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STRONG FIRST HALF FOR COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MARKET – REPORT

A surge in demand for logistics centres and residential schemes dominated commercial real estate deals in the East Midlands during the first half of 2022, according to a new report, with total investment volume remaining above the five-year average.

In its latest Market Insite snapshot review of activity across Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, Innes England said that logistics centres and residential schemes accounted for 85 per cent of all transactions.

Although the total investment volume of £1.04bn was down by 14 per cent on last year’s record figure, it was still up on the five-year rolling average by 34 per cent.

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Notable logistics deals included ICG Real Estate’s £101m purchase of more than 500,000 sq ft of space at Mercia Park, Urban Logistics REIT’s £41m acquisition of the 670,000 sq ft East Midlands Logistics Hub near Melton Mowbray and Realterm Global’s £19m purchase of the 240,000 sq ft facility at Forbes Close in Nottinghamshire.

A number of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) deals in Nottingham took place, including Bricks Group’s £70m purchase of the 783-unit student scheme at the former Royal Mail sorting office.

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Ben Robinson, Innes England investment director, said: “Following record levels of commercial real estate investment in the East Midlands in 2021, the first half of 2022 has continued in much the same fashion.

“We are still seeing very competitive bidding in the sub-£5m market, particularly in the industrial and beds sectors. Again, that market has dominated the activity.”

By Adam Beech

Source: Insider Media

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RICS: Rising investment demand in UK commercial property higher than before pandemic

Property experts have seen positive movements in investment trends across commercial property during Q4, while owners continue to diversify the way we use office space, the latest RICS Global Commercial Property Monitor has found.

Across all sectors, investment enquiries rose for the fourth successive quarter, leading to capital value expectations rising for the year ahead. The strength of the industrial sector continues to standout, with a net balance of +84% of respondents expecting prime industrial values to increase over the next twelve months. The outlook is also positive for prime office values, as a net balance of +24% of respondents foresee an increase during 2022 (the strongest reading since Q4 2019).

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Looking at the alternative sectors, over 50% of respondents project an uplift in capital value expectations for data centres, multifamily residential and aged care facilities, respectively.

As almost two-fifths of respondents (+39%) believe the market to be in the early phase of an upturn, despite some impact from the latest Covid wave, respondents are more optimistic about the future of the UK commercial property, with owners in the office sector looking at how to attract employees and occupiers back.

As Covid restrictions lifted across the UK last week, 66% of respondents still believe an office is essential for a company to successfully operate. However, 76% of contributors report that they are seeing an increase in demand for more flexible and local workspaces and over two thirds (69%) have reported an increase in space allocation per desk following the pandemic; all highlighting how occupiers are making the office place safe and attractive for employees once more.

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But traditional set ups are changing as 87% of respondents are seeing a re-purposing of office space, with 15% highlighting that this is happening in significant volumes.

Interestingly as UK office space looks to be repurposed, investment enquiries from the UK and overseas slightly increased this quarter.

Growth across the industrial sector continues to intensify with availability of units failing to keep up with demand. This quarter, 61% of respondents saw an increase in the number of enquiries for industrial units whilst -43% reported a decline in availability. This imbalance means that almost two-thirds of respondents anticipate industrial rents rising in the coming three months. Industrials are also the only sector anticipated to see any significant rental and capital value growth over the coming 12 months too.

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The retail sector continues to experience a drop in occupier demand. Whilst investment enquiries also slipped this quarter with -16% of respondents reporting a fall in domestic enquiries and -17% reporting a fall in foreign investment enquiries, this continued negative trend is less pronounced than in 2020. 32% of respondents report that capital value expectations for the year ahead didn’t change in Q4 (in net balance terms). Despite this negative reading the momentum has significantly improved from the onset of the pandemic when 86% of respondents expected them to fall.

Tarrant Parsons, RICS economist, said: “Strength across the UK industrial/logistics market shows no sign of abating, with capital value expectations for the year ahead posting a fresh all-time high across the sector during Q4. Generally speaking, sentiment appears to have largely weathered the uncertainty brought on by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in recent weeks, although the green shoots of recovery that appeared to be emerging in office tenant demand seem to have been put on hold for now.

