House Building Q4 2014 England

[FreeTrader]

Release from DCLG this morning.

Seasonally adjusted housing starts in England fell 10% between Q3 and Q4, after a similar fall the previous quarter. Starts in Q4 were down 9% on the same quarter in 2013.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/404996/House_Building_Release_-_Dec_Qtr_2014.pdf

[Samboy]

Pathetic, a nation that lets in 250,000 people a year, where most under 40s are priced out and thats all the building the state allows.

Upper echelon public sector heads on sticks is what is needed.

Edited February 19, 2015 by Samboy

[silver surfer]

The best outcome would be if the private sector ramped up house building in high employment areas to 300,000 properties a year, and kept it there for a decade.

But if not the private sector then why not just build council houses? A central government/local council partnership, because of virtual control on local land prices, could build houses far more cheaply than private builders. They could borrow the money to build at ultra cheap rates, and once they'd built those new council houses they wouldn't have to pay BTL landlords to house social tenants. So the scheme would be self funding.

Britain's housing stock is increased, employment is boosted, and BTL gets a kick in the teeth. What's not to like?

[CaptainSwing]

Pathetic

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

There would be far more housing built if the government didn't restrict residential land allocation via planning law.

If the laws were change to benefit the 99% you would find land with permission is $hitty areas falling from £1,000,000 per acre to near £100,000 per acre like it is in comparable european countries.

It's this hidden £90k per house 'planning permission tax' that's killing building, nothing else.

[Blod]

Pathetic, a nation that lets in 250,000 people a year, where most under 40s are priced out and thats all the building the state allows.

Upper echelon public sector heads on sticks is what is needed.

The simple fact is that until prices become affordable there won't be any building.

HTB et al miss the point, housing costs have to drop in cost.

[rantnrave]

Are they downing tools again until the taxpayer gives them another subsidy to do their job?

[Guest_northshore_*]

...This oligopoly needs to be smashed.

The Tories of an earlier time would have gone down this route. Opening the market up to competition.

Yes it does, but I'm not sure they would have: FT - Why Britains 'broken' planning system means local people miss out

[Executive Sadman]

So the keynesian idiocy that is HTB hasnt increased production at all (shock) but has flooded the market with 20% more credit making houses 20% more unaffordable.

Why anyone under 45 who either doesnt own, or owns a house they want to trade up from at some point would vote toryscum is beyond me.

[R K]

Ben Chu ‏@BenChu_ 12m12 minutes ago

Housing starts in England are now LOWER than they were when Help to Buy was launched. About that supply response....:

[FreeTrader]

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis:

"We inherited a broken housing market in which builders couldn’t build, lenders wouldn’t lend and buyers couldn’t buy. We’ve done a lot to help get the housing industry back on its legs, but there’s more to do.

"Today’s figures show we’re on track and turning this around. Now, housebuilding levels are at their highest annual total since 2007, and first-time buyers are getting on the property ladder in record numbers.

"This is thanks to our long-term economic plan and efforts to tackle the deficit we inherited, which are keeping interest rates at their record low and mean now is the best time on record to take out a mortgage."

Housebuilding continues to climb

[Billy soy]

"Long term economic plan"

""We inherited a broken housing market in which builders couldnt build, lenders wouldnt lend and buyers couldnt buy. Weve done a lot to help get the housing industry back on its legs, but theres more to do."

It's just hit air with these windbags, the only effort they make is in crafting a story for the press to lap up.

The big builders just like the big energy suppliers and probably water suppliers too, are just all in this together, up to their eye balls.

Big builders donate to the Tories, in return they don't need to worry about the cartel they are running, he'll why not throw in some state subsidy with public funds for HTB or Newbury scheme.again the only losers are the public in that sweet little money exchange.

And silver surfer is right, just build more social housing. The private builders have completely failed, housing is too important to leave to these bent monopolists.

[CaptainSwing]

The phrase "long term economic plan" gets me every time

Reinvention of Gosplan

FFS

[subspace]

Yep, good points. I know it's been mooted here before but builders should be forced to develop land holdings within 5 years of purchase or face having it CPO'd by government at a bare minimum amount. It could then be used for social housing or sold as individual plots for self-build and/or smaller house builders.

At the end of the day, if housebuilders don't build and sell houses then they don't make a profit. I am not sure I fully buy the argument often made by the left that housebuilders are rationing land to keep prices artificially high. I think this is just about the left playing to their belief of big corporations = evil.

I think that the reason why housebuilders are sitting on large amounts of undeveloped land is their developments are stuck in the beauracracy of the planning system. To give an example, in 2001 there was a plan to build 5,000 houses to the west of Stevenage. After 12 years of political interventions, public enquiries, negotiations and judicial reviews, the developers finally gave up and threw in the towel in 2013. How can any private company expect to make a profit if this is what they have to face?

http://www.stevenage.gov.uk/planning/stevenage-west/

Edited February 19, 2015 by subspace

[tinker]

Perhaps they made more money over that time by selling the land?

