Uk residential property landscape 2015

UK Residential
Property
Landscape
August 2015
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UK Residential Property Landscape
© IRN Research 2015
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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 4
AIM OF THE SURVEY ...........................................................................................................................................................................4
DANGER AHEAD FOR THE UK HOUSING MARKET….................................................................................................................4
A MARKET IN FUNDAMENTAL DISEQUILIBRIUM ...........................................................................................................................4
WHERE LONDON AND A FEW PRIME LOCATIONS CAN DISTORT THE NATIONAL PICTURE ..................................................5
WHERE IT BECOMES EASIER TO RENT THAT BUY FOR FIRST TIME BUYERS..............................................................................5
AND WHERE IT BECOMES HARDER OR LESS IMPORTANT FOR EXISTING OWNERS TO MOVE HOUSE… .............................6
WHERE HOUSING WEALTH IS RISING BUT IS HELD BY FEWER INDIVIDUALS...........................................................................7
A MARKET WHICH WILL NOT HAVE RECOVERED FROM THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRASH BY 2020......................................7
MARKET ENVIRONMENT .............................................................................................................................. 8
AIMS OF THIS SECTION.......................................................................................................................................................................8
OVER 80,000 COMPANIES ACTIVE IN THE PROPERTY MARKET ..................................................................................................8
A RISING POPULATION DRIVES THE DEMAND FOR HOUSING.....................................................................................................9
WITH THE DESIRE TO OWN A HOME AS STRONG AS EVER.........................................................................................................10
OVER £70 BILLION INVESTED IN HOUSING… ............................................................................................................................10
BUT SUPPLY FAILS TO KEEP PACE WITH DEMAND ......................................................................................................................10
THE GOVERNMENT TRIES TO REFORM THE PLANNING SYSTEM BUT PROBLEMS REMAIN..................................................12
THE GOVERNMENT TRIES TO BOOST THE SUPPLY OF LAND FOR HOUSING AND NEW HOMES .........................................13
BUT NOT EVERY INITIATIVE TO BOOST HOUSING SUPPLY IS WELCOME…............................................................................15
AND NOT EVERY INITIATIVE GETS LEGAL APPROVAL...............................................................................................................15
AND SOME GOVERNMENT ACTIONS COULD REDUCE HOUSING SUPPLY…...........................................................................15
OR BOOST DEMAND EVEN FURTHER.............................................................................................................................................16
DEMAND GROWS AS PROPERTY GENERATES BETTER RETURNS THAN CASH OR EQUITIES.................................................18
BUT BUY-TO-LET MADE LESS FINANCIALLY ATTRACTIVE…....................................................................................................18
WHICH COULD FORCE UP RENTS....................................................................................................................................................19
A TIPPING POINT FOR MORTGAGE AFFORDABILITY...................................................................................................................19
AND STAMP DUTY REFORMS HAVE TAKEN THE EDGE OFF THE TOP END OF THE MARKET..............................................20
WHILE THE MORTGAGE MARKET REVIEW HAS SLOWED THE RATE OF MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS...............................20
TRENDS IN HOUSEHOLD TENURE........................................................................................................... 22
AIMS OF THIS SECTION.....................................................................................................................................................................22
THE RISE OF THE LANDLORD .........................................................................................................................................................22
OWNER OCCUPATION GETS PROGRESSIVELY HARDER FOR FIRST TIME BUYERS…..............................................................23
WHO ARE INCREASINGLY IN A CATCH 22 SITUATION................................................................................................................25
HOUSING WEALTH........................................................................................................................................ 26
RISING HOUSE PRICES INCREASE THE HOUSING WEALTH EFFECT ..........................................................................................26
ALMOST £6 TRILLION OF WEALTH HELD IN DWELLINGS..........................................................................................................26
WITH HOUSEHOLDS OWNING THE LION SHARE .........................................................................................................................27
AND PRIVATE LANDLORDS OWNING AROUND 16% OF HOUSING WEALTH ..........................................................................27
OVERSEAS OWNERS IMPORTANT AT THE TOP END OF THE MARKET......................................................................................27
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SALES................................................................................................................ 28
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................................................28
1.2 MILLION RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SALES...............................................................................................................................28
HOUSES DOMINATE THE MARKET .................................................................................................................................................29
NEW BUILDS LOSING POPULARITY.................................................................................................................................................30
LONDON DOMINATES THE UK HOUSING MARKET....................................................................................................................31
WITH SELECTED POSTCODES OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE.......................................................................................................32
LESS THAN HALF OF HOME SALES FINANCED WITH A MORTGAGE..........................................................................................32
BUY TO LET LANDLORDS AND FIRST TIME BUYERS A GROWING FORCE.................................................................................33

