Pennon Group chief executive Chris Loughlin has been appointed deputy chair of British Water and will take up the post in January 2017. Chris Loughlin has been appointed deputy chair of British Water Loughlin joined the board of the trade association as a non-executive director last month. A former chairman of Water UK, he is past president of the Institute of Water. He is also on the board of trustees for WaterAid and a member of the charity’s audit committee, and is vice chairman of Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership. Loughlin began his career as a chartered civil engineer working in contracting and consulting. He was formerly chief operating officer for Lloyd’s Register, executive director of British Nuclear Fuels and executive chairman of Magnox Electric. He was also a senior diplomat in the British Embassy in Tokyo. Speaking about his appointment, he said: “Having joined the board in May, I am very pleased to take up the role of deputy chairman at this exciting time of change in the industry. In representing the views of its members, British Water creates a focus for water expertise and plays a significant role in shaping the policies of the future. “Water is at the heart of dynamic global issues including climate change and urbanisation, which makes developing the role of British Water more important than ever for the water and environment sector.” British Water chairman Tony Williams said: “We are absolutely delighted that Chris Loughlin has agreed to take up the position of deputy chair of the board at British Water.  His insight and expertise are already proving to be an enormous asset to the association. “I look forward to working closely with Chris to ensure the voice of the water industry supply chain is heard at governmental level, by regulators and, most importantly, by customers. Chris Loughlin’s experience will be invaluable as British Water continues to strengthen relationships across the industry and to the benefit of our members.” Source link

A few weeks on from Brexit, the housing market across the UK is now coming to terms with what the crucial vote means for the industry. As many predicted, following the UK’s shock vote to leave the EU, a recent survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has revealed a ‘significant’ decrease in enquiries from potential house buyers. The RICS survey shows that house sales are likely to fall sharply in the next 3 months, with estate agents and surveyors stating that they are much more worried about the housing market than at any time since the late 1990s. Enquiries from potential buyers fell for the third consecutive month in June, and the number of sales agreed also dropped, after the Brexit vote created huge uncertainty in the market. 36% more estate agents and surveyors reported a drop in sales and enquiries rather than an increase, the lowest figures since the financial crisis in mid-2008. In addition, the report revealed that, over the same period, the number of properties coming onto the market fell everywhere in the UK except Northern Ireland, with sales also falling for a third consecutive month. Looking ahead over the summer months, 26% of those who responded to the survey predict that sales will drop even further than expected in a normally busy housing market. The RICS report said: “This is the most negative reading for near-term expectations since 1998”. Falling prices were particularly evident in central London, where house prices have dropped for the second month in a row, due to the turbulence caused by Brexit. In July, the average house price in London dropped by 1.2% to £635,710, just after the EU referendum outcome. Earlier this month, an Evening Standard analysis also revealed a huge increase in house sellers panicking straight after the referendum and cutting asking prices, with prices in the upmarket borough of Richmond falling by more than 10%. Property website Rightmove has reported that in the two weeks following the EU vote, enquiries from buyers dropped by 16%, compared with the same period in 2015. In England and Wales, the price of new properties on the market in July fell by 0.9% or £2,647.  Compared with figures from the same time in June/July 2015, the number of new homes on the market fell by 8% per cent in the fortnight before the Brexit vote, although in the weeks since the vote, figures have risen again by 6%. Rightmove director Miles Shipside said that, based on two to three weeks of post-Brexit-vote statistics, the housing market is remaining steady, underpinned by the same fundamentals that helped its recovery since the last downturn. Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “Big events such as elections typically do unsettle markets, so it is no surprise that the EU referendum has been associated with a downturn in activity. However, even without the build up to the vote and subsequent decision in favour of Brexit, it is likely that the housing numbers would have slowed during the second quarter of the year, following the rush in many parts of the country from buy-to-let investors to secure purchases ahead of the tax changes.” Rubinsohn added that an important factor in how the housing market reacts in the next few months will be the reaction of the wider economy, following the Brexit vote. With interest rates and sterling coming down, he remarked that it is a waiting game to see whether the concerns are justified regarding a possible stalling in both corporate investment and recruitment. Another concern that was predicted pre-Brexit, could also become reality. Last week, Britain’s biggest housebuilder, Barratt Developments, said it might consider decreasing the number of new homes being built, in response to a possible slowdown in the housing market following the Brexit result. The company is rethinking its building and land-buying programmes, with the immediate future for the industry looking uncertain. David Thomas, Barratt’s chief executive, said: “Following the EU referendum, we are mindful of the greater uncertainty now facing the UK economy. Consequently, the immediate outlook for our industry is less clear and it is too early to draw any conclusions regarding market conditions from the short trading period since the referendum.” In contrast, new figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reveal that while lending fell sharply in April, the first month of the new stamp duty rules, lending figures recovered in May. The CML said that the value of lending for house buying was up by 8% year on year in May at £9.4bn, while the number of loans rose by 5% to 53,800. First-time buyers took out 27,500 loans, a figure that is 16% higher than in May last year; for the second month running, first-time buyers borrowed more than those moving home. However the CML reported that the Brexit vote could mean there will be slower times ahead for the housing market. The CML’s director general, Paul Smee, said: “Brexit, and its likely effect on the market, is a question to which the answer will not immediately be forthcoming. Lenders will continue to be open for business as usual, but lending volumes may be affected by uncertain consumer sentiment.” So, in the wake of the post-Brexit turmoil, what now for housebuyers and those renting? Buyers who have just started the process and had their offer accepted are advised to continue. Economists and estate agents are reporting that while prices are likely to dip by autumn, recent Nationwide building society figures show that UK prices rose 5.1% in the past year anyway. Buyers won’t lose anything by going ahead as planned. Anyone planning to sell a house this month is advised to wait for demand to increase unless they have a particular deadline. The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) says that buyer figures were lower in May (when the market was already jittery pre-Brexit vote) compared with last year. However, by September, buyers may well be keen to start looking again, in order to move