“Longer term though, a strong majority of respondents still consider office space in some form to be essential for businesses to operate successfully. That said, it appears more flexible or local spaces are very much in favour which could well prove to be a lasting legacy of the pandemic.”

Source: Scottish Construction Now

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Scottish commercial property set for strong year

THE Scottish commercial property market is set for a surge in activity as pent-up demand from overseas and UK investors makes its way to market in 2022.

Commercial property experts in Glasgow and Edinburgh have hailed high-end opportunities with the return of the office and continuing benefit from warehousing and industrial sites driven by people changing habits and accelerated by the pandemic.

Alasdair Steele, head of Scotland commercial at Knight Frank, said: “It has been an interesting year. One of the big themes that has come through has been the resilience within the market.

“Everybody has found a way of working around the challenges of the current pandemic, which is good and will stand us in good stead going forward.”

He added: “There is clearly a huge weight of money that has been amassed and is waiting in the wings to invest into property.

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“We are starting to see that in a number of deals that have come about towards the end of this year.

“I think next year is going to be a very strong year for that reason and I think what we are going to see a continued polarisation of the market really where it is almost like mining for gold.

“You have this little thin strip of the market that is incredibly sought after by a lot of buyers and then once you move out of that it becomes a much quieter marketplace.”

Among the transactions in the Scottish capital, two prime sites in the city’s financial district were sold with long-term tenants intact, including 145 Morrison Street, which is entirely let to Capita until 2030, was acquired for £12 million by Topland and Exchange Place One was sold in an off-market deal.

Mr Steele said: “There continues to be strong demand from UK institutions for long secure income streams. There is lots of money seeking after that, that old story of industrial accommodation just continues to get stronger and stronger with the kind of change in people’s shopping habits that was accelerated by the whole Covid pandemic has continued apace and there is just an insatiable demand for industrial investments from UK and overseas investors and I think that is definitely going to continue.”

An industrial shed in Lanarkshire, let to the Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, was sold for around £11m last month.

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“UK institutions for example are all driven by benchmarks so they tend to be relatively comfortable with buying what everyone else is buying, because they are judged against benchmarks and ratings but if you are a private equity investor you want to see value and it is very difficult to see value in the market where everyone else is trying to buy, so I think we’ll see some changes and I think one of the things that there could be a lot of interest an activity in is offices.

“Of course if you look at the pricing to the yields in those markets compared to a lot of Europe they are good value

“So I think there will continue to be a lot of overseas interest in offices in both Edinburgh and Glasgow next year,” said Mr Steele.

Glasgow’s largest single office block at 177 Bothwell Street is set for its official opening in January which comes with the entire building already let.

Its tenants include Transport Scotland, which is moving its headquarters there, AECOM, Virgin Money, and PNB Paribas, one of the world’s largest banking groups.

Stephen Lewis, managing director of HFD Property Group, said: “As I had predicted about March last year, whilst I expected the demand for office space to reduce by about 15-20% overall, that demand would be more acutely felt at the Grade B end of the space and it would be a flight to quality and that has been borne out.

“It is probably still a bit early to talk about whether it has been 15-20% in terms of overall reduction in take-up but there is definitely a flight to quality and that is borne out by the fact our building has let up so strongly during that pandemic.

“That is as much about wellness, sustainability, Covid proofing buildings, smart tech, all these things are what is driving occupiers.

“The question occupiers are asking is what do we need to do ton attract our staff back to the office, so it is creating spaces that staff want to attend.

“The wider take-up figures in Glasgow are pretty strong, buoyed by 177 but in general take-up is stronger than the market had predicted at the start of the year and that partly reflects the fact the economy has held up well, employment levels have held up well and productivity generally has been okay.”

He added: “Out of town in business parks, occupation is rebounding back to pre-Covid levels and again demand for quality space is there, flexibility in some cases.

“That is helped by those who want to look at not just public transport connectivity but also car-born and business that don’t have to be located in the city centre are often happy to take space in out of town business parks because that fits the model so that has held up and been resilient.”

By Brian Donnelly

Source: Herald Scotland

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Scotland’s commercial property market on ‘road to recovery’ after investment rebound

Scotland’s commercial property market has begun its “road to recovery” thanks to strong investor appetite for industrial and retail warehousing assets, new figures reveal.