FUTURE ISSUES .............................................................................................................................................. 34
AIMS OF THIS SECTION.....................................................................................................................................................................34
BASE RATE STARTS TO RISE FROM 2016 ONWARDS INCREASING MORTGAGE RATES…......................................................34
BUT HOUSEHOLD INCOMES WILL RISE, AS LONG AS UNEMPLOYMENT STAYS LOW..............................................................34
HOUSE PRICES ARE SET TO CONTINUE TO RISE AS HOUSING DEMAND OUTSTRIPS SUPPLY ...............................................34
HOUSE SALES EXPECTED TO RISE BY 19% BETWEEN 2015 AND 2020 ....................................................................................35
FEWER OWNERS OF HOUSING WEALTH ........................................................................................................................................35
WILL THE HOUSING MARKET BECOME INCREASINGLY ILLIQUID?..........................................................................................36
APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................................................ 38
ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS USED IN THIS REPORT......................................................................................................38

4 | P A G E
Executive Summary
Aim of the survey
The aim of this survey is to review the UK residential property market landscape and outline some of the
key developments impacting on the market at this point in time. It considers the social, political and
economic forces acting on the market and then looks at the market for residential property and how the
market will change in the future.
This report contains a range of statistics, presented in graphic form. All the underlying data can be
purchased for an additional £100. IRN Research also holds the Land Registry home sales data from 2010
to 2015. IRN Research can conduct further bespoke analysis on this data at a cost based on the
complexity of the data request and the time to complete the analysis.
Danger ahead for the UK Housing Market…
The UK housing market could be heading for a difficult period. While home sales are expected to rise
over the coming five years, even after this period of growth the annual level of sales will remain below
the level recorded prior to the financial crisis of 2007/08. There are four key dangers facing the market:
 Housing wealth is becoming concentrated in fewer hands making is harder for wealth to trickle
down the generations and help finance a new cohort of first time buyers.
 Because house prices are set to continue to rise faster than incomes over the coming five years,
especially the incomes of younger consumers, growing numbers of young adults will opt to rent rather
than buy a home. The supply of first time buyers in the market, the buyers who sit at the bottom of
many housing chains could decline.
 The rising cost of moving up the housing ladder, combined with the increased age of becoming a
home owner for the first time, is lowering the incentive and ability of existing home owners to move
home, thereby reducing the supply of homes coming onto the market.
The incentive for elderly home owners to sell their homes before they die to save on inheritance tax
has declined given recent tax changes. The supply of properties coming onto the market could, again, be
restricted.
A market in fundamental disequilibrium
The UK housing market is characterised by a lack of housing supply relative to housing demand. This
problem has multiple causes, including problems with the planning system, local resistance to new
housing estates, a restricted supply of land for housebuilding and a national fixation with owning a
home.
While Governments have developed schemes to overcome the supply-side problems, such as Housing
Zones and planning law relaxation, it remains the case that housebuilding and land supply are
inadequate to meet the housing needs of a growing population, boosted by increased longevity and

