RLA : RPI : In brief

News from the Residential Property Investor, the bi-monthly magazine for RLA members

other artilces from the October / November 04 issue

In brief - October / November 2004

Confidence in the UK office market has hit a six and a half year high, a report published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has concluded. In the last three months demand for business property rose for the fourth consecutive quarter, said the RICS. The largest rises were recorded in southern England, led by the office market, though strength in retail property is evident in the west Midlands and the North East.

Four of the five least affordable districts in England are in the South West, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has reported. Faster than average house price rises have taken the region 'even higher up the league table of areas where young earners find it hard to set foot on the ownership ladder', it said. They were among nine areas in which the price of a modestly sized house now costs more than six times the average annual income of local households with earners in their 20s or 30s. Affordability differences by area for working households buying their homes 2003 update by Steve Wilcox is available free of charge from JRF, The Homestead, 40 Water End, York Y030 6WP.

Estate agents are more professional than most observers would give them credit for, according to the Ombudsman for Estate Agents (OEA). Conducted by independent organisation Referenceline, a series of surveys that have run for just over a year suggest that more than 90 per cent of home buyers are happy with the information given to them by the estate agents, said OEA chairman Bill McClintock. The surveys also showed that 97 per cent of sellers were happy with the way fees are explained and that particulars of sale were agreed to be accurate, he announced.

A property investment company has been set up to allow landlords to take a stake in residential properties in eastern Europe while restricting their exposure by making outlays of as little as £5,000. Property Investment Opportunities Plc, a new company that was registered as a public company in September, is aiming to raise up to £10m between now and October 2005 to plough into investment and development opportunities in countries such as Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The directors say these will provide returns in excess of 20 per cent per annum.

Over a quarter of the UK's metropolitan house hunters are looking to emigrate to the country or to a smaller town, a survey of the UK's moving trends by the property website assertahome.com has found. It reports that 10 per cent of city house movers are 'greenshifting'to the countryside while a further 17 per cent are looking for new homes in small towns. Birmingham was found to be the city whose inhabitants appear most keen to flee to the countryside with 12 per cent saying they would like to move out of the city.

ARLA, the Association of Residential Letting Agents, is to 'move ahead rapidly' to implement a compensation scheme for landlords and tenants who lose out when the ARLA Code of Practice has been breached by a member firm. Go ahead for the scheme was endorsed by ARLA's National Council following a survey of members.

The scheme will be 'similar to an ombudsman scheme' and will provide compensation when a complaint against an agent is found to be justified by an independent adjudicator. Any compensation award will be payable by the member firm concerned.

Drafting of a new Local Government and Housing Bill will begin in the first week of office should the Conservatives win the next General Election. The promise was made to the Conservative Party conference by Shadow Secretary of State for Local and Devolved Government Affairs Caroline Spelam. Labour ignore the high aspiration people have to own their own home, she said. 'We want to help people realise that dream. This party, our party, understands this better than any other. We will extend the right to buy, but take it further with 'the right to own'.

Tenants evicted for yobbish behaviour will be required to sign undertakings of future good conduct and undergo residential courses on good behaviour and neighbourliness before being rehoused, Home Secretary David Blunkett has announced. Simply relocating antisocial families amounted to no more than moving the problem elsewhere, said Blunkett. So the idea is that those evicted because of their antisocial behaviour will be required to take courses in parenting skills, and financial and anger management if they expect to be allowed into a new council house or housing association property. The lessons will be delivered in dedicated secure council accommodation with about six problem families at a time receiving counselling and training.

Delivering housing adaptations for disabled people is a new good practice guide published jointly by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Department of Health and Department for Education and Skills. The guide gives detailed advice on the operation of the Disabled Facilities Grant programme the principal ODPM programme designed to provide Government financial support for major housing adaptations.

other artilces from the October / November 2004 issue

RPI news archive