Research by global property consultancy Knight Frank found that £1.2 billion has been invested in Scottish commercial property in the first three quarters of 2021, up by almost 21 per cent on the equivalent period last year as the sector rebounds from the pandemic.

By way of comparison, investors spent nearly £1.7bn during the same nine-month period in 2019, prior to the Covid crisis.

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The latest research shows that overseas investors remained the most active buyers of commercial property assets in Scotland, accounting for just over £500 million of overall volumes. Private property companies represented a further £322m, equivalent to just over one-quarter of total investment.

Property experts said industrial and retail warehousing assets had been the stand-out investment performers in 2021, with volumes outpacing the equivalent periods in both 2019 and 2020.

Alasdair Steele, head of Scotland commercial at Knight Frank, said: “Our figures suggest that Scotland is edging closer towards the level of activity we saw prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“While there is still some way to go, the economy was locked down for much of the first half of the year and there has been a noticeable upturn in investor sentiment since the start of the summer.

“Industrials and retail warehousing have seen the clearest upturn in activity, with investment volumes more or less doubling in both markets.

“Prime offices remain in high demand and, although investment volumes in offices are still some way off where they were in 2019, we expect to see more activity in this sector towards the end of the year and into 2022.”

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He added: “There is a weight of money looking to be invested and good quality stock coming onto the market. We expect that to drive deal activity in the final quarter of the year and, with that, we could begin to see prime yields fall – as has already been the case with some recent deals in Edinburgh.”

The industrial sector attracted £259m of investment in the first nine months of 2021, more than double 2019’s £109m and 2020’s £112m. Retail warehousing accounted for £232m in the first three quarters of 2021, compared to £213m and £117m in 2019 and 2020.

Meanwhile, offices saw £293m worth of deals in the nine months to the end of September, up on £240m during the same period last year, but still below the £575m transacted in 2019.

Investment volumes in leisure property – such as restaurants and cafes – was just £27m, marginally up on the £20m registered last year, but significantly down on 2019’s £135m.

A report earlier this week suggested that office occupier markets in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen were in recovery mode.

Take-up for the Glasgow office market totalled 289,209 square feet in the third quarter, the highest quarterly total since before the first pandemic-related lockdown, according to a report by property advisor CBRE.

By Scott Reid

Source: The Scotsman

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Commercial property trounces residential for rental yields

Commercial property offers significantly higher yields than residential, though the latter is far more popular with investors, analysis by London lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves has found.

Across the UK commercial property investment offers average annual yields of 10.7%, compared to just 3.4% for residential.

The best commercial property yields are found in Scotland (20.4%), the South West (13.7%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (12.9%), with the best residential yields being in Scotland (4.4%) and the North West (4.3%).

When it comes to the initial cost of investing, the average residential property requires a lower budget of £259,850. With an average value of £454,384, a commercial investment requires a budget 75% larger.

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Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, said: “It’s fair to say that both the residential and commercial markets have been impacted by the pandemic and so it’s hard for investors to know where to put their money at present. But tough times can also bring great opportunity and with the country now reopening from both a professional and social standpoint, both sectors are set to see a return to health over the coming months.

“There are a plethora of factors to consider from your initial investment level, which sector to choose and the ongoing requirements, capital gains potential, as well as the regional disparities across these sectors in each region of the UK.

“While a commercial investment may offer a higher yield, the recovery timeline as a result of the pandemic is set to stretch on far longer than that of the residential rental market and residential property investment remains by far the dominant force where availability, affordability and total sector value is concerned.

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“However, commercial investment can provide a more hands-off approach for those doing so through a third-party platform, while the amateur buy-to-let landlord is sure to spend more time sorting out tenant issues and so on.

“The best approach is a balanced portfolio and one that considers the pros and cons of each market from both a residential and commercial standpoint.”

Despite the gap between the returns offered for residential and commercial, the residential market is far bigger, with 541,966 listings versus just 12,022 across the commercial space.

The value is also higher, worth an estimated £251.5bn, while the commercial market comes in at almost £9bn in value.

Source: Property Industry Eye

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Commercial property shows signs of recovery this year

More than half of respondents agree conditions are consistent with an upturn, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, RICS’ latest commercial property market survey. In the second quarter, 56 percent of survey participants predicted a recovery compared with 38 percent of respondents from January to March.