5 | P A G E
immigration. Moreover, some official actions may have made the situation worse by potentially harming
future housing supply (like the restriction of social housing rents and extension of the Right to Buy to
Housing Associations) and boosting future housing demand (like the new Help to Buy schemes which are
boosting demand for existing and not just new build properties).
What we know
 The number of households in the UK is set to rise from 27.5 million in 2015 to 28.8 million in 2020
and 31.2 million in 2029.
 In 2015, investment in dwelling will be just under £72 billion but the number of homes built in
England and Wales in the financial year 2014/15 was only 125,110 compared with 306,860 in
1969-70. More than 250,000 homes per year are required to meet housing demand.
 Since the launch of the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme 46,877 mortgages have been
completed with the support of the scheme. Of these, 78% were purchases by first time buyers.
 Housing Associations claim that the recently announced government measure on social housing
rents and Right to Buy could cut housing building activity by 27,000 units per year.
Where London and a few prime locations can distort the national picture
The UK housing market is in reality a series of distinct local housing markets. However, some local and
regional markets are of such scale as to distort the overall national picture. Greater London is by far the
most important county-level housing market in the UK and within London the housing markets in a few
select postcodes, mainly in Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea, are of a scale that dwarfs the
markets in other postcodes in the UK.
What we know
 In 2014, Greater London accounted for 13% of all home sales in England and Wales and 26% of
the value of home sales in England and Wales
 Four London postcodes in 2014 generated annual housing sales exceeding £100 million each,
with the postcode of SW1W 9AH (Westminster) generating house sales of £199 million and the
average home sold in the postcode of SW7 1QJ (Kensington and Chelsea) being worth £26
million.
Where it becomes easier to rent that buy for first time buyers
Private renting has become a first choice for many younger adults as the cost of housing has made
buying unaffordable for many would-be first time buyers. Tighter lending criteria due to banks’ efforts to
restore their financial health after the financial crisis and the new Mortgage Market Review regulations,
combined with the demise of interest-only mortgages have exacerbated the problem. At the same time,
the supply of rented properties has increased as buy-to-let landlords have moved into the market,
attracted by the ability of housing to generate market-leading income and capital returns. The supply of
affordable, social housing has remained little changed over the past 10 years: the decline of local
authorities housing stock (due to a halt to housebuilding and the continued impact of the Right to Buy
rules) have been almost exactly offset by the increased supply of housing association properties.
The growth of buy-to-let landlords have also made it harder for first time buyers to purchase a home as
landlords compete for the limited supply of housing in the UK with owner occupiers. BTL landlords have

6 | P A G E
also enjoyed tax advantages over owner occupiers which have made it more affordable for landlords to
purchase a property: these tax advantages are, however, due to be eroded in 2016.
What we know
 Between January 1992 and June 2015, UK house prices have risen by 192%, while those in
London have risen by 424%
 The income returns on rented properties have been around 5% for landlords over the past five
years, compared with 3%-4% dividend returns on share ownership and less than 2% on
Government bonds of less than 10 years duration or bank accounts
 In 2015, an estimated 5.5 million privately rented properties were available to rent, compared
with 3.1 million in 2005. Over the same period, the supply of social housing has remained stuck
at 5 million, while the number of owner occupied properties has declined from 18.1 million
properties to 17.8 million.
 In England in 2003-04, 51% of under-35 year olds were owner occupiers (50% buying with a
mortgage) but by 2013/14 this had declined to 31% (29% buying with a mortgage). Over the
same period, the percentage in privately rented accommodation has increased from 26% to 52%
 In 2010, 4.3% of home sales by value were generated by landlords buying with a buy-to-let
mortgage, rising to 10.9% in 2015.
And where it becomes harder or less important for existing owners to move house…
Not only is it becoming harder for first time buyers to get onto the housing ladder, it is becoming harder
or less imperative for existing home owners to move. As the age of becoming a first time buyer rises
each year, the window of opportunity (in years) left to homeowners to move home and still get a 25
year mortgage is declining. More mature homeowners often face the prospects of trying to buy a more
expensive home with mortgages of less than 25 years (implying high monthly repayments) and facing
high moving costs. These forces are reducing the number of times homeowners move in their lifetime
and is helping limit the supply of existing properties coming on to the market, thereby helping to
increase property prices further. Moreover, changes to inheritance tax announced in the 2015 Budget
may also increase the incentive for the elderly to remain in their homes and not sell or pass on
ownership to their children before they die.
What we know
 The typical age of a first time buyer is now 31 but most mortgage companies insist that
mortgage repayments must be finished once the mortgage holder is aged 65 or 70, making 45
the cut off age for taking out a 25 year mortgage.
 According to research from Post Office Money and the Centre for Economics and Business
Research (CEBR) the cost of moving home has grown by 59% over the last decade
 A study by Lloyds Bank found that homeowners paid more than £50,000 extra in 2015 to take
their next step on the property ladder than they would have done five years ago
 Parents and grandparents will be able to leave homes worth up to £850,000 to their children
without them paying inheritance tax from 2017, rising to £1 million by 2020.

