The UK housing market is seeing a steady influx of higher property prices. This is bad news for first time buyers, who already struggle to put together big enough deposits even with the helpful schemes in place by the Government, but great news for property investors such as First Urban Group and those looking to sell their home.
This housing crisis is a lingering issue and one that doesn’t appear to have a solution in play anytime soon – we need more new builds, more readily available homes for people to strive towards owning.
It’s property developers such as First Urban Group we mentioned earlier who are helping fix the problem, acquiring land that serves no purpose and obtaining all the necessary permissions so developers can turn it into new builds for people to enjoy, in some of the most popular locations in the country. Their latest Northants acquisition is a good example of this, taking a former soap factory and doing the necessary legwork to ensure it is a location that can be sold to developers who can turn it into affordable housing.
Currently, home ownership is at its lowest level for 30 years as the significant gap between earnings and the price of a home part further, forcing those who need a place to live to rent, as well as the issue of not having enough property to go round. Buy-to-let landlords have been cited as an issue, as they buy up available property for profit but in Europe renting isn’t considered such an issue with many people preferring the flexibility that comes with not owning a home but in the UK property is an asset, something to keep hold of and use towards your future retirement days.
This sentiment is not a bad one, as property prices rise but we need enough homes for people to use them as investments and places to live in the first place. It has been estimated that by the year 2020 – 250,000 UK households will be unable to rent or buy without help and this could occur even if the Government hits its house building targets.
London is a particularly poor case when it comes to owning property, with those available on the market for unobtainable prices – even those earning £60,000 a year are still unable to climb the property ladder but elsewhere in the country they could snap up a property at a fraction of the cost and be able to easily afford it.
The housing crisis is here to stay and the Government needs to strive to support those people who struggling just to get a deposit together further – as well as refraining from going back on incentives such as the Help to Buy ISA, which was originally created to assist those saving but is only payable once the sale has been agreed.
For those looking to get on the property ladder, saving is important as well as taking advantage of every high interest savings account and Government scheme going. More houses are needed but until then patience is key.
