks-and-mortar agencies.
The Motley Fool analyst in question, Karl Read More >
12th April 2019
In Berlin, support is growing for a referendum on mass property expropriation. In a move reminiscent of East Germany’s communist past, the referendum’s supporters aim to seize property from all private landlords who own more than 3,000 Read More >
12th April 2019
Labour is said to be considering whether the Bank of England should be mandated to limit house price growth. According to The Guardian, this would be done not via interest rates but via mortgage regulation as overseen by the financial policy Read More >
11th April 2019
While homeowners will pay a premium for their new build properties, a lower percentage of tenants will not. But does the data agree? In this month’s Market Mover, Gav delves deeper into the inconsistencies we’ve found in the ‘new build’ Read More >
8th April 2019
Campaigning groups like Generation Rent and Shelter like to think they are simultaneously edgy and radical; likewise some think tanks believe themselves to be lofty, worldly and above the fray of day-to-day politics.
So why, when it comes to Read More >
4th April 2019
Source: LonRes
What does the chart show?
It’s easy to fixate on what’s happening now and block out the – even most recent - past. And this is never truer than when it comes to the housing market.
In prime central London Read More >
2nd April 2019
Summary:
With the number of BTR developments expected to increase by 180% in the next 6 years, is this a golden opportunity for developers? The REalyst takes a closer look, using the REalyse platform to find potential BTR Read More >
12th March 2019
The housing minister describes being stopped in the street by people wanting to thank him for Help to Buy. ‘Several people have stopped me and thanked me for it, because it gives young people access to homes that otherwise they would not Read More >
12th March 2019
Last quarter’s reports showed Leeds lagging behind the upward house price curve, while Birmingham and Manchester prices steamed ahead. In this month’s Market Mover, REalyse’s CEO and Statistical Mastermind, Gavriel Merkado, takes a closer Read More >
8th March 2019
I keep hearing it said that we should not re-regulate private renting, or if we do then we need to be very careful about it, lest landlords disinvest. This would exacerbate supply issues in places like London, it is claimed. One policy type told Read More >
7th March 2019
Daniel Bentley and Alex McCallum, February 2019
Over the past two decades, UK household formation rates have undergone a striking change. After many decades during which the number of households per head of population was rising, since around Read More >
4th March 2019
Purplebricks, the online estate agent, was in the headlines last week for all the wrong reasons: shares nose-dived by 40%, revenue forecasts came in short of £35m and management resigned. But could this all have been avoided with the help of Read More >
26th February 2019
Tenants have been made to feel somewhat of an afterthought in the rental process ever since the lettings boom of the early 1980s. The business of the UK residential lettings market starts with landlords, who own the “stock” (i.e. the bricks Read More >
16th January 2019
It’s popular to group millennials together as one cohesive group and compare like-for-like. But they are a diverse bunch that share as many differences as they do similarities. Where comparisons are useful is in determining how this generation Read More >
11th January 2019
Empowered by its economic strength, Germany is one of the most interesting markets for foreign investors, even though its legal system is not based on common law. Having performed a continuous growth within the past ten years, the German Read More >
9th January 2019
After many years in the property industry I thought it time to reflect on my experiences and the people I have met.
The young estate agent: a raging mess of hormones and conflicting interests. They talk the market up like a puppy but weep at Read More >
11th December 2018
INVESTMENT CONCLUSION
The UK housing bubble is a myth. Current price declines are principally function of Brexit-related uncertainty. While you’d have to be mad to buy until this fog lifts, this means there is pent-up demand to stabilise the Read More >
17th October 2018
With stamp duty rates crippling the London residential market, many investors have naturally been looking to areas further afield. A lot of articles in the press have focused on regional opportunities as investors seek cheaper areas to expand Read More >
19th September 2018
Who will be the winners in the “broken estate agency” market?
We know that the current and foreseeable UK macro property market position lacks stability with Brexit, affordability, supply and demand imbalance, knee jerk and short term Read More >
11th September 2018
UK real estate transactions being undertaken by GCC investors which we commonly hear about include the acquisition of high end residential property (Chelsea and Knightsbridge) and trophy assets (such as Harrods and the Shard).
There is another Read More >
11th September 2018
What the journals are saying
Knowledge is power, or so the cliché goes. But knowledge is much more than that, it is influence, it is authority, it is credibility. Property journals are a great source of information, by having the latest Read More >
7th September 2018
In August, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) published its latest in a line of reports documenting the continued rise in threat to our Green Belts.
