Friday News#072 – 28th of August 2020
Demand for homes across the country continues to increase and the number of completed property transactions are reportedly on the rise in every region, a positive indication for long term capital values.
Making well-informed purchasing decisions, whatever the economic and political climate, is the key to investment success. A rental assurance can prove invaluable in times of economic uncertainty.
Here’s what we’ve seen in the news this week:
Rightmove says demand is rocketing in every region of the UK: Data from Rightmove shows that demand is up 61 per cent compared to the same period last year – and the portal attributes much of this to the stamp duty holiday. The top performing regions are the South East and East of England, each up by more than 70 per cent, but across all regions the percentage growth in demand is outstripping the growth in new supply. Read more.
HMRC: Property transactions start to rebound: There were 70,710 property transactions in July, 14.5% more than in June but still 27.4% less than in July last year, the HMRC’s seasonally adjusted figures show. The HMRC said the stamp duty holiday announced on July 2020 is unlikely to impact transactions until late August or early September. Read more.
Stamp duty holiday sparks 13-year selling high: The average number of sales agreed per estate agent branch stood at 13 in July following the Chancellor’s announcement of a stamp duty holiday. Year-on-year, the number of sales per branch has increased by 44%, rising from nine recorded in July 2019. Read more.
July was a ‘relatively robust month for the UK lettings market’: Rental market activity remained relatively stable last month, according to the latest data from Agency Express Property. National month-on-month figures for properties ‘to let’ sat at 3.8% while properties ‘let’ sat at 5.1%. Read more.
Investing in student accommodation in the UK 2020 / 2021: Whilst UK university campuses closed down during the lockdown, studying did not grind to a halt, for the most part lectures moved into digital format. Undeterred by the possibility of beginning university studies online a record number of 18-year-olds in the UK applied to go to university, to begin studying in the autumn. Read our latest article.