7 | P A G E
Where housing wealth is rising but is held by fewer individuals
At the end of 2015, almost £6 trillion of wealth will be held in UK dwellings, the vast majority of this held
by households and non-profit making institutions serving households. Housing wealth is rising in
importance as a generator of wealth for the UK economy, with landlords estimated to be taking a
growing share of this wealth. With owner occupation declining as private renting rises, housing wealth is
being concentrated into fewer hands. The concentration of wealth will only increase in the future, when
by 2021 it is estimated that around £8 trillion will be held in housing wealth. With fewer individuals
owning houses, there are fewer older owner occupiers to pass on their housing wealth to their children
or engage in remortgaging to generate money to help their children buy a home.
What we know
 In 2015, IRN Research estimates UK dwellings will have a collective value of £5.7 trillion,
compared with £3.92 trillion in 2008 just after the financial crisis hit the UK economy.
 In 2015, dwellings represented around 12% of total UK national wealth, compared with 9% in
2008.
 Around 95% of the wealth held in dwellings in the UK is owned by households and non-profit
making organisations serving housings
 Landlords owned around 16%-17% of the total wealth held in dwellings in the UK in 2014.
 The rise in house prices over the coming five years will mean that by 2021, £8 trillion of wealth
will be held in houses in the UK, a rise of 41% over the level of wealth in 2015.
A market which will not have recovered from the global financial crash by 2020
In 2015, there will be around 1.2 million residential property transactions in the UK, compared with 1.7
million in 2006, the year before the global financial crisis started. Transactions are expected to grow by
19% over 2015 to 2020 but even by 2020 transactions will be below the 2006 level. House sales will rise
relatively quickly from 2015 to 2018 but the rate of increase will slow in 2019 and 2020, at which time
Base Rates will exceed 2% and house price inflation will be nearing 6% per annum: house prices will
continue to rise as housing demand exceeds housing supply. The problems facing the UK housing market
today will remain by 2020. Despite efforts to boost housebuilding, new build sales will remain a small
niche sector of the housing market and the regional disparities will remain.
What we know
 By Q 1 2021 house prices will be around 34% higher than they were in Q1 2015. Over that same
period, consumer disposable income is expected to rise by around 28%, meaning homes will
become less affordable.
 By 2020, there will be 1.4 million residential property transactions in the UK (1.2 million house
sales) compared with 1.2 million in 2015 (1 million property sales). In 2015, property transactions
will be worth £315 billion. In 2006, there were 1.7 million UK residential property transactions.