Budget 2016: The industry reacts Published:  17 March, 2016 Yesterday (16 March), Chancellor George Osborne delivered the 2016 Budget, announcing a variety of measures concerning topics from soft drinks to oil and gas, including some changes that will affect small businesses and renewables. The Small Business Rate Relief threshold will rise from its current £6,000 level to £15,000 for the smallest businesses, with the threshold for the higher rate rising from £18,000 to £51,000. Mr Osborne said this meant 600,000 small businesses would pay no business rates at all from next year, with another 250,000 seeing rates being cut. Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “The reform to small business rate relief is one of the most generous aspects of an otherwise revenue raising budget and is to be welcomed as small businesses are often the lifeblood of local economies. We are pleased that the government has also recognised that the annual uplift in rates should be based on the government’s own preferred measure of inflation – CPI rather than RPI. This will be tinged with disappointment, however, that it won’t come into effect until 2020, and thus for larger businesses who are struggling any rates relief will be a long time coming.” The decision on a government proposed increase in VAT rates for domestic solar systems was notably absent from the Budget. Paul Barwell, CEO of the Solar Trade Association said: “No VAT news is good news on Budget Day. This delay means we can continue to make the very strong case for Treasury to abandon plans to hike up VAT on solar. It makes no sense to penalise British families that want to take meaningful action on climate. “The Energy Department is on the record saying they will look again at support levels for domestic solar if VAT rates are increased so households should be assured it will still pay to go solar whatever happens. However, the VAT increase should not go ahead; it would delay the point at which solar will not need public support in the UK and that would be an own goal.” Source link

National home sales fell 1.3% from June to July in Canada, the third month in a row that transactions have fallen, and fell by 2.9% year on year, the largest since 2013. The data from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) also shows that the national average sale price was up 9.9% in July year on year but when Greater Toronto and Greater Vancouver are excluded from the figure this dropped to 7%. Sales activity was down from the previous month in slightly more than half of all markets in July, led by Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Transactions in these two markets peaked in February of this year, and have since then dropped by 21.5% and 28.8% respectively. According to CREA president Cliff Iverson much of the national sales decline in recent months reflects slowing activity in B.C.’s Lower Mainland area. ‘National sales and price trends continue to be heavily influenced by a handful of places in Ontario and British Columbia and mask significant variations in local housing market trends and conditions across Canada,’ he explained. Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist, said that the figures suggest that sales are being reined in by a lack of inventory and a further deterioration in affordability. He pointed out that the new 15% property transfer tax on Metro Vancouver home purchases by foreign buyers took effect on 02 August so it will take some time before the effect of the new tax on sales and prices can be observed. A breakdown of the figures shows that actual, not seasonally adjusted, sales activity was down 2.9% year on year July 2016, the first annual decline since January 2015 and the largest since April 2013. In line with softening activity in the Lower Mainland, year on year increases have been losing momentum since February 2016. Sales were down from levels one year earlier in about 60% of all Canadian markets, led by Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Calgary and Edmonton. The number of newly listed homes rose by 1.2 percent in July 2016 compared to June. While new supply climbed in fewer than half of all local markets, increases in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, Greater Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton outweighed declines in smaller markets. With sales down and new listings up, the national sales to new listings ratio eased to 61.6% in July 2016, its second monthly decline following its peak of 65.3% in May. A sales to new listings ratio between 40% and 60% is generally consistent with balanced housing market conditions, with readings below and above this range indicating buyers’ and sellers’ markets respectively. The ratio was above 60% in about half of all local housing markets in July, virtually all of which continue to be located in British Columbia, in and around the Greater Toronto Area and across Southwestern Ontario. The CREA report points out that the number of months of inventory is another important measure of the balance between housing supply and demand. It represents the number of months it would take to completely liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity. There were 4.6 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of July 2016. This is unchanged from readings in each of the previous two months and continues to indicate a tight balance between supply and demand for homes. The number of months of inventory has trended lower since early 2015, reflecting increasingly tighter housing markets in B.C. and Ontario. It currently sits near or below two months in a number of local markets in British Columbia and in and around the GTA. Indeed, some regions in the GTA are down to just a couple of weeks of inventory. The Aggregate Composite MLS® HPI rose by 14.3% year on year in July 2016, the biggest gain since November 2006 and for the sixth consecutive month, year on year price growth accelerated for all property types tracked by the index. Two storey single family home prices continued to post the biggest annual gain at 15.9%, followed by town house/row units at 15.3%, one storey single family homes at 14.3% and apartment units at 11.1%. While prices in nine of the 11 markets tracked by the MLS® HPI posted year on year gains in July, increases continue to vary widely among housing markets. Greater Vancouver with growth of 32.6% and the Fraser Valley up 37.6% recorded the largest year on year gains by a wide margin, followed by Greater Toronto at 16.7%, Victoria 17.5% and Vancouver Island 11.6%. By contrast, prices were down 4.2% in Calgary and by 1.5% in Calgary. Home prices rose modestly in Regina by 2.7% year on year, in Greater Montreal by 1.8%, and in Ottawa by 1.1%. Greater Moncton recorded its largest year on year home price increase of 8.4% among an unbroken string of gains posted every month over the past year. The national average price continues to be pulled upward by sales activity in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, which remain two of Canada’s tightest, most active and expensive housing markets. The actual, not seasonally adjusted, national average price for homes sold in July 2016 was $480,743, up 9.9% year on year. If these two housing markets are excluded from calculations, the average price is a more modest $365,033 and the gain is trimmed to 7% year on year.   Source link