Category: Weekly News

This was the week that we saw PM Boris Johnson announce that Britain must ‘build, build, build’ to bounce back from the coronavirus crisis. The property industry can definitely have a skip in its step knowing that the PM is fully behind it as he sets out his recovery plan with building homes and infrastructure at the forefront of his operation. These plans and the promised £5bn for it will no doubt have a positive impact on the overall property market and hopefully help generate jobs and money for the economy along with new homes to help ease the ever building demand.

The reforms that the PM announced are the most radical to the planning system since the Second World War which will make it easier to build better homes where people want to live. New regulations will give greater freedom for buildings and land in our town centres to change use without planning permission and create new homes from the regeneration of vacant and redundant buildings.

Overall, removing a lot of the frustrating and sometimes unnecessary red tape will be great news for builders and developers alike.

So let’s take a look at the media headlines that we have caught our eye this week:

It’s that time of the month when the latest Hometrack UK report is released showing property values and data from the UK’s largest 20 cities. We have been waiting in anticipation to see how the market has settled since May’s report and the reopening of the property market.

It’s good news, UK house price growth is +2.4% year on year and up from 1.4% at the start of the year. Manchester has also moved up from 3rd place into 2nd, just behind Nottingham (+4.3%), with a year on year increase of 3.9%. The English market has also seen agreed sales surge to being 4% higher than pre-COVID levels, asking prices for sold homes are also 7% higher than last year. These positive reports could be due to low supply which is 15% lower than a year ago.

There are more interesting stats and perspectives so it is well worth a read. To view the latest Hometrack UK report please click here.

Property news this week

• Why landlords could be keen to expand their portfolios in 2020– This is an insightful article which highlights how the fundamentals of property investing have potentially been strengthened over the course of the past few months. It seems that landlords may currently be keen to add to their portfolios and are utilising existing property portfolio equity to do so. Again, it all comes down to the resilient and strong bounce-back that the rental market has had coupled with the continued strength of property prices.
• London is still calling to international investors– According to property consulting firm PSS London, despite the fallout from COVID-19 and flights grounded, overseas investors are still very active in the London and regional property markets. It would seem that for overseas investors, London’s fundamentals are still as strong as ever and it appears there has never been a better time for buyers. They can also take some positivity from JLL’s new report which predicts a 17.1% increase in London prices over the next 5 years.
• New research highlights why and where to invest in new-build homes– Some very interesting stats and insights here. One that caught our attention was the fact that new-builds house price growth has increased 6-8% across the UK whereas the existing property market has only seen growth of 3%. Surprisingly, London has performed strongly with 7.6% increase for new-builds and existing properties experiencing only 1.2%. So the benefits of buying new-builds (such as easy/chain free purchase, better incentives, better energy efficiency and little initial maintenance for a number of years) have now been improved with better capital growth being added to the equation.
• How to avoid unwarranted suspicion when applying for a mortgage– This is a great guide for making sure you apply for your mortgage in a correct and efficient way to avoid unnecessary suspicion from the lender. This article can help get you prepared for when looking to apply for your next mortgage enabling you to know how to do it well with guidance on topics such as deposits. We always recommend obtaining your mortgage through a broker so they can advise you while also searching for the best deal from a variety of lenders.

In summary, the UK market is still riding the wave of the post-lockdown surge, our enquiries on various property investment projects have been the highest in a while, with confidence returning to traditional residential projects and off-plan schemes due to construction being back on track, rather than the fixed-income assets which saw strong demand over the past few months.

Team Track Capital

The main talk this week in the general news has been the latest figures that show in April the UK economy shrunk by 20.4%. These figures are stark but not a surprise. it needs to be taken into consideration that the majority of the country was fully locked down along with businesses unable to operate so there was bound to be a big impact. The Bank of England has come out to say that they are ‘ready to act’ to help the UK economy weather the coronavirus storm. There have been reports that interest rates could drop to 0 or below. This would be good news for property investors that would look to utilise the unprecedented and even lower cost of borrowing in the UK.

In more positive news, the lettings market seems to have rebounded very well and seen a surge in demand. Plus, the Government has indicated that in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Stamp Duty could be reformed as part of tax changes. When questioned about considering the merits of introducing a Stamp Duty holiday, the financial secretary to the Treasury,  Jesse Norman, answered on behalf of the chancellor and stopped short of ruling out such change.

