Weekly Property Market Update May 9

All Estate Agents Should Have Qualifications, Industry regulator calls

MAY 9, 2016

The estate agency regulator is calling on the industry to make its views known in a review of cutting red tape.

The National Trading Standards Estate Agents Team is challenging the property industry by asking for the introduction of mandatory qualifications and competency standards for estate agents.

James Munro, team leader of NTSEAT, said: “We believe this would be an efficient, proportionate and consistent approach to raising standards in the industry.”

He said that while the review is not limited to estate agency, it is an opportunity for everyone with an interest in the profession to comment on the way the industry is regulated.

He urges agents: “If you haven’t already done so, I would urge you to make your own comments.”

The review closes for comments on Friday and is here

David Gascoyne, Sales and Lettings Manager at Residential Estates said 'qualifications not only look good for clients but they ensure that each agent knows the ins and outs of property and the legislation surrounding the industry. They can provide a sense of security and at our company we are already in the process of gaining our ARLA qualifications to ensure we are fully up to date with laws and rules.'

Number of home owners aged under 40 ‘has plunged by a third’

MAY 9, 2016

The last 20 years has shown that the number of younger homeowners has fallen by over a third, the housing minister has confirmed.

Brandon Lewis was giving a reply to Tory MP Julian Sturdy, who represents York Outer.

Sturdy asked what assessment had been made of the potential effect of the starter home scheme on the level of home ownership among people aged under 40.

Lewis replied: “Over the last twenty years, the proportion of under 40-year-olds who own their home has fallen by over a third from 61% to 38%, and the average house price to earnings ratio for successful first-time buyers is now 4.3 compared to 2.7 in 1993.

“The Government is determined to change this and ensure that more young people can afford to buy their own home. That’s why we are committed to building 200,000 starter homes to provide affordable homes for purchase with a minimum 20% discount for first-time buyers under the age of 40.

“Starter homes are an important innovation to improve the level of home ownership in this age category.”

Jason Dodd, Sales and Lettings Co-ordinator at Residential Estates said 'the starter homes as an idea, are good. However they are not affordable for everyone, especially not the people that they are targeted at and so the plan needs adjusting.'

Number of home sales in England during March rose by over 80%

MAY 9, 2016

A huge surge in residential property sales in England during March has been measured as 80% higher than the same month a year ago. Altogether, there were 141,310 transactions.

Meanwhile, average house prices are growing across every single region, says the latest Homes and Communities Agency housing market bulletin.

The bulletin says that there was a total of 1,135,830 transactions in the year to the end of March, up 9.9% on the previous 12 months.

However, the total stock of property for sale remains historically low.

The number of homes in England as at last year is 704,000. This was up 3.1% on 2010, and takes account of an 8% drop in the number of council-owned homes in the same period.

The bulletin rounds up housing market statistics from a number of sources.