Plenty of outline planning permissions are made that don't come forward.

[Ash4781]

The live table 254 shows that into the last boom flats in the mix peaked at 50% (08/09) on completions and is alot lower now. Back then they kept knocking out those flats in towns and cities to a seamlessly endless stream of investors. As an aside there are so many of these £2-300K flats in my local Rightmove search on for prices that make my eyes water. Pass the parcel.

Atleast where I am in Kent anecdotely they are actually building houses but imagine in London developments are flats offloaded to whoever.

[Venger]

Meanwhile there is a HPC in retirement apartments in PRIME areas near me. For the over 60s. Another 1 bed apartment reduced by a bit over £5K yesterday to a near 1999 price (current asking price = £79,500). Better than posh hotel suites some of them; with kitchen, parking space, and low service charge (£120pm for 1 bed.. circa £150pm 2 bed). So few downsizers.

We need more retirement apartments, and something to jolt older owners in looking to cash in from hyperinflated values on large family homes... too few older owners, rattling around in large family homes, with little motive to downsize against £25K-£75K+ a year HPI on top of HyperHPI, for the moment.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Meanwhile there is a HPC in retirement apartments in PRIME areas near me. For the over 60s. Another 1 bed apartment reduced by a bit over £5K yesterday to a near 1999 price (current asking price = £79,500). Better than posh hotel suites some of them; with kitchen, parking space, and low service charge (£120pm for 1 bed.. circa £150pm 2 bed). So few downsizers.

We need more retirement apartments, and something to jolt older owners in looking to cash in from hyperinflated values on large family homes... too few older owners, rattling around in large family homes, with little motive to downsize against £25K-£75K+ a year HPI on top of HyperHPI, for the moment.

Why would they want retirement properties? They can't profit from retirement properties.

[tinker]

The live table 254 shows that into the last boom flats in the mix peaked at 50% (08/09) on completions and is alot lower now. Back then they kept knocking out those flats in towns and cities to a seamlessly endless stream of investors. As an aside there are so many of these £2-300K flats in my local Rightmove search on for prices that make my eyes water. Pass the parcel.

Atleast where I am in Kent anecdotely they are actually building houses but imagine in London developments are flats offloaded to whoever.

+1

That was the height of the boom. Driven by pure get-rich quick speculation.

[cool_hand]

But George said HTB would boost house building.

All it's done is inflate the price.

[Venger]

Why would they want retirement properties? They can't profit from retirement properties.

I've decided to let the hpcers who try and convince everyone nearly all older owners don't care what it's worth, to their own wild delusions.

Lettis.

Yesterday, 6:21 AM

Getting a mortgage that expires after 75 years of age

I will be 71 years old this May. My wife will be 69 years old next month. We own our house, valued over optimistically at about £800,000 and over cautiously at about £700,000. We have lived here for 20 years.

[..]We are looking to downsize and last summer we had the house on the market at optimistic rates, but are in no real rush and want to wait for a good price on the sale of the house. We expect to be listing the house again in the next month or so. Again we are in no rush to sell, except for the nagging concern that this is the last summer we will be able to offer the house for sale before the mortgage term expires.

in full http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5179679

[Dorkins]

I think that the reason why housebuilders are sitting on large amounts of undeveloped land is their developments are stuck in the beauracracy of the planning system. To give an example, in 2001 there was a plan to build 5,000 houses to the west of Stevenage. After 12 years of political interventions, public enquiries, negotiations and judicial reviews, the developers finally gave up and threw in the towel in 2013. How can any private company expect to make a profit if this is what they have to face?

http://www.stevenage.gov.uk/planning/stevenage-west/

Any housing minister that can't get houses built to the west of Stevenage is probably not really trying to get houses built. It's such an obvious spot to do it.

No surprise though when you look at the succession of useless housing ministers Cameron has appointed at a rate of one a year (just like Blair and Brown did).

[winkie]

Why would they want retirement properties? They can't profit from retirement properties.

Only a certain type of person with certain needs would choose to live in a retirement establishment....what would they do with money they don't need, where would they put it?....live it up on high days, cruises and holidays....for many of them that is not their cup of tea..they don't need the money, but they love their family homes, and as long as they can manage them would IMO choose to stay living in them.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Only a certain type of person with certain needs would choose to live in a retirement establishment....what would they do with money they don't need, where would they put it?....live it up on high days, cruises and holidays....for many of them that is not their cup of tea..they don't need the money, but they love their family homes, and as long as they can manage them would IMO choose to stay living in them.

More hand wringing sentimental twee ******** there.

[Blod]

But George said HTB would boost house building.

All it's done is inflate the price.

It was obvious when announced its sole purpose was to support the house builders.

All of the other measures have helped bring the market to the boil.

All of these measures have supported high housing costs and now that issue is itself coming to the boil.

George is today announcing a plan to build 400,000 homes today. Homes that we need now not at some time in the future when the market can support the house builders desire for ever larger returns.