Chief economist Simon Rubinsohn said: “Demand trends appear much more stable in the office sector relative to recent quarters, while the industrial sector continues to see sharp growth in interest from both occupiers and investors.”

A net balance of 16 percent of the 506 survey participants reported a pick-up in occupier demand during the first three months of 2021 – the strongest aggregate demand since 2016. This was dominated by industrial demand at 63 percent with retail and offices still reporting negative demand at 25 and 3 percent respectively.

Respondents continued to cite a sharp contraction in the availability of leasable industrial space, with the net balance slipping deeper into negative territory at minus 48 percent.

Prime office rents display marginally negative expectations for the year to come at minus one percent with secondary office rents anticipated to fall by four percent over the next year. Retail rents are envisaged to decline sharply, with expectations of a drop of 5.5 percent for prime and 8 percent for secondary.

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Industrial rents forecast to rise

But prime industrial rents are anticipated to climb five percent, while expectations are also firmly positive for secondary industrial rents at three percent growth.

“When viewed at the regional level, industrial rental growth expectations remain robust in all parts of the UK, with retail rents still projected to decline across the board,” said Mr Rubinsohn.

“Demand trends appear much more stable in the office sector”

“Interestingly, central London prime office market now displays stable rental growth expectations, marking a significant turnaround from the deeply negative assessment returned over recent quarters.”

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Survey respondents predicted a flat 12 months for prime offices in Scotland, the West Midlands, East Anglia and the Northeast. Secondary office rents are anticipated to decline further across all parts of the UK over the next year.

A net balance of 15 percent of contributors reported an increase in property investment inquiries led by the industrial sector at 64 percent with offices and retail in negative territory.

Capital values were predicted to rise for less mainstream sectors such as multifamily residential properties, data centres and aged care facilities. Student housing was also forecast to move out of negative capital value territory to neutral in the next year.

By Jayne Smith

Source: Workplace Insight

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Scottish commercial property investment up a third

Investment in Scottish commercial property increased by more than one-third (35%) compared to the same period last year during the first six months of 2021 as the market continued its recovery from the pandemic, according to analysis from Knight Frank.

The independent commercial property consultancy found there were £688 million worth of deals between January and June 2021, compared to £510 million during the first half of 2020 – the height of the UK’s first lockdown.

Investment fell marginally between the first and second quarters of 2021, from £371 million to £317 million (15%). However, this does not include deals with undisclosed values, such as the sale of Neptune Energy’s Aberdeen headquarters in May – the biggest investment deal in the city since the pandemic began.

Overseas investors have remained the biggest buyers of Scottish commercial property so far in 2021, making acquisitions totalling more than £300 million. Privately held property companies were involved in £115 million of deals, while UK institutions accounted for another £60 million.

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Alternatives and mixed-use schemes were the most popular asset classes in terms of investment volumes – including the £80 million of funding for Moda’s Holland Park build-to-rent development in Glasgow – followed by offices and industrials. Knight Frank predicted that, with a range of high-quality stock still being marketed, a flurry of deals could complete after the summer.

Alasdair Steele, head of Scotland commercial at Knight Frank, said: “Scotland’s commercial property investment market is still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, but there are signs we are heading in the right direction as the economy re-opens. The biggest investment transaction in Aberdeen since the pandemic began is indicative of the fact that significant deals are beginning to conclude and, all things being equal, we should see more after the summer break.

“While alternatives and mixed-use schemes has been an active sector over the past year or so – particularly in the build-to-rent market – another notable trend has been the hardening of yields for retail warehousing. With more investors looking for exposure to these assets, we expect the trend for good quality retail warehousing to continue, while offices should gain momentum in the second half of the year as the occupier market recovers and overseas inspections are allowed once again.

“There is a great deal of interest in what Scotland has to offer, with comparatively strong fundamentals. Commercial property remains an attractive source of secure long-term income, which is still a precious commodity for investors.”

By Brian Donnelly

Source: Herald Scotland

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Commercial property market growth prediction

The commercial property market could see returns grow by 6.4 per cent in 2021, real estate firm Colliers predicts.

The growth would be made up of 4.8% income return and 1.6% capital growth.

This follows a 2.3% decline in all property total returns in 2020. The firm says industrial and supermarket assets will be the most popular with investors in its latest Real Estate Investment Forecasts report.

