Day: 21 April 2020

Learning From Lessons North Of The Border

Learning From Lessons North Of The Border

“Learning from lessons North of the border”, by Jack Spearman, Executive Director, Long Harbour The Government is moving in opposite directions with its efforts to reform the leasehold market on one hand, whilst also strengthening protection for residents via building and fire safety regulations. Removing professional oversight in high-rise apartment blocks will not only leave […]

NLIS Hub Fully Operational During COVID-19 Pandemic

With 318 of the 336 LA Local Land Charges Departments operational during the pandemic, NLIS channels can continue to access search data for conveyancer clients as normal. April 21 2020 Latest figures from Land Data, the National Land Information Service (NLIS) regulator, confirms the vast majority of LA Local Land Charges departments in England and […]

Diary Of A Highstreet Conveyancer – Monday April 20

Diary Of A Highstreet Conveyancer - Monday April 20

Monday So after having cleared out my filing cabinet and tidied my desk drawers, I got to thinking about what is going to happen. I am sure that like a lot of firms, I have a lot of clients who are patiently waiting for the restricted movement measures to be lifted so that they can […]

Government Initiatives To Revive Fragile Property Sector

How can the property market most easily recover once lockdown measures have been eased? There is no denying that the world is forever changed by the global pandemic we are all living through. Pressing pause on the world's market place does not mean that business wakes up, dusts itself down and resumes like the past few months were just a bad nightmare. Every economy on the planet has shrunk. The UK's workforce will not be rounded up at the end of the pandemic and put back to work. Jobs will be lost, unemployment is expected to almost triple by the end of June to around 10 per cent and lenders, buyers and sellers are likely to be a lot more cautious. Knight Frank predict the property market to contract by 38 per cent in 2020 with transactions reducing by 526,000 residential sales when compared with 2019. The knock on effect to other stakeholders in the property market is also likely to cost the economy over £8 billion this year. Knight Frank estimate that property owners will delay improvement plans and fewer new builds will be built, creating a £7.9 billion economic loss. Furthermore, it is likely that £395 million will be lost in removals as fewer housing transactions and the current property freeze impacts removers. The government, already borrowing GDP percentages at levels last seen during the second world war, are also set to come out of this year with record debts and significantly lower income streams with stamp duty land tax (SDLT) receipts falling by £4.4 billion and VAT declining by £1.6 billion. Despite the financial hit parliament will take this year, they will need to make a lot of important decisions to ensure the economy can reignite in a post-virus world.     Sentiment suggests, that currently, people are still looking to move. Only around 2 per cent of properties on the market when social distancing measures were introduced have withdrawn from the market and the pipeline of activity is only expanding. With that in mind Knight Frank have suggested the following measures are instantly needed to encourage home moves.  Firstly, given the hit the government are already taking with reductions in stamp duty, it has been argued by many stakeholders, including RICS, that a full stamp duty holiday is needed for all buyers. This is a 'in for a penny, in for a pound' mentality. The government are already set to lose around half of their SDLT revenue and therefore what is a few more billion? However, to a final stepper looking to downsize, saving thousands could be the influencer and determining factor in moving. In turn, this tax reprieve could them stimulate other areas of the market into action. Knight Frank claim that this measure alone will be insufficient in fully reigniting a decimated marketplace. Extending Help to Buy is also viewed as a vital cog. The scheme helped bring the fragile property market from the brink in 2013 and could continue to do so in 2020. It will provide a vital level of support to the housebuilding sector, encourage developers to continue building at somewhere close to 2019 levels and provide vital help to potential buyers that may find acquiring mortgage deals more difficult in a slightly hardened market. Technological and cultural improvements could be made to the conveyancing sector according to Knight Frank. They claim that 'removing the reliance on pen and paper' is vital with a shift towards the use of blockchain and digital working viewed as a necessary step in safeguarding and improving this section of the home buying and selling process. Finally, the post-virus suggestions maintain that the planning sector should use the 'new normal' as a way of improving its processes. Supply-side measures to improve the efficiency in planning departments is deemed as crucial. Knight Frank reference the fact that the Coronavirus Act already allows planning departments to run virtual meetings to ensure approved land and developments are ready to go post-virus. Builders and developers have been greatly impacted by the property hiatus and may not have the finances to pick up where they left off. Creating flexible payment options for Section 106 or Community Infrastructure Levy obligations could give developers the ability to investment the money they would otherwise lose. Developers also need to be given extensions to start existing and pending planning permissions in a similar way to powers granted between 2009 and 2012. What immediate action does the government need to take in order to help stimulate a fragile post-virus property market?

How can the property market most easily recover once lockdown measures have been eased? There is no denying that the world is forever changed by the global pandemic we are all living through. Pressing pause on the world’s market place does not mean that business wakes up, dusts itself down and resumes like the past […]

21% More Property Sector Businesses In Critical Distress

21% More Property Sector Businesses In Critical Distress

Over half a million businesses are now in significant financial distress with the real estate and property sector amongst the worst hit. 2,289 businesses are now in critical distress, a precursor for insolvency. This figure represented a 10 per cent increase in the opening quarter alone. The research has also suggested that governmental interventions have […]