End of Recession Item

The economic forecasting group Ernst and Young Item Club has reported today that not only are we officially out of recession, but that the next decade is likely to see a period of slow growth which will see a period of adjustment.  They report that there will be a greater reliance on the world economy, with especial regard to the rate of growth in the Export sector as the worlds economy expands levels of trade by an estimated 23% over the next three years.

The pound not being prevented from adjusting, as is an economy tied into the eurozone, will undoubtedly assist the prospect of exports by helping to make our exchange rate more internationally competitive.

Official figures to be published on January 26 are widely expected to show that Britain finally emerged from recession in the final three months of 2009, the last major economy to do so.

The outlook however is for possibly only GDP growth of 1% in 2010, with 2.5% in 2011 and 3% in 2012.

The report also casts aspursions on the budgetary figures provided by the Chancellor.

To read the full report click here .

The ITEM club or Independent Treasury Economic Model is an economic forecasting group based in the United Kingdom. It produces quarterly forecasts, which are often mentioned in the UK news media. It was founded in 1977 and is sponsored by Ernst & Young a leading firm of business and financial advisers.  Founded in 1977, ITEM is said to be independent of any political, academic or commercial bias. Its independence is underpinned by the untied sponsorship of Ernst & Young.

To read more articles on News Items click here .

Editor 18th January, 2010

New Homes Market Report – Taylor Wimpey

Market conditions in both the UK and North America during 2009 were better than
those experienced during 2008, although they still remained challenging reports large scale developers, Taylor Wimpey Plc. in their Trading Statement released today.

They report that their UK business has maintained its encouraging performance since their Interim Management Statement in November and that they enter 2010 with a “very strong order book position”.

Taylor Wimpey are active in the land market and approved new land purchase commitments for
3,003 plots at 22 new sites during the second half of 2009.

The numbers of properties being completed and released to the market was down on 2008 but this is unsurprising due to the timelag between the strategic decision making process, and a site being built out or completed following development.

Sale prices of new homes has increased on average from £153,000 to £160,000, the company reports.  The overall debt within the group was reduced by greater than 50 % to £750 million in line with expectations to the year end 31st December, 2009.

Taylor Wimpey plc builds homes in the UK, North America, Spain and Gibraltar.

Editor 18th January, 2010

Off Plan Property Purchasing Popular Again?

Barratt Developments chief executive has stated that the off plan purchasing of new properties is again on the rise.  This is most predominant in London and the South East.

Barratt Developments, Britains biggest New Home developer issued a formal “Trading update”.  It noted that the company ghas been buying land again since mid 2009 and that the number of reservations of new homes was up as well as an average increase in achieved prices of 4%.  (This can of course be partly due to a change in the mix of units that has come on line.)

It will be interesting if this activity is reflected in the announcements of Britains other major house builders over the coming weeks.

To connect to a Local Chartered Surveyor for advice on a new or older build property, click here.

15th January, 2010

The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009

The Marine and Coastal Access Act places a duty on the Secretary of State to make, where such access does not already exist, a continuous route open to the public next to the coast all the way around the coast of England and Wales.  This could have big implications on a few properties next to our coast.  To read the full article, click here.

Who can enter your home without a warrant?

It is absoluteley amazing to most persons, the number of persons who can access your property without a warrant. 

The Home Office confirmed there are more than 1000 laws which prevent an Englishmans home being as private as his castle and potentially more than 20,000 persons may have access to your home without requiring a warrant. 

A full detailed article in the www.propertysurveying.co.uk  article archive will be posted shortly.

House Prices Rise Again

Yet again the Land Registry has reported that during November the prices of Houses in England and Wales have increased.

This was the sixth month in a row that has seen an increase.  It reports that the increase was a month on month rise of 0.9%.  This has to be factored into the annual position where house prices have fallen over the whole year to the end of November but now have fallen by only -0.3%.  It may be very soon that we will be able to report an average increase.

The rate of change throughout the country is vastly different from location to location.  To discuss how matters have changed in any individual location contact your local independent chartered surveyor here.

Housing Feds. hope more Glebe lands sold

Housing Federations hope a greater amount Glebe lands will be released.

The National Housing Federation hopes that their research into the rural housing shortage will inspire the release of Glebe Lands by the Church of England. 

The Church of England owns in the region of 129,000 acres and if just a small portion of the land held in rural villages up and down the country was released for development to housing associations, as much as 10% of the housing shortage could be alleviated according to the NHF’s research.

If the land was sold on the open market with a prospect of normal development, these lands would, however, be that much more valuable to the church and provide a greater level of funds to maintain and improve the historic buildings in their control.  This land is often situated close to the centre of villages and these could often be considered to be prime locations for developers.  Much of this land also comprises graveyards or land earmarked for graveyard expansion.

Every village and location has different considerations and the Local Church Diocese has individual requirements and land resources to manage.  Should individual development locations need consideration, such as development proposals or valuations, we recomend consulting your local independent Chartered Surveyor with www.propertysurveying.co.uk

Increase in volume of New Mortgages in November 2009

We understand from reports from the British Bankers Association Data that the number of new home loans are substantially up in November 2009.  They have reached the levels of Autumn 2007, just after the peak of the housing market in terms of prices. 

These figures are double those of the similar month in 2008 when the housing market was at a very low ebb.

Loans for equity withdrawal were notably lower as were remortgaging loans issued.  The BBA said that “Household priorities were showing up in the November figures”, suggesting that households were paying off debt and saving more. 

The way that this affects Individual locations within the wider market is varied and independent advice should be obtained with the housing market as with any market.  Consult a local Independent Chartered Surveyor by sourcing a contact through the propertysurveying network.

How the snow can help you keep your house warm

It can seem a contradiction but the snow can help you keep your house warm.  This can happen in two ways.

Firstly, a covering of snow can help reduce the wind chill factor from extracting the heat from surfaces that are covered with snow.  For instance if your roof is covered with 4 inches of snow and say that the temperature is -3 degrees and there is a 20 mile an hour wind.  The wind chill factor will make the temperature have a cooling affect of about -13 degrees.  Your roof though thinks that it is only -3 and therefore the level of heat loss is reduced because the differential is reduced. 

Secondly, when the temperature rises above freezing, go and have a look at your roof covered with snow.  See where the snow melts first.  Compare this with any neighbours nearby and see which parts of the roofs lose their snow covering first.  (You have to consider exposure, aspect and other factors too.)  These weak points may be due to thermal weak points and show which parts of which roofs need insulating most urgently.  

To read other interesting articles on property matters go to the propertysurveying.co.uk website and click on the link to the Article Archive and Newsletter