Further property news from this week:

• Lettings demand 40 per cent higher than five-year average – According to Knight Frank, the lettings market has bounced back to life in the four weeks since the property market was opened back up for business. Demand from new prospective tenants was 40% above the five-year average and the second-highest in 2020. They anticipate the demand to continue getting stronger once there is more certainty over how universities will be teaching next year. Tenant viewings were also 1% higher than the five-year average and Knight Frank reports that the sales market is taking longer to rebound with buyer viewings 26% lower than the five-year average.
• The rise and rise of PBSA – growth continues despite Covid-19 – StuRent says Private PBSA is currently anticipated to grow by 5.7% year-on-year whilst university accommodation is set to only increase by 1.1%. It seems that investors are increasingly looking at more stable investments by looking at alternative sectors such as purpose-built student accommodation. Mistoria Group has seen demand for student property in the North West rise by 8% year on year. Investors that purchase PBSA units can benefit from assured net returns between 8-10%. The high demand for student accommodation has been consistent and continually increasing with constant shortages of bed spaces which have made it a stable investment for companies and thus investors as well.
• Investec funds £12.3m acquisition of Clapham Junction Buy-to-Rent scheme – The strength of the UK property market is further highlighted in this recent acquisition by Investec. A purchase of this magnitude in the current economic circumstances shows that domestic and international investors recognise the strong fundamentals of the UK property market.
• How much does it cost to rent in London’s ‘walk to work’ hotspots? – They say when it comes to property that it’s all about ‘location, location, location’ and in the new research from Howsy this is definitely the case for London. The firm looked at the cost of renting across 20 areas of London that offer a stroll into the City of London taking an hour or less and found that across these 20 locations the average cost of renting is £2,001; 18% higher than the current London average. The current tenant demographic for city rentals continue to show that they want amenities and work locations on their doorstep and will certainly pay more for the luxury. This is why we have seen the emergence of new developments offering luxury facilities such as gymnasiums, rooftop terraces, concierges and cafes to entice buyers and tenants alike.

See you next week.

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Team Track Capital

Welcome to the latest weekly news insight from Track Capital.

We have had a great week here at Track Capital HQ and confidence is definitely apparent in the market with developers starting to bring new property launches to us. Including new Manchester and Birmingham projects launching next week.

The property news this week has been positive overall, with a balance of the shock tactics we usually see from the media to gain clicks. Nationwide reported house price growth ‘slows sharply’. We encourage you to conduct independent due diligence, when you look at the stats, they focus on prices being down -1.7% month on month but prices annually have increased 1.8% showing the resilience of the UK market.

Either way, we are cautious not to always present the ‘everything is perfect’ picture but more so in our conversations with investors we try to put things into perspective, all we need to do is look at the big picture, example below of the average property values from Nationwide shown below.

Lenders are coming back to the market, activity is apparent and the market is moving but data is very premature so keep checking in with us to see how it progresses. But as far as we can see, it looks promising. We are advising our investors to capitalise on a market where there is uncertainty to get the best possible deals because once certainty/confidence creeps back into the market, sellers and developers will not be so lenient and willing to negotiate.

