Property Consulting

Property company secures hat-trick of lets at £14m development

Frasers Property has secured the three lettings at the biggest speculative new build scheme at Hillington Park – Scotland’s largest industrial estate – in over 25 years. The new lets span a total gross floor area of 18,820 sq ft and, following the arrival of Kayfoam earlier this year, bring the occupancy of the modern West 100 & 200 scheme to over 33% in less than five months following its completion. The strategic decision by Frasers Property to invest £14m in a speculative development to meet demand for modern industrial and logistics space in the Greater Glasgow mar

Property Consulting

China cuts mortgage rate as property crisis deepens:

China’s central bank has cut its mortgage rate as officials work to support the crisis hit property market. The bank has lowered the five year loan rate by 1.5%, which is the biggest cut in history. Lockdowns due to the country's strict zero-Covid policies are also affecting businesses and consumers. Home sales in China have fallen for 11 months in a row, official data shows. That is the longest slump since China created a private property market in the late 1990s. Several Chinese developers have halted building work on homes that had already been sold, because of concerns

Property Consulting

Can we buy our shared ownership property outright and let it out?

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, under the terms of your shared ownership lease you are not allowed to let your home if you only own a part of it (although you are usually allowed to have a lodger who lives with you). To be able to staircase to 100%, you’ll need to pay to get a valuation done by an independent Rics-qualified valuer. Then you need to calculate whether the money you inherited will be enough to cover 75% of the valuation or whether you’ll need to increase your current mortgage to be able to buy your home outright. If you switch to a buy-to-let mort

Property Consulting

Calling all property buyers: Elizabeth line is connecting Greater London closer to the capital

Buying a property in London, particularly for first time buyers is often very difficult for ideal location, space and price. However, the launch of the Elizabeth line as it is now known, is potentially life-changing. For those wanting to get on to the property ladder, there’s a new housing development within easy reach of the capital. The new Metalworks complex built on throwing distance from Slough train station. These high-quality properties not only offer extra living space, which is at a premium in the capital, but their prices are also up to 45 per cent lower than tho

Property Consulting

The areas most at risk of a second home crackdown!

Holiday let and second home owners, especially in the south of England are most at risk of higher tax bills and guest restrictions after an uproar from locals in tourist hotspots. This means that investors could face heavy losses. Local authorities have been granted the power to double council tax bills on second homes not in use or let out for at least 70 days per year in a bid to deter empty holiday homes in picturesque areas. The predicted areas currently are : North Norfolk, Cornwall, Isle of Wight, Tendring, Bath and North East Somerset. Furthermore, it is noticed tha

Property Consulting

Boris Johnson’s plan for 50-year mortgages is outright ‘risky’ and solely aimed at inflating the market:

The Prime Minister that he would be open to encouraging 50-year mortgages with debt potentially being transferred to the next generation are “unhelpful and fail to address the significant, long-term issues in the housing market." New plans would allow family homes and their mortgages to be inherited. The comments suggest that the Prime Minister may be aimed at encouraging greater home ownership but instead have the potential to encourage a short-term boom in the housing market followed by a long-term bust. _______________________ How would you handle the current market

Property Consulting

Property expert in warning after huge rise in number of York holiday lets:

A huge  jump in the number of holiday lets in York, plus a planned Government shake-up of the private rental market, will have a big impact on renters. The private rental sector has had to adjust to significant legislative changes over the last few years such as meeting the minimum energy efficiency standards through to losing the ability to offset interest payments from an income tax perspective. In our experience this has driven many landlords - due to the capital investment required and or the returns that can be achieved - to reconsider owning rental properties with ma

Property Consulting

Ex-Patriots merging properties to get Golden Visa in Dubai:

In April 2022, the UAE visa residency system announced that real estate investors could obtain Golden Visa when purchasing a property worth no less than Dh2 million.  This has encouraged residents in Dubai to invest or merge their properties to reach the milestone to be eligible for long-term residency. Around 35 to 40 per cent of customers merging two properties to reach the Dh2 million milestone to get the Golden Visa. When it comes to top buyers of properties for Golden Visa, it’s mainly Europeans, Africans and nationals of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Property Consulting

House prices are plunging drastically in Australia:

House prices in capital cities are slowing at a rate which has not been seen in more 30 years, this is signalling that the property boom is coming to an end. Australian homeowners have had the upper hand, with the property market enjoying unprecedented levels of growth year-on-year, increasing by 35 per cent since mid-2020. Annual price growth has fallen from 24 per cent just six months ago to 14 per cent now. The last time house prices slowed this quickly was more than 30 years ago – at a time when Australia was heading into a recession. Houses are continuing to outperfor

Property Consulting

Change is coming on climate risk due diligence for property conveyancers

The question of whether  solicitors have a legal duty of care to advise their clients on climate-related risks is being posed on at The Conveyancing Climate Change Conference on 14 June in the Law Society Common Room. Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) is now a growing area of concern for partners and fee earners.  It’s not just about how you operate ethically either – in terms of their footprint and who they give advice to (that is, whether you are planet-friendly). It’s also about how you advise clients on the impact of climate change. The geo-environmental risks