Weekly Property News Round Up – 18.02.23

Hello,

This week has seen high demand and buyer activity which is a positive sign for the market. The team have been busy with our recent launches as a number of investors have been keen to secure deals at launch.

We also caught up with a great mortgage expert, Sam Norris, on our latest podcast to get an inside update on the current mortgage market. You can check it out using the link below. It certainly is not to be missed as there are some real gems of knowledge and information.

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 from having to click through.

Episode 57: Mortgage Market Update With The Property Investors Broker – Sam Norris – The latest episode of the Pure Property Podcast is out now. You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts and all other major platforms.

Remember, you can also listen to this week’s newsletter on the podcast as well.

We would really appreciate it if you could subscribe and leave feedback for our Podcast on Apple.

Property News This Week

• EPC Ratings Affect Landlord Investments – A survey commissioned by Foundation Home Loans found that two-thirds of landlords (68%) are less likely to purchase properties with an EPC rating below C, in light of the government’s proposed minimum EPC rating for new rental tenancies from April 2025. Almost 60% of respondents reported they are planning to purchase a property with an EPC rating of C or above while almost 30% said they were looking out for those with ratings of D or lower. It seems higher-rated energy-efficient homes may become more desirable.
  

 

• York House Prices Increased More Than Yorkshire Average In December – House prices in York increased by 0.9% in December, which was higher than the average of 0.6% for Yorkshire and the Humber, but lower than the UK’s decrease of 0.4%. Over a 12-month period, property prices rose £31,000 on average across York. First-time buyers spent an average of £281k on their properties £27k more than what they would have paid a year ago). Flats saw particularly strong increases with 1.2%, bringing them to an overall value of around 199K; over the last 12 months, there has been an 8.2% increase in value here too.

 

• Man Moves Into A skip That Costs Just £50 A Month – Have rental prices got that bad for some? Harrison Marshall, an artist from London, moved into a converted skip as rental prices continue to rise. He saw the skip and thought it was the same size as a studio apartment in London and decided to convert it into his new home. The Skip House is part of Skip Gallery, an art initiative intended for emerging artists. It cost him £4,000 initially and he pays £50 per month for rent; he showers at work or the gym while having access to a portaloo at home. After three weeks of construction in cold weather conditions during early 2023 Harrison moved in – with neighbours being friendly towards him ever since then.

 

• Purplebricks For Sale? – Once the disruptive major force in estate agency, Purplebricks has announced an update on trading in respect of the financial year ending 30 April 2023 (“FY23”), and commenced a strategic review to evaluate options including whether Purplebricks and shareholders would benefit from a different ownership structure. Revenue for FY23 is expected between £60-£65 million with an adjusted EBITDA loss between £15-20 million; positive cash generation is expected in early FY24 if the turnaround plan is successful. An ‘offer period’ has now commenced in accordance with Takeover Code rules; no talks or approaches have been made yet regarding the potential offeror at this time.