BREAKING NEWS – top 4 stories 22/07/2021

Estate Agent Networking Breaking News

Daily bite-sized proptech and real estate news in partnership with Proptech-X. Today, Stanton looks at Resolution Foundation, HMRC, Aviva’s latest research and more.

 

  1. Resolution Foundation says pandemic made the rich even richer
  2. The HMRC net draws in on landlords not paying taxes
  3. Aviva suggests widescale buyer’s remorse after moving in to dream homes
  4. Will new coronavirus variants slow the property market?

 

Resolution Foundation says pandemic made the rich even richer

The Resolution Foundation, an independent think-tank focused on improving living standards for those on low to middle incomes, has been doing some deep thinking about the pandemic and who it helped…and who got squeezed.

Its most recent analysis suggests that High Net Worth (HNW) individuals, especially those in the capital, enjoyed a rise in their standard of living. This could be, in part, due to their higher probability of being in bullish tech-adjacent industries, or because they owned property, which has risen by over 10% in the last year.

In contrast, the less well-off in society appear to be getting even less well-off in real terms. Of course, many work in industries like the entertainment sector, which have been severely impacted by the pandemic.

 

The HMRC net draws in on landlords not paying taxes

As the reach of technology widens, landlords who fail to disclose that they are landlords and do not pay their taxes may find HMRC breathing down their necks.

Zena Hanks at Saffery Champness said: “HMRC’s use of technology to home in on suspected unpaid tax is only going to increase, with data and information availability improving all the time, and the direction of travel is likely to be an ever-greater expectation, even demand, for tax to be paid in real-time.

“Accurate record-keeping is essential, as is planning ahead for the cashflow implications of real time payments.”

 

Aviva suggests widescale buyer’s remorse after moving in to dream homes

In a study of 2,200 homebuyers carried out by Aviva, nearly 70% felt pressured to buy their property quickly. That figure rose to 94% for those who purchased during the pandemic.

Other key points found were that buyers typically took 46 minutes to view a property before pulling the trigger, and over 30% of buyers during the pandemic did so due to the SDLT holiday.

 

Will new coronavirus variants slow the property market?

Following the huge amount of sales agreed, stimulated in large part by the SDLT holiday, the need to move into homes with gardens, or homes with adequate space to work from home, the market appears to be moving at a much slower pace.

Some industry commentators are wondering if new coronavirus variants are going to topple the housing market.

Whilst the UK economy seems to be opening up, and with the end of furlough just around the corner, if a new wave of infections continues to rise, will the fear of spreading the mutant virus make homeowners take up the drawbridge until business resumes as “normal”?

Andrew Stanton

CEO & Founder Proptech-PR. Proptech Real Estate Influencer, Executive Editor of Estate Agent Networking. Leading PR consultancy in Proptech & Real Estate.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

First-time buyers get more market town for their money in the Midlands

Leek, West Midlands is the most affordable market town for first-time buyers, at an average £191,359 Immingham, Yorkshire and the Humber most affordable for all buyers, at £176,918 Overall, average house price in market towns now £363,456, up 5% in the last year and 24% in the last five years First-time buyers paying an average…
Read More
Breaking News

Placemaking around rail is a winning blueprint

The Government has announced that around 40,000 new, high-quality homes will be built on surplus railway land, as the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, unlocks brownfield sites across the country for development. Richard Beresford Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “The Government has a chance to set a new standard in placemaking…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove: Average two-year and five-year fixed mortgage rates now level

Rightmove’s daily mortgage tracker shows that the current average two-year fixed mortgage rate is currently level with the average five-year fixed mortgage rate.   Both the average two-year fixed rate, and five-year fixed rate are currently 4.52% Prior to July 2025, the last time this was the case was in September 2022 before the mini-Budget…
Read More
Breaking News

UK Homemovers Relocating Over 50 Miles

UK Homemovers Now Relocating Over 50 Miles as Buyers Seek Better Value Beyond the City The latest research by GetAgent Exchange, a platform enabling estate agents to monetise out-of-area applicant leads, has found that UK long-distance movers are now relocating an average of 52 miles from their original location, rising to over 80 miles in…
Read More
Breaking News

Beach hut values soar by as much as 100%

The latest research from over-50s property specialists, Regency Living, reveals that it’s not just demand for bricks and mortar that is pushing up house prices in Britain’s most desirable coastal locations, with the average price of a beach hut soaring by as much as 100% in some seaside towns. High cost of coastal homes England’s…
Read More
Breaking News

Revealed: the most lucrative shared living postcodes

New research from COHO, the HMO management platform, reveals that the shared living market in England & Wales generates an estimated monthly rental income of £1.4bn. But which postcode areas are creating the most income from shared living? How much are HMOs making in your postcode? Find out here COHO has analysed the estimated number…
Read More