Oliver Kolodseike, deputy chief economist at Colliers, said: “Latest business and consumer confidence survey data suggest that the economy will bounce back strongly in Q2. This is heightened by consumer confidence rising to its highest level since before the start of the pandemic, adding to hopes that the consumer sector will help drive the economic recovery.

“Mild rental growth will result in a slight reduction in yields in the short term, but we expect yields to then generally shift out in line with the trends for the Bank of England Bank Rate and 10-year government bond yields.”

Colliers predicts that over the five-year forecast, industrial and supermarkets will be the best performing sectors.

All retail total returns are expected to show marginal growth of 0.6% this year, having suffered a 12.4% decline in 2020.

The office sector has also been going through structural change with lease lengths shortening according to Colliers.

While the proportion of deals signed with lease commitments in excess of three years averaged out at 77% between 2016-2019, in 2020 the equivalent number was down to just 53%.

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Colliers expects all industrial yields to stand at 4.73%. Going forward, the firm predicts a stabilisation in 2022 and very mild outward shifts thereafter.

Given the ongoing strength of rental growth, all industrial total returns will show growth of 16.1% this year, the firm says, before slowing to a more sustainable rate of 5.4% in 2022.

John Knowles, head of National Capital Markets at Colliers, added: “It is particularly hard to forecast across all sectors over the next six months, however it does seem that industrial will continue to benefit from a demand driven market, much as it has done over the last 18 months. I have high hopes for the office sector, as confidence returns as people start to occupy their workplace again and business travel should open up to some extent over the next couple of months.”

Source: Punchline

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The Kent towns where sold prices spiked the highest during lockdown

House prices have seen record rises between March 2020 and 2021, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics.

In spite of worries about the economy and the housing market since the onset of the global pandemic, property prices in Kent and the UK more broadly have remained strong.

Overall, our county has seen substantial rises, whilst the picturesque Tunbridge Wells has seen prices rocket by the most locally in the past year.

In March 2020, the average house price in Tunbridge Wells was £377,298, but by March 2021, it had jumped by 10.5 per cent – or £39,768 – to £417,066.

In other parts of Kent, prices were also up.

In Folkestone and Hythe, average prices rose by 12.9 per cent, or £33,491, to £293,076 at the end of March.

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Meanwhile there was a 13.7 per cent rise in Thanet, an increase of £32,004 to £265,517.

Canterbury and Dover also saw large proportional spikes, rising by 10.7 per cent and 11.5 per cent respectively.

Compared to the rate of real wage growth, calculated by subtracting the rate of inflation from wage increases, this is even more significant – as during the pandemic, wages rose by just 2.8 per cent on average.

Across Kent as a whole, prices have risen by 8.8 per cent – or £25,647 – in the past year to an average of £317,251.

This means that house prices in Kent are now more than 10 times the average yearly income in the UK, which currently stands at around £31,000 a year.

This is slightly lower than the UK on average, clocking in at an increase of 10.2 per cent across the same period according to figures from the ONS.

This is the highest annual growth rate the UK has seen since August 2007, before the infamous ‘credit crunch’ financial crisis.

Early 2020 saw the housing market grind to a halt – as the first lockdown starting in late March closed estate agents and banned viewings.

Once things reopened, the UK’s average house price growth accelerated rapidly.

Th ONS said the pandemic may have caused house buyers to reassess their housing preferences.

The average price of detached properties increased by 11.7 per cent in the year to March 2021, in comparison flats and maisonettes rose by 5.0 per cent over the same period.

Here is the detailed breakdown of house prices across Kent.

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Change in house prices from March 2020 to March 2021

From left to right, the statistics are as follows: District, average house price in March 2020, average in March 2021, price growth in £, price growth in percentages

