Former hospitals redeveloped by HCA for housing scheme
May 1, 2009
In response to the mortgage and housing crisis in the United Kingdom, the Housing and Communities Agency (HCA) has planned to redevelop 96 former prison and hospital sites. One among the planned redevelopment is the Long Grove Hospital in Surrey that was closed in 1992.
Presently, Long Grove is a flourishing estate surrounded by dense woods and includes a golf course. With the Hospital Sites Programme plan, HCA plans to include 67 such sites like Long Grove. The outcome is expected to include and provide 14,000 new and inexpensive homes in England.
With Long Grove, there are plans to develop two other similar sites that will include between 710 and 1,000 homes. The two sites cover 133 acres and will also include a hotel, community facilities, and a conference centre. Homebuyers will have a wide choice of homes to choose from, ranging from flats to luxury houses, depending on which ever fits their budget and requirements. 40 percent of all the houses will be offered at lower and reasonable prices.
This housing scheme is ideal for both first-time buyers and experienced property buyers. It offers first-time buyers the chance to buy their own property, depending on their desires and needs.
Popularity: 20%
Budget could reach the REIT solution
April 30, 2009
With the financial economy struggling and the FTSE dropping below 4,000, there is a demand from the British Property Federation to the Treasury to reform the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) regulations.
At present, the REITs which came into existence on January 1 2008, gives perks to landlords. Landlords are largely free of corporation tax but have to pay 90% of their rental income in dividends. The British Property Federation wants to change some things like deferring dividends or allowing them to be paid in stock. The BPF believes such changes could help in recovery and tempt new entrants to join the scheme.
Phil Nicklin, a real estate tax partner at Deloitte and an advisor on REIT to the Government says the conditions and rules of REIT were set during the property boom and cannot be considered as appropriate during a property price crash. The current property price crash has seen the value of capital fall by about 40 percent. To avoid a ‘breach of banking covenants’, some large REITs are approaching shareholders to raise more than £2 billion.
Changes like eliminating Stamp Duty Land Tax (SLDT) to the private rented sector have been asked to encourage residential REITs and attract more activity and investment in the residential sector.
Popularity: 15%
UK property market could soon witness rent stabilisation
April 29, 2009
During the past one year, there has been a sharp fall in property and home rents. And tenants, who are looking for more reductions in their rents, may be unhappy, as it seems that landlords have already reached their limits.
Estate agents have suggested that properties which have a rent of £1,000 per week or more are taking some time to shift, while properties that fall under the £500 a week are already successful in attracting two or three bidders. Over the past year, the average rents have seen a fall by at least five percent.
Going by the latest trends shown by the property market, if the lower end bargain hunters are able to secure a reduction, they should consider themselves really lucky.
According to a leading property research firm, the supply of rental properties has exceeded by sixty five percent in the London area, as compared to the previous year. The demand has also increased simultaneously but only by twenty percent.
At the end of 2008, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors did a survey that showed a razor-sharp fall in rents. Since then rents are still going downhill instead of rising up.
Of courses, the prices vary depending on the region and month. Over the past year, the North East has seen a rise by 2.2 percent while the North West seen the sharpest annual downfall of 13.5 percent.
Popularity: 13%
Worst affected UK property markets revealed
April 11, 2009
In a recent news report, it was highlighted that most houses that are put for sale in some of prettiest and beautiful areas of the UK property market are being offered at an asking price that is at least 20 percent lower that what it was six months ago.
The report also urged those who have the needed capital to go ahead and purchase the property, as this was the most perfect time.
In towns like Windsor in Berkshire and other similar areas of this stockbroker belt, the value of the houses put up for sale has dropped by a fifth. The stockbroker belt is one of the most popular places to live in the United Kingdom but is also one of the hardest hit property markets in the UK.
Windsor is one among the 16 towns that have been revealed to have been worse affected by the sharp decline in property market prices. The values of property in these markets have declined by at least a minimum of 20 percent.
Many people have been warned that the recession in the United Kingdom will worsen before any signs of improvement are visible. House prices could fall further, plummeting by as much as 55 percent.
Popularity: 12%
Lancashire Council to invest in developing Business Enterprise Village
April 10, 2009
Lancashire County Council has announced that work is now underway on the Rising Bridge employment site project. The plan is to develop the Haslingden location and create a Business and Enterprise Village that will provide new business accommodation and increase economic activity and employment prospects in the area.
The development is a priority partnership project for Lancashire County Council and Rossendale Borough Council’s shared economic regeneration agenda. The North West Development Agency has provided money towards the project which will create high quality business space for Small to Medium Sized Enterprises.
The employment site will create nine pavilion style offices providing over 32,000 square feet of business space to support job creation and stimulate economic growth in Rossendale.
Lancashire County Council Leader, Hazel Harding, who cut the first piece of land this week, said:
“This is an excellent regeneration opportunity for Rossendale and Lancashire. It will create jobs and income in the local area.
“It is important to retain businesses within Lancashire and the provision of sufficient and high quality office facilities to encourage our local entrepreneurs and also to attract businesses that may be looking to relocate into the area is vital.
“We are always looking to the future, especially so in such a difficult economic climate, and this demonstrates that we are firmly open for business in Lancashire.”
Hopefully it won’t be too long until the office units are full of office workers with all the office furniture installed and jobs created for the local people. By its completion in summer 2010, staff will hopefully be stood chatting by the water coolers and discussing how only a year ago this job was just a pipe dream!
Popularity: 18%
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