8 | P A G E
Market Environment
Aims of this section
This section will outline some of the key social, economic and political influences operating in the
property landscape of the UK.
Over 80,000 companies active in the property market
The residential property market is part of the wider UK property industry, which also includes
commercial property. The UK property market segments into three broad sectors:
 Buying and selling of own real estate
 Renting and operating of own or leased real estate
 Real estate activities on a fee or contract basis, including real estate agencies and management
of real estate on a fee or contract basis
There are some 84,000
VAT/PAYE-registered property
businesses in the UK. Most of
these are small-scale
enterprises employing less than
50 people. Collectively these
businesses operate over 97,000
units.
The property industry is very
fragmented and competitive,
comprising a wide variety of
companies, together with a
relatively small number of large
national and international
operators. The distinction
between companies outlined
opposite is often very blurred.
A property developer, for
example, is engaged in the
construction or renovation of
property, which is then either sold or used to generate income via short-term leases (e.g. rental). In
most cases, this encompasses single property projects rather than multiple properties. Some large
property companies will also have estate management arms, which manage property on behalf of an
owner. Moreover, estate agents earn their income in the following ways:
• Fees from property sales, which are calculated on a percentage of a property's selling price.
• From lettings, i.e. rentals.
• Property management services.
• Sale of financial products, e.g. mortgages and insurance.
Employee numbers
Buying and
selling of own
real estate
Renting and
operating of
own or leased
real estate
Real estate
agencies
Management
of real estate
on a fee or
contract basis
Total
Businesses
0-4 3,025 43,480 12,325 9,760 68,590
5-9 255 4,005 3,470 1,750 9,480
10-19 80 1,675 1,290 665 3,710
20-49 15 375 500 235 1,125
50-99 0 140 120 70 330
100-249 0 135 55 45 235
250+ 0 135 35 35 205
Total 3,375 49,945 17,795 12,560 83,675
Units
0-4 3,050 46,845 14,765 10,960 75,620
5-9 255 4,930 6,125 2,010 13,320
10-19 80 2,375 2,205 880 5,540
20-49 15 870 555 385 1,825
50-99 0 310 85 115 510
100-249 0 250 45 90 385
250+ 0 65 15 20 100
Total 3,400 55,645 23,795 14,460 97,300
Source: ONS/IRN Research
The Number of UK Property Companies by Employee Numbers, 2014

9 | P A G E
The property market is also very dynamic, with many young businesses entering and exiting the market.
While it is tempting to talk of the UK property market, in practice, the property market varies according
to local market conditions, which in turn is strongly influenced by local social conditions, e.g. wealth,
composition of the population and availability of land. There are usually a large number of people willing
to bid for the right property or piece of land, especially as both are in short supply in some regions
A rising population drives the demand for housing
The UK population is rising. A combination of increased longevity and immigration is boosting the
number of people living in the UK. At the same time, the typical household size is falling with more
people living alone (especially elderly females), which means more individual housing units are required.
Therefore, individual household numbers are growing thereby increasing the demand for homes in the
UK.

10 | P A G E
With the desire to own a home as strong as ever
The desire to own one’s own home remains a
core goal of most adults in the UK. Over six-
in-ten private renters are expecting to own
their own home one day (26% in less than
two years’ time) and even around one-
quarter of social renters expect to eventually
be a home owner (12% expecting in less than
2 years). Therefore, not only are new
households being formed in the UK at a
relatively rapid rate, the presumption of
many renters is that they will also become
home owners.
Over £70 billion invested in housing…
In 2015, the public and private
sector will collectively invest just
under £72 billion in UK
dwellings, covering investment
in new dwellings and
improvements to existing
dwellings. Investment by the
public sector held up better
during the financial crisis than
did investment by the private
sector but since 2009, the main
driver of growth has been
private sector investment and
work. In 2015, IRN estimates
the public sector will account for only 5% of the investment in dwellings compared with 9% in 2009.
But supply fails to keep pace with demand
Despite the sums invested in dwellings, the overall level of house building in the UK has declined since
1980. Data from England (which accounts for around 84% of UK house building) shows that 140,490
house builds were started in financial year 2014/15 – a fall of more than 53% from the 300,530 built in
1972/73.
A very similar pattern emerges when looking at housing completions in England.
£57,867
£67,055
£47,757
£67,184
£31,697
£55,031
£46,522
£71,977
£25,000
£30,000
£35,000
£40,000
£45,000
£50,000
£55,000
£60,000
£65,000
£70,000
£75,000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
(est)
Gross Fixed Capital Formation in Dwellings
Constant 2011 prices Current Prices
£31,697
£55,031
£46,522
£71,977
£57,867
£67,055
£47,757
£67,184
£25,000
£30,000
£35,000
£40,000
£45,000
£50,000
£55,000
£60,000
£65,000
£70,000
£75,000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
(est)
£m
Gross Fixed Capital Formation inDwellings
Constant 2011 prices Current Prices

