Property Newsletter 7th Oct 2024

MOST REGIONS SAW A PICK-UP IN Q3 2024

Nationwide regional house price indices are produced quarterly, with data for Q3 (the three months to September) indicating that most regions saw a pickup in annual house price growth. “Across England overall, prices were up 1.9% compared with Q3 2023. Northern England (comprising North, North West, Yorkshire & The Humber, East Midlands and West Midlands), continued to outperform southern England, with prices up 3.1% year-on- year. The North West was the best performing English region, with prices up 5.0% year-on-year. Nationwide house price index states: UK house prices up 3.2% year-on-year in September. Northern Ireland best performer, with prices up 8.6% in Q3 with East Anglia weakest performing region, with prices down 0.8% over the year.

Source: Nationwide House Price Index

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GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO PREVENT RENT DEBTS, NOT LET THEM GROW

The call comes as the Government’s Renters’ Rights Bill proposes increasing the amount of arrears a tenant can build from two to three months of rent before landlords can serve notice to repossess a property. In addition, the Bill seeks to double the notice period landlords must give in such cases, before waiting an average of seven months for the courts to process and enforce such claims. The NRLA is warning that allowing tenants to build yet more arrears will make it impossible for many to pay them off. It will damage tenants’ credit ratings, limiting their ability to access housing and other services in the future. The Renters’ Rights Bill will be debated by MPs on 9 October, when it will have its second reading in the Commons.

Source: NRLA

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GAP BETWEEN AVERAGE RENTS IN NORTH AND SOUTH OF ENGLAND SHRINKS TO LOWEST LEVEL

The gap in rents paid by those in the north and south of England has closed to its lowest level in at least 11 years, figures have shown. In its latest monthly lettings index, the property company Hamptons reported that the average rent paid by tenants in the north of England in August was ￡960 a month, an increase of 9.6% compared with the same period last year. This was 37% (￡357) lower than the ￡1,317 that the average renter in the It is a significant reduction from the 43% gap recorded last year, and the 55% peak in 2021.south of the country pays – the smallest percentage gap since Hamptons began publishing the index in 2013. Aneisha Beveridge, the head of research at Hamptons, said the gap had been narrowing for five years and reflected a similar trend in the homebuying market. She added: “It’s only been in the last year that the gap has really started to narrow beyond the point we’ve previously seen. Hamptons defines the north as the north-east and north-west of England, as well as Yorkshire & Humber, while the south is made up of London, the east of England, and the south-east & south-west of the country.

?Source: The Guardian