Property news this week

• Kensington ups LTV to 80% and resumes HTB & BTL – The is really promising news to see a mortgage company such as Kensington introduce higher loan-to-values and Help To Buy lending. This would indicate that lenders are feeling more confident about the property market. Companies such as Barclays and TMW are all slowly bringing back more products. The confidence has definitely been helped with the reinstating of physical valuations. Let’s hope that this continues as it can be an indication of the property market being in a good position.
• Liverpool named UK’s best buy-to-let area to invest in – We have been singing Liverpool’s praises for quite some time at Track Capital and have always said it is a great investment area with great fundamentals. Previously, Totally Money’s BTL Yield Map 19/120 had Liverpool at the top with the L1 postcode averaging a 10% yield. Now, Mojo Mortgages have reiterated this with L7 coming out on top with a very attractive 10.30% yield and five more Liverpool postcodes in the top 20 with yields ranging from 7.40% to 10.30%. If you haven’t researched Liverpool as a buy-to-let area for you to consider already then we recommend you do so. Great entry prices and yields make it a hotspot with room to grow.
• BTL house purchases up 7% during Q1 – The drop in first-time buyers seemed to have been made up by investors in Q1 this year according to UK Finance’s latest figures. Purchases of buy-to-let properties increased by 7% and while the Coronavirus lockdown may have temporarily hampered this incline we can be optimistic by the positive signal’s since the property market reopened and believe that investors will still remain active in the market, which is something that is needed to keep it strong.
• Will surveyors apply a Covid-19 ‘haircut’ to property values? – A very interesting article from Bob Young of Fleet Mortgages. This demonstrates the pressure that will be on the head of surveyors going out for mortgage companies and it is going to be interesting to see of they down value properties in a cautioned way. Are they going to cover their backs and include a post-coronavirus price drop in anticipation. With surveyors being back for not very long, the main data they have for comparable evidence will be property completions pre-coronavirus so this may lead to them applying a slight ‘haircut’ to the price to prevent them being pressed by lenders if the market fall slightly (this happened with the financial crash). I (Tobi) will be a test dummy as I have a mortgage valuation going ahead on an investment property I am currently purchasing and I had a pre-coronavirus mortgage valuation done but then the mortgage company pulled the original product so I had to start the process again with another lender. Let’s see what the surveyor says this time and if they give it a ‘haircut’.

New Manchester Launch – 20% Below Market Value

As well as the pay monthly Birmingham launch coming next week, just this afternoon we have finalised discussions on a new Manchester scheme. Whilst we don’t like to use the phrase to often, this scheme merits it, it’s offered at 20% below market value and approved for short-term lets, meaning investors can expect projected yields of 10% net.

This is a genuinely rare opportunity, we challenge you to find a development for sale in Manchester today at this value, from £135,000, that allows for short-term lets. If interested email [email protected] and we will send you the details, alternatively, you can call the team on +44(0)203 627 3987.

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Team Track Capital

Social Links for daily news: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn 

You can view our current property investment opportunities here.

Team Track Capital

That’s it for this weeks news, keep an eye out for weekly updates.

Social Links for daily news: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn 

You can view our current property investment opportunities here.

Team Track Capital

Welcome to this weeks property news from Track Capital.

The government announcement regarding the reopening of the UK property market has seen the pent up demand released. The majority of industry professionals are back to work and the market is moving again. We will be watching closely over the coming weeks and months to see how the property market reacts but so far so good as demand seems to already be back on the rise.

With the positive property market news that we had this week, let’s take a look and see if the headlines match:

Property news this week

Current UK BTL hotspots where yields are rising – In their latest research, lettings management platform Howsy has highlighted parts of the UK rental market registering the strongest yields and where yields have increased despite the current pandemic. Bradford topped the highest average yield leader board at 10% with Liverpool and Manchester also ranking high. The worst average yields of 2.3% saw the likes of Kensington and Chelsea at the top. The largest rise in yields can be found in North West Leicestershire where yields are up 1.4%. That is the good thing about property investing, even in tough economic and market conditions, rental prices are resilient.

Construction sites can now stay open until 9pm to help enable social distancing – The government has shone a light on the construction industry giving the green light for extended working hours on construction sites. The government realises the need for this industry to get back up and running after weeks of standstill due to lockdown.

Housing market back with a bang after lockdown easing – UK property website Rightmove reported a rise of 45% in site visits on Wednesday morning in comparison to a day earlier after the government gave the go-ahead to reopen the housing market. Email enquiries to Estate Agents increased 70% and new listings increased with 2,115 new properties added in just five hours. The government giving consent to renters and buyers being able to move again has seemed to have released the pent up demand that was building up. It will be interesting to see how the property market shifts in the coming weeks and months.

Build to Rent giant bucks virus with a big rise in rental income – Grainger is one of the biggest companies in the BTR sector and they have just defied the coronavirus with a surge in rental income. The firm saw an increase of 27% in rental earnings in the six months to the beginning of April compared to the previous year. BTR rental growth on their properties was 3.4% over the year and they are continuing to work on their 9,000 unit pipeline. Their growth, resilience in the COVID-19 market and continued investment in this sector shows the strength in the rental market as a whole.