Tunbridge Wells // £377,298 // £417,066 // £39,768 // 10.5%

Folkestone and Hythe // £259,585 // £293,076 // £33,491 // 12.9%

Thanet // £233,513 // £265,517 // £32,004 // 13.7%

Canterbury // £296,522 // £328,203 // £31,681 // 10.7%

Dover // £247,252 // £275,797 // £28,545 // 11.5%

Dartford // £296,658 // £324,905 // £28,247 // 9.5%

Kent // £291,604 // £317,251 // £25,647 // 8.8%

Sevenoaks // £438,933 // £463,573 // £24,640 // 5.6%

Tonbridge and Malling // £366,893 // £390,617 // £23,724 // 6.5%

Maidstone // £285,672 // £307,072 // £21,400 // 7.5%

Medway // £239,359 // £258,787 // £19,428 // 8.1%

Ashford // £295,451 // £312,957 // £17,506 // 5.9%

Swale // £240,915 // £256,208 // £15,293 // 6.3%

Gravesham // £280,197 // £290,077 // £9,880 // 3.5%

By Claire Miller and Harry Higginson

Source: Kent Live

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HMRC: April resi transactions highest for that month since 2007

HMRC’s provisional non-seasonally adjusted estimate for UK residential transactions in April 2021 was 111,260, the highest total in April since 2007, when transactions were 126,450.
However, this is a drop from the March 2021 figure of 190,980.

Provisional non-seasonally adjusted UK residential transactions in April 2021 increased 197.8% year-on-year, but a substantial amount of this difference is due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the April 2020 statistics.

In addition, the non-seasonally adjusted estimate of 392,170 for UK residential transactions during quarter one of 2021 was the highest Q1 total since the introduction of stamp duty statistics in their current format in 2005, and the highest quarterly total since Q2 2006 (419,270).

Due to the pandemic, quarter two of 2020 was the lowest quarterly total for UK residential transactions since Q1 2009.

Provisional estimates of UK residential transactions in April 2021 have shown an impact from the temporarily increased nil rate bands for stamp duty and and Land Transaction Tax (LTT).

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Following year-on-year decreases in April and May 2020 of around 50%, caused by the pandemic, non-seasonally adjusted UK residential transactions have gradually increased, peaking in March 2021 with a provisional estimate of 173,410.

For non-residential transactions, non-seasonally figures in April 2021 increased 94.4% year-on-year, but again this will largely be due to the effects of the pandemic on last year’s data.

Provisional estimates of UK non-residential transactions in April 2021, 10,520 non-seasonally adjusted and 10,160 seasonally adjusted, are similar to levels reported during April in recent years, excluding 2020.

Following yearly decreases in April and May 2020 of around 45% caused by economic effects around the pandemic, non-residential transactions have followed a generally increasing trend during subsequent months.

Joshua Elash said: “Transactions are significantly down from March due to a large number of purchases completing that month in anticipation of the stamp duty holiday expiring.

“It evidences how significant an impact the scheme is having on buyer appetite and confidence.

“April was always going to be softer in terms of number of transactions.

“The annual rebound has, however, been stunning.

“A year ago, the first lockdown bit into the property market hard, and this comeback is nothing short of astonishing.

“All in all, the data continues to support a growing argument that stamp duty should be abolished completely so as to continue to encourage transactions, upward mobility, and to support the economy.”

Mark Harris said: “April’s dip in transactions compared with March is likely to be at least partly due to the anticipated end of the stamp duty holiday, before its extension was announced, which resulted in buyers taking their foot off the gas to get deals done.

“Now that the holiday has been extended, activity has picked up again.

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“Compared with April last year, when the housing market was closed to business thanks to the pandemic, there has been a massive 179.5% jump in transactions.

“That reflects the grinding to a halt of the market, as well as the surge in demand created by COVID, with more people bringing forward moves to the country and a growing desire for more space, both inside and out.

“On the lending front, lenders have plenty of cash and are keen to lend.

“There are some very competitive products, and with Nationwide returning to 95% LTV mortgages at lower rates than its competitors, it is a good time to borrow.”

Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, says: “Although these figures reflect many sales agreed several months ago, they show a reduction in activity as many buyers did not expect to still take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.

“However, activity has picked up strongly since the deadline was extended, allowing many to continue where they left off, as well as encourage new entrants to the market.

“Transactions are always a better measure of housing market strength than prices which tend to fluctuate.

“On the ground, supply is still a problem even though listings have improved as rollout of the second jab in particular is encouraging sellers to make their properties available.

“It is not only some sellers who are trying to profit from the home buying frenzy but certain solicitors are charging exorbitant fees to take on work, whereas others are working evenings and weekends to make sure they get over the line in time.”

By Jessica Bird

Source: Mortgage Introducer

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