Our research shows that the threat to England’s Green Belt land has never been Read More >
4th September 2018
In my last article, I suggested it was difficult for Housing policy to be considered in any coherent fashion when there had been 16 Housing Ministers in the last 20 years, an average tenure of a little over a year. Within 48 hours of submitting Read More >
3rd September 2018
When asked by a journalist why she had a mirror above her bed, Mae West answered, ‘to see how I’m doing.’ The same applies to property indices: owners, buyers, lenders and commentators need indices to make sense of what is going on in a Read More >
6th August 2018
When asked by a journalist why she had a mirror above her bed, Mae West answered, ‘to see how I’m doing.’ The same applies to property indices: owners, buyers, lenders and commentators need indices to make sense of what is going on in a Read More >
1st August 2018
1. What does the draft Finance Bill 2018/19 say about the treatment of UK property held by non-UK residents?
From April 2019, gains subsequently arising on any UK property, including commercial and residential property, will be chargeable to Read More >
15th May 2018
Affordable housing is one of the key policy challenges of our time. But as with so many other major policy problems, we face a continued lack of imagination that leads many to think that the housing crisis can be solved with more of what worked Read More >
8th May 2018
We are now in the longest downturn in the prime London market since the 1988 - 1992 recession. The Savills index showed a decline then of 28% for flats and 16% for houses compared with a fall of 15% for flats and 13% for houses from 2014 until Read More >
7th May 2018
Using the long arm of the law to force-fill empty homes is getting very vogueish. From the far left to the Tory back benches everyone seems to be getting on board with the idea.
The Government is legislating to permit greater tax surcharges on Read More >
1st May 2018
Along with knotted hankies, buttered crumpets and queueing, the concept of leasehold is a quaintly English phenomenon. If in any other circumstance I offered you the opportunity to pay £1 million for something which would decline in value until Read More >
27th April 2018
A Commons Committee has – quite seriously – argued that an Englishman’s home should no longer be his castle. You could also describe their proposal as a return of the Star Chamber – where doing something the powers that be didn’t like Read More >
28th March 2018
How can we end the housing crisis? Would a better planning system ensure more well-designed homes with local support where they are most wanted, over time making homes more affordable than they would otherwise be?
Of course it would. When it Read More >
13th February 2018
Looking at the current market there are two key challenges - the first is high Stamp Duty and the second is Brexit.
This is important to make clear because I believe that these movements have caused the mentality of the buyer to shift. Read More >
19th January 2018
Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) differs from the student accommodation many of us remember. Today’s students are shunning the traditional house shares and out-of-date halls of residence as they’re perceived to be below par, with Read More >
18th January 2018
Last year was interesting in London’s property market, to say the least. It was challenging, with flat or falling prices in many market segments, limited stock, and high transaction costs, dampening activity and making it a true buyer’s Read More >
17th January 2018
Someone far more erudite than me once described service charges as being like batteries – no-one likes paying for them, but when you don’t, things cease to function quite quickly. A common source of angst between landlord and leaseholder, Read More >
3rd January 2018
Though Donald Rumsfeld was much mocked for his ‘known unknowns’ speech, he was right. It’s the ‘unknown unknowns’ that get you when you try to predict the future because, of course, they are unknown. The only thing you can do is look at Read More >
2nd January 2018
The approach of a new year is always the time when people start to gaze into their crystal balls, highlighting future trends for the year ahead. I have decided to cast the net a considerable bit further and see what trends we should look out for Read More >
11th December 2017
Prime central London property has long been seen as an asset class in its own right, rather than simply a costlier version of UK real estate in general. It responds to a separate set of economic and financial developments, services a distinct Read More >
24th October 2017
When it comes to selling a property, everyone wants to make the most of what they own, whether it is by giving it a fresh lick of paint or sprucing up the garden. However, for residential tenants of long leases, there may be one further step they Read More >
19th October 2017
Just over ten and a half years ago I was working as a land agent specialising complex tax valuations, when I received a call from one of Savills’ head honchos asking me if I would like to go to his house on a Sunday morning for a cup of coffee Read More >
5th October 2017
Further to last month’s article I am following this with specific local factors to look out for when investing in residential property.
Once you’ve done your homework on the precise area you are targeting and the amount you can invest, Read More >
12th September 2017
I, like most people, detest seeing people get ripped off, especially so in the residential property industry. While I am proud to be part of an industry who, through organisations such as the BPF and ULI, genuinely wants to raise standards, Read More >
4th September 2017
Should you buy new or used? A mattress – always new. Appliances – new if you can afford it. Furniture – new unless it is a nice antique piece. A home?
Who wouldn’t want the brand new, well-proportioned, well-insulated two-bedroom Read More >
13th July 2017
In my next few articles, my aim is to guide readers through typical investment decisions and options, hopefully shedding some light on interesting angles and ways to increase your returns.
The buy-to-let market is currently a difficult place. Read More >
7th June 2017
Ben is a highly regarded residential property investment and development expert. He has a reputation for creating superior investment returns with a considered approach, borne out by the success of his own property portfolio.
In this column he Read More >
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In-depth interviews with leading figures in the real estate/investment world.
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