That’s it for this weeks news, keep an eye out for weekly updates.

Social Links for daily news: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn 

You can view our current property investment opportunities here.

Team Track Capital

This week has been a relatively subdued one with property investment news UK headlines. We are still on tenterhooks to see what the UK Prime Minister is going to announce with regards to the plan moving forward and easing lockdown. This will hopefully give us an indication of how the economy and property market may move forward in some way shape or form.

Construction remains positive with our available investment developments meaning there should minimum delay in completion dates which is great news. This cements our ethos that working with proactive professional developers and companies is fundamental.

So let’s take a look at the media headlines that we have found insightful this week:

Property news this week

• Lockdown Sales: virtual auction raises almost £8 million– SDL Auctions managed to raise £7.7 million for property sellers showing that there is still an appetite for property purchasing. The online auction is held virtually and proves to be a huge success in the current climate. One might argue that with the current buying conditions, an auction might not be the best place to go for a bargain as there is clearly a lot of demand.
• Why property investments are a safe choice during the current pandemic– This is a great article which highlights the advantage of property investing, this is something we are highlighting with a lot of novice investors. When you look at the financial crash of 2008 data, stocks fell a lot more and quicker than the UK property market did (Dow Jones fell 50% compared to UK property at 20%). Something to definitely bear in mind, especially if you are assessing your current investment portfolio across all assets and looking to add more stable investments for the long term.
• Market rebound as new and completed tenancies rise again– The latest Goodlord rental index has shown that there was a drop in new and completed tenancies in the first half of April but they have then risen again in recent weeks. It also reports average rents dropped across the UK from £878 to £861, but let’s not read into this too much. The initial feedback is that rents have dropped due to the fact that savvy landlords are dropping their rents to entice tenants into vacant properties due to social distancing restrictions leading to less demand. Once lockdown is lifted and the market comes back to normality, demand will rise meaning landlords won’t have to reduce rental asking prices. If you would like to view the report click here.
• COVID-19 Triggered Opportunity for Investors– This covers a topic of conversation that we are having with multiple investors. Less competition from other buyers in the current market presents an opportunity for purchasers to get better deals. It would be a very good time to capitalise on this because once lockdown is eased and the market resumes, the competition will increase meaning demand increases leaving less room to negotiate with sellers and developers.

Social Links for daily news: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn 

You can view our current property investment opportunities here.

Team Track Capital

We have Boris Johnson back at the helm and he has said that the UK has ‘past the peak of the outbreak’ which is great news. Following this announcement, we are now shortly due to get the government’s comprehensive plan for easing lockdown and restarting the economy which will no doubt have a positive impact on the property investment market.

We also had Hometrack’s most recent report this week that has some interesting data which you will see below. We really recommend taking a look at the full report as there is some excellent information which is impossible to summarise in this email.

So let’s take a look at the media headlines that we have found insightful this week:

Property news this week

• Hometrack Report: March 2020

  The latest Hometrack report helps to give us a good insight into the early impact of COVID-19 on the property market. It explains that there is a huge pause on property transactions with a combined estimated value of £82bn. Demand fell over March (which is to be expected) but has begun to increase over recent weeks. Annual house price growth actually increased 1.8%, this may of course change in the April report so this will be interesting to see. We feel that if house prices do go down in April then it won’t be by very much and we would be surprised if it surpassed 1%, let’s check the next report and see.

• How the Coronavirus pandemic has impacted BTL mortgage rates

  This is a great article that looks at and compares the current mortgage rates on the market. The 70% LTV 2 year average fixed rate is the only rate to actually decrease since 1st April and stands at 2.78%. The most appealing average rate is still the 2 year fixed 60% LTV mortgage at 2.39%. The Mortage Works offers the lowest rate with their 65% LTV 2 year fixed product offering 1.19%. This article is definitely worth a look, especially if you are currently looking at purchasing a property investment with a mortgage or a remortgage.

