Flats are becoming less popular in England and Wales with the latest data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showing new build detached homes outselling apartments. Detached properties were the most commonly sold type of newly built home in the 12 months to September 2015 representing 32% of all new property sales, the first time flats have sold less in a decade. In the 12 months ending December 1995 sales of detached housing dominated the new build market with 44% of all sales for new properties. By 2000, the share of sales for new detached housing peaked at 52% but declined until 2008. Since then the share of sales for new detached property has been increasing steadily. The share of sales for new semi-detached properties has also been rising since 2008, albeit at a slower rate than the share of new detached properties. The percentage of new terraced housing exceeded that of semi-detached in 2001 and remained higher until 2014. For newly built flats, the share rose rapidly between 2000 and 2008, during which time many urban areas were regenerated. Since then the share of newly built flats has fallen steadily. The latest ONS data release also shows that the difference in median price between the most and least expensive parts of England and Wales was nearly £3.2 million in the year ending September 2015, down from a peak of £3.5 million in year ending December 2014. For all types of property, the median price paid ranged from £38,750 in one part of Pendle, Lancashire to £3,212,500 in one area of Westminster. The most expensive area outside of London was in Elmbridge, Surrey where the median price paid for all properties was £997,475 and house price growth has diverged for the most expensive and least expensive areas since the recession. Part of the difference in price paid between the least and the most expensive areas is caused by different types of dwelling being sold in those areas. For example, detached properties in England and Wales sold for 61% more than semi-detached properties on average in the year ending September 2015. Therefore, an area with a higher proportion of detached property sales is likely to have a higher median price overall than an area which had a higher proportion of semi-detached property sales. In the year ending September 2015 there were 581 middle layer super output areas (MSOAs) in which the median house price was in the lowest 10% of property prices in England and Wales overall. Generally, towns and cities in the north of England, the Midlands and also in south Wales contained most of these 581 MSOAs. There were 27 MSOAs in which the median price paid for all properties was more than £1 million in year ending September 2015. All these areas are in London and are predominantly in the central and western boroughs. The most expensive area outside of London was in Elmbridge, Surrey where the median price paid for all properties was £997,475.   BOOKMARK THIS PAGE (What is this?)      Source link

New data has found that the first quarter of 2016 has seen a surge in investors acquiring student property, to beat the new stamp duty legislation, which comes into force in April 2016. Research, conducted by The Mistoria Group – student property investment specialists, reveals investors have been flocking to complete their student property purchase by the end of this month, to avoid the 3% stamp duty surcharge coming in for second homes. The research shows that sales of student property in the North West have leapt by over 30% between January-March 2016, compared with the first quarter of 2015.  More than 50% of student property investors are from the South, while a third are overseas investors.  The remaining 20% of investors are from the Midlands and the North. Over the last few years, student housing has undergone a significant amount of change, with rising rents and a higher level of expectation from the occupying students, many of whom are looking for high-spec accommodation with luxuries like plasma TVs, Wi-Fi and built-in white goods.  The removal of the cap on student numbers have also triggered many universities to anticipate an increase in enrolment over the coming years, which is driving demand for more high quality, affordable student accommodation. Mish Liyanage, Managing Director of The Mistoria Group comments: “We have seen a rush of investors wanting to purchase student property over the last quarter and we anticipate that demand for student property will continue to grow significantly in 2016 and beyond. Since the birth of the buy-to-let mortgage 18 years ago, student accommodation has outperformed all other traditional property assets and has been the strongest growing investment property market in the UK. Over the last 5 years, student properties in the North West have generated yields in excess of 13% and geared yield in excess of 35% in Salford and Liverpool.  Our research shows that the North West provides greater returns than any other city in the UK. This is fuelled by the massive regeneration taking place in Manchester, with the proposed High Speed 2 (HS2) high-speed railway between London Euston and the North West to be completed in the next 15-20 years. A HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) property can provide an 8% minimum cash rental yield and a typical 13% total cash yield, including 5% capital appreciation.  The average gross cash rental yields for the student property sector in the North West of England were 8.1% for the 2015.” Source link

Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Mon, Sep 12th 2016 Vinyl Belgium, an independent non-profit association promoting the use of PVC, has appointed Benoît Leclère as Executive Director. He is currently responsible for the development of Recovinyl in Belgium, France and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and will perform both these roles concurrently. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Vinyl Belgium, an independent non-profit association promoting the use of PVC, has appointed Benoît Leclère as Executive Director. He is currently responsible for the development of Recovinyl in Belgium, France and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and will perform both these roles concurrently. Benoît, who has a wealth of experience in the advertising, communications and waste management industries, joined Recovinyl in 2005. Recovinyl is an operational arm of VinylPlus, the European PVC industry sustainable development programme, which is tackling the sustainability challenges for PVC and delivery of current recycling targets to 2020. More recently, he worked at van Gansewinkel, a waste management company, as a marketing manager and subsequently held various positions in public relations, marketing and communication within Watco (now Suez Environment). Previous roles include a product manager at IMS (Informations Médicales & Statistiques), a director at the Mediplus advertising agency and at the Office of the Minister of Environment Guy Lutgen where he was in charge of Sustainable Development Plan and Waste Assessment in Wallonia. Commenting on his appointment, Benoît said: “As a long-life, sustainable and versatile material, PVC is ideal for so many diverse applications. Through the development of a successful European-wide recycling infrastructure, it can be reused many times in new products. “Working within the VinylPlus framework, my mission is to promote the innovative and unique achievements of PVC, and crucially, how it can play a key role as a sustainable material in our future Circular Economy.”  Contact information Philippe GabrielsVinyl BelgiumAvenue E Van Nieuwenhuyse 4Box 4BrusselsB-1160+32 (0) 2 676 7445www.vinylbelgium.be Vinyl Belgium promotes the use of PVC products as well as the image of PVC and closely monitors all information about PVC and its applications throughout its lifecycle.Vinyl Belgium also acts as an information provider to the authorities, consumers, industry, media, education and interest groups on PVC issues. Source link