11 | P A G E
From financial year 2000/01, the number of build starts saw a short term increase, peaking in 2005/06.
Afterwards, the number of houses started dropped as the global financial crisis hit the UK, reaching a
low point of just 88,000 starts in 2008/09. Since then housing starts have picked help, helped by
Government schemes to boost demand for new build properties (see below).
Source: Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)/IRN Research
1972-73, 300,530
1976-77, 279,210
1988-89, 219,950
2005-06, 183,370
2007-08, 170,440
2008-09, 88,000
2012-13, 103,520
2014-15, 140,490
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
1969-70
1970-71
1971-72
1972-73
1973-74
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
1979-80
1980-81
1981-82
1982-83
1983-84
1984-85
1985-86
1986-87
1987-88
1988-89
1989-90
1990-91
1991-92
1992-93
1993-94
1994-95
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
HousbuildingStarts in England, 1968-2015
Local authorities Housing association Private
Source: Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)/IRN Research
1972-73, 272,520
1976-77, 263,430
1988-89, 202,930
2005-06, 163,400
2007-08, 170,610
2010-11, 107,870
2012-13, 107,980
2014-15, 125,110
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
1969-70
1971-72
1973-74
1975-76
1977-78
1979-80
1981-82
1983-84
1985-86
1987-88
1989-90
1991-92
1993-94
1995-96
1997-98
1999-00
2001-02
2003-04
2005-06
2007-08
2009-10
2011-12
2013-14
HousbuildingCompletions in England, 1968-2015
Local authorities Housing association Private

12 | P A G E
Despite this growth, housing starts remain well below that required to fulfil rising housing demand. The
2004 Barker Review of Housing Supply noted that about 250,000 homes needed to be built every year to
prevent spiraling house prices and a shortage of affordable homes. In particular, the report noted that
the UK had experienced a long term upward trend of 2.4% in real house prices over the past 30 years. In
order to reduce this rate of increase to 1.8% an additional 70,000 houses in England each year may be
required. In order to reduce this rate to the EU average of 1.1% an additional 120,000 houses each year
may be required.
The Five Causes of inadequate supply
There are five fundamental causes for low levels of housebuilding in the UK.
 Planning system and local opposition. Many house builders believe that given the current
planning system and the continued power of local residents to block new developments, even a
target of 200,000 housing completions by 2016 is unachievable. The planning system is
considered too slow, bureaucratic and expensive.
 Land is in short supply. The UK is a relatively small geographic area and most of its population is
concentrated in the major urban areas especially in and around London. This is part of the
reason why there is a shortage of available land for building new homes. Many feel that local
plans drawn up by councils often fail to identify enough land to meet local housing needs.
Moreover, the public sector and the private sector both have large land banks. Private
companies often hold land as an investment and even house builders tend to only release their
land gradually for building, so as to keep land prices up.
 The decline in social housebuilding. Up until the Thatcher Government of 1979, local authorities
were among the biggest house builders in the UK, building more than 100,000 homes per year in
the 1970s. Since the Thatcher Government, public sector housebuilding has declined: in the
2014/15 financial year just 1,820 homes were built by local authorities in the UK and the 2010
Spending Review reduced the DCLG's annual housing spending - which supports social housing -
by about 60%. Housing associations have taken over from local authorities as builders of social
housing but their ability to build is restricted by rules governing their rents, lets and how their
housing stock is valued. New Right to Buy rules and restrictions on social rents (see below) may
further restrict their ability to build.
 Financial crisis. The financial crisis did more than cut the ability of house builders to raise funds
to invest in new housing and cut mortgage demand, it also led to an exodus of skilled workers
from the construction industry which the industry is still struggling to overcome. The crisis also
forced many smaller house builders out of the market, leading to a drop in housebuilding
capacity.
The Government tries to reform the planning system but problems remain