• There is a ‘massive amount of pent up-demand’ in the rental market

  ARLA’s CEO David Cox is predicting that once the lockdown is eased, we will see a major release of pent-up demand in the rental sector. They are foreseeing that the first Friday out of lockdown will be one of the biggest moving days in the lettings industry’s history. We have been hinting for a while that there will be a surge in demand for rental properties post lockdown and it will be interesting to see if this has an upward effect on rental prices.

• Housing market could be back in business soon

  The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has confirmed that it is preparing a new set of guidelines for valuers across the UK to enable home valuations to restart safely meaning that the secondary housing market could be back up and running in just a few weeks. The government advice still remains that you should not move unless it is into an empty home but this is a step in the right direction and could see more mortgage products come back to the market with lenders being able to carry out physical valuations.

• Impact of virus and lockdown set to cause historic decline in housing delivery

  Knight Frank has reported that COVID-19 and lockdown will result in 56,000 fewer homes being delivered in the UK this year. The UK has struggled with a shortage in supply of new homes for numerous consecutive years now, always missing the government’s target of 240,000 new homes per year. This is going to put even more strain on the supply and demand problem and while supply is considerably lower than demand, we might see house prices remain strong and even increase. The lack of new housing being built won’t be great news for the government as they are constantly under pressure to deliver the quota of new homes needed.

Social Links for daily news: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn 

You can view our current property investment opportunities here.

Team Track Capital

The UK is still asking questions as to when and how the lockdown will ease and we still have very limited answers. The Government is under immense pressure and we hope that with the return of the PM Boris Johnson at the helm any day now, we will start to get some decisions and answers in this difficult time (I know I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes), read on for property investment news.

We are still enjoying home working here at Track Capital and that has probably been helped this week by the sunshine plus the fact that we sold out our Opal Ridge care home investment. If you missed out on this particular investment then please get in touch as we have a very small number of units available from the same provider in a different development offering similar returns.

So let’s take a look at the property news headlines that we have found insightful this week:

Property news this week

• Demand for rented homes bounces back by 30% in two weeks – Our first piece of property investment news. There are a lot of headlines about property prices but not much being said about the rental market. According to Zoopla’s recent article, the rental demand fell 57% in the last 2 weeks of March 2020 and has seen demand rebound by 30% in the first two weeks of April. The additional flexibility in the lettings market, which has allowed agents to agree rental contracts with delayed start dates and based on online viewings, means that activity has continued throughout the lockdown which ties in with what our industry insider was telling us last week. The most popular price bracket across the country (excluding London) was £500-£600 pcm which is similar to the trend we saw prior to the coronavirus. However, London renters seem to be looking for cheaper rental homes with online interest focused on the £1,200-£1,300 pcm price bracket in April.
• Chinese interest in UK property soars despite Covid-19 – The drop in sterling along with China’s emergence from the virus crisis seems to have ignited a high level of Chinese interest in buying UK residential property. At Track Capital, we have definitely seen an increase in enquiries, especially for our Liverpool investment, Kingsway Square. The main driver behind property purchases is Chinese students as parents look to purchase property for their children studying at UK universities. The US trade war has also affected Chinese demand for US real estate pushing them to look more at other countries such as the UK and Canada.
• Build-to-rent boom drives new housing supply across the UK – BTR has jumped 12% when compared to the previous year with outside of London seeing the biggest jump in the number of homes completed with an increase of 58%. It is too early to see the impact of coronavirus on the BTR sector’s pipeline but these homes are going to be needed once we come out of this pandemic so you would hope that if there was to be any indication of issues then the sector would receive the support and help needed to keep the much-needed homes coming. We predicted this sector would grow and this pandemic may be a catalyst to assist in this as the demand for good quality, safe rental property will be even higher once this is over.
• Lenders kick-start mortgage deals – Now our final bit of property investment news, We have mentioned a few times that lenders are returning to the market with different articles and that is because it affects different types of buyers and gives an indication of market confidence at a corporate level e.g. residential owner-occupiers and previously buy-to-let products. This week has seen the return of higher loan-to-value residential mortgages with Nationwide being one of many offering 85% LTV’s. This sort of stimulus is promising for the property market as it means potential buyers are still able to stay in the market and obtain finance, not like the 2008/9 financial crash where you could not get lending for love nor money.

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You can view our current property investment opportunities here.

Team Track Capital