I hope you all have had a great week. Thursday marked our annual Cycle to Work Day, which has its origins nearly a decade ago encouraging workers in all areas to get pedalling and celebrate all things bicycle. With a host of benefits, from improving health and boosting wellbeing to better finances, cycling has it all. I’m sure many of us have been inspired by the Olympic games to get our own hearts racing!
Now, let’s take a look at all the headlines that caught our attention this week. I always try to summarise the links to save you having to click through.
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- Colliers Calls for Council Tax Reform – Colliers has stated that the proposed reform this Autumn must include a revision of council tax if it is to be functional. Normally, business rates would add £26 billion net to the pot, which local authorities use to pay for essential local services. However, the business sector has seen huge losses due to the pandemic, worsened by the rates holiday relief cap in June. According to Colliers, the government must take a realistic approach to business rates bills and look elsewhere to cover their essential funding. They think council taxes are one thing to look at as they are calculated on the value of the property as of April 1st 1991, so haven’t been revalued for over 30 years meaning some of the richest areas in the country have the lowest council tax bills and some of the poorest areas have some of the highest. Whether this advice is heeded though, remains to be seen.
- Student Rents Soaring According to Bank Study – Data from the NatWest Student Student Living Index shows student rent has risen steeply by nearly 20% since last year, where it now sits at an average of £518pcm. While Leicester has seen the largest rental increase, London is currently the only area where student cost of living is higher than their income. Although student loans still make up the bulk of student income, savings and parental help are growing in their importance for the student budget.
- Commercial Property Showing Signs of Recovery 2021 – RICS’s most recent survey on the commercial property market suggests that over 50% of respondents believe that recovery is on the horizon. The office sector has remained stable and the industrial sector is seeing a steady rise in occupier and investor interest. However, as industrial rents are also set to rise, there may be a slowing down in this sector and an increase in rental market interest as their rental rates continue to drop.
- Taylor Wimpey Tops FTSE during UK Property Boom – After already experiencing what it has referred to as a “record first-half performance,” House Builder Taylor Wimpey has now climbed another 4.4% on the FTSE 100. With a reported revenue of £2.2billion at the beginning of July, Taylor Wimpey has increased its revenue three-fold since 2020. Despite this, shares are still trading lower than they were at the peak of 2020, reflecting the hesitancy of investors to put their trust in property development at a time of economic instability due to the pandemic.
That is all we have for you this week. If you have any comments or questions on this week’s news summary then please feel free to send us an email at [email protected] – if not, see you next week.