13 | P A G E
In 2012, the government introduced
a simplified and streamlined
National Planning Policy Framework,
which aimed to simplify the planning
system. This appears to be
increasing the number of planning
permissions for house builders and
for householders (e.g. extensions
and loft conversions).
House builders still say it can still be slow to get from outline to detailed planning on a housebuilding
project.
However, the move towards localism started by the previous Coalition Government has, many argue,
encouraged Nimbyism. Local resistance to new housing is especially strong around the greenbelt, the
protected green zones around urban areas in the UK. The previous Coalition government actually
tightened planning rules regarding the greenbelt. Many feel a more flexible approach is needed with
some development on the greenbelt allowed with land elsewhere converted into green spaces.
In the Housing Bill, announced in the Queen Speech in 2015, the new Conservative Government
announced it was to simplify and speed up the neighbourhood planning system, to support communities
that seek to meet local housing and other development needs through neighbourhood planning.
The Government tries to boost the supply of land for housing and new homes
The Government has instigated a range of measures to improve the supply of land for housebuilding.
Government directly releases land
According to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the previous Coalition
Government released enough formerly used surplus public sector land for 100,000 homes and the 2014
Autumn Statement included plans to identify similar land for an additional 150,000 homes in the next
five years. Despite £1.7 billion worth of land and property sales in the last parliament, the Government
still owns more than £300 billion worth of land and buildings.
First 20 Housing Zones designated
The Housing Zones programme is designed to unlock brownfield land that has the potential to provide
viable housing schemes. This is through a combination of long term investment funding, planning
simplification (e.g. local development orders), local authority leadership and dedicated brokerage
support from central government and the Advisory Team for Large Applications (ATLAS) planning
support. Central government is making available £200 million of recoverable investment funding for
Housing Zones in England outside of London
The Budget 2015 announced the government is designating the first 20 Housing Zones outside London,
and continuing to work with the 8 other shortlisted areas. The Zones announced in the Budget could
support up to 45,000 new homes.
Type of development
Mar-14 Mar-15
Major Developments 5.6 5.5 68% 75%
Minor Developments 35.7 38.3 83% 84%
Householder developments 167.9 177.1 97% 97%
Total 209.2 220.9
Source: DCLG/IRN Research
Number (000), year
ending
Decisions made within
16 weeks of aplication
or agreed time
District Planning Authorities in England: Housing-related planning
applications granted

14 | P A G E
Land registers
As Part of the Queen’s speech, the new Conservative Government outlined the Housing Bill. One of the
Bill’s proposals is the introduction of a statutory register for brownfield land, to help achieve the target
of getting Local Development Orders in place for 90% of suitable brownfield sites by 2020. The
housebuilding industry, while it supports this move, worries that there might not be sufficient
infrastructure provision on the allocated sites and that there will not be enough brownfield land coming
onto the market. Local Development Orders are not a silver bullet and experience shows that they are
costly for local authorities to produce.
Previously, in February 2015, the government had announced the creation of the London Land
Commission (LLC), which aims to develop brownfield and public sector land in the Capital. The Budget
2015 provides £1 million to allow the LLC to create a comprehensive database of public sector and
brownfield land. Alongside ongoing support for the regeneration of Barking Riverside and Brent Cross,
the government will also provide £7 million to the Greater London Authority to support the
development of the Croydon Growth Zone. This could unlock over 4,000 homes and 10,000 jobs.
Starter Homes
The 2015 Housing Bill announced Government plans to deliver 200,000 new Starter Homes across the
country. These new homes will be sold with a 20% discount to first-time buyers under 40. In August
2015, the Government invested £26m in a new fund to acquire brownfield sites that will be used to
build Starter Homes, to be sold to young first-time buyers under the Help to Buy scheme (see below).
The government has also indicated it intends to make proposals to ensure that every “reasonably sized”
housing site includes a proportion of starter homes, and is looking into exempting developers from
certain levies if they are building starter homes.
Right to Build
Also part of the Housing Bill was a ‘Right to Build’, which is designed to help increase housing supply and
diversify the housing sector by giving people the right to be allocated land with planning permission for
them to self-build or commission a local builder to build a home.
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill
This Bill was also part of the Queen’s speech in 2015 and is designed to introduce directly-elected
mayors to combined local authorities in England and to devolve housing, transport, planning and
policing powers to them. The Bill was broadly welcomed by the property industry which has long
advocated the role that devolution can play in unlocking regeneration and growth around the country,
and the potential it has for the creation of jobs, homes and infrastructure.
£3.5billion private rented sector fund
In December 2014, the previous Coalition Government announced the signing of a £3.5billion deal to
fund purpose built rental homes in the UK. The deal was struck with PRS Operations Limited, a
subsidiary of Venn Partners LLP, and will make loans available to landlords looking to invest at least
£10million in the private rented sector.

