October HPI, Autumn’s a time for residence security, “gazundering”, financial savings on Council Tax payments for landlords and tenants and different UK property information

Whether you’re a house owner, potential purchaser, landlord, or tenant, it pays to remain abreast of what’s main the UK property information.

There’s hardly ever a uninteresting second, so let’s take a short peek behind a number of the newest headlines.

House Price Index – October 2023

On the penultimate day of the month, the web listings web site Zoopla printed its House Price Index for October. The principal takeaways from the newest replace of statistics on the housing market are:

• there’s a substantial reversal out there within the house of only one yr – a yr in the past, costs had been rising at an annual charge of 9.6% however now they’re falling on the charge of 1.1% a yr;

• protecting regulation of mortgage charges has helped to guard the housing market whereas home spending energy stays poor;

• whereas home costs proceed to fall by an estimated 2% within the yr to return, that discount plus a rise in common earnings ought to enhance affordability;

• at present, home costs are falling in 4 of the UK’s principal housing markets – solely in Scotland and Northern Ireland are common costs bucking the pattern and exhibiting a constructive charge of annual improve; and

• the quantity of transactions is forecast to succeed in greater than 1 million within the coming yr – and this milestone could possibly be surpassed if mortgage charges pattern nearer to their earlier 4%.

Over three-quarters of Brits really feel extra acutely aware about residence security in Autumn

A latest survey performed by Landlord News exhibits that greater than three-quarters of British households turn out to be extra acutely aware than ever of security within the residence as soon as the nights start to attract in.

Various considerations emerged. Chief amongst these had been:

• a want for higher lighting outdoors the house – talked about by greater than 62% of these surveyed;

• the set up of a burglar alarm or safety system – greater than 40%;

• improved locks on home windows and doorways – 30% plus; and

• participation in a neighbourhood watch scheme – greater than 23%.

Gazundering fears on the rise as patrons stress sellers to simply accept much less cash

“Gazundering” is the method by which home patrons apply stress on sellers to simply accept a cheaper price for his or her property – and it’s on the rise, based on a narrative within the Daily Mail on the 20^th of October.

Evidence for a big rise within the apply comes from the newspaper’s revelation that there was a 97% improve in web searches for the time period gazundering because the starting of this yr.

When there are fewer patrons out there, the initiative passes to them in having the ability to exert stress on sellers to promote at a cheaper price. Typically, patrons will wait till a comparatively superior stage of the proposed transaction when they’ll supply a diminished value merely to conclude the sale.

Landlords and Renters to save lots of on council tax payments

The National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) in a press launch on the 27^th of October claimed credit score for a change within the guidelines on the way in which Council Tax is assessed.

Thanks to stress from the NRLA, it claims, the federal government has agreed that separate, particular person rooms in shared homes will not obtain their very own band for Council Tax functions. Instead, the tax will apply to the premises as a complete and landlords can as soon as once more embrace the suitable share of Council Tax in particular person rents.

In this manner, tenants are additionally more likely to profit, says the NRLA – to the tune of as much as £1,000 a month.

Weakening UK housing market: Mortgage approvals fall to lowest in eight months

Evidence of the weakening property market within the UK was illustrated by a narrative in Euronews on the 30^th of October.

It got here within the form of figures exhibiting a big decline within the quantity of mortgage functions at present authorised. In September, simply 43,328 mortgage loans had been authorised – effectively in need of the 45,000 anticipated throughout the trade and the bottom quantity since January.

Further proof of a weaker market was additionally proven by two additional indicators: the truth that mortgage repayments in September surpassed the worth of recent lending; and a discount in remortgages – to values final seen as way back as January 1999.