15 | P A G E
The government’s private rented sector housing guarantee scheme enables landlords of new rented
homes to use a government guarantee to secure long-term financing. This investment will increase the
supply of purpose built, professionally managed private rental homes giving tenants more choice of
better quality homes.
But not every initiative to boost housing supply is welcome…
The Government in 2013 made it easier for property developers to convert empty offices into homes.
However, many developers used the new freedoms to convert occupied offices into homes, given the
much higher returns on residential properties compared with commercial properties. Such was the level
of conversions that may business leaders and local councils feared there would be a shortage of office
space and a decline in available jobs, especially in areas of high house prices like central London. It was
reported that the London Borough of Westminster lost 5% of its office space, enough space for 78,000
workers.
The 2013 rule change was for an initial 3 year period but the Government was set on making this
permanent until it read the responses to a consultation conducted in 2014. As a result in 2015, the
Government abandoned its plans but did announced plans to allow casinos, distribution centres and
storage facilities to be turned into homes more easily.
And not every initiative gets legal approval
In August 2015, the High Court forced the Government to reverse its plans to relax the rules for small
house builders. Under the plans, announced in November 2014, the requirement for small house
builders to include some housing priced at below market level on their schemes or in some cases pay an
equivalent sum in cash was lifted for sites of 10 homes or fewer. The Government claimed this move
would make it £15,000 cheaper to build each home, but councils claimed it would cut the number of
low-cost homes available by more than 20%. The High Court ruled the new rules were “incompatible”
with the existing statutory planning framework. The Department for Communities and Local
Government is seeking leave to appeal against the decision.
And some Government actions could reduce housing supply…
The Budget of 2014 and the Housing Bill outlined in the Queen’s speech could collectively have the
impact of reducing the number of new homes built by at least 14,000 units and possible much more. The
Housing Bill outlined an extension to the “Right to Buy” programme to the 2 million people living in
Housing Association properties. The Right to Buy scheme for Housing Associations, however, may not
get off the ground as Housing Associations point out that they are legally barred from selling homes at
below market value and hence cannot offer them at a discount to their tenants. Therefore, the
government would need to introduce legislation to allow Housing Associations to sell houses to tenants
at a discount but this could mean that Housing Association total borrowing of £60 billion would be put
onto the public balance sheet.
The 2015 Budget also announced that social housing tenants will see their rent reduced by 1% a year
for the next four years. Previously, social housing rents could increase by 1% more than inflation – a
formula set by the chancellor in 2013 and intended to last for 10 years. Housing Associations have
warned this will reduce their ability to build new homes, with the Office of Budget Responsibility

16 | P A G E
indicating it will cut house building by 14,000 and Housing Associations warning the cut could be much
larger, possibly up to 27,000.
Or boost demand even further
The Coalition and the new Conservative Government has introduced measures which have aided the
demand for housing. These often centre on first time buyer and some have specifically targeted demand
for new build properties, which it is hoped will spur new housebuilding. Key initiatives include the
following.
First Buy
This scheme came into force in March 2011. Under this scheme, which is only available for new build
homes from participating developers, first time buyers receive a 20% deposit towards the purchase of
their first home in the form of an equity loan. The loan is funded equally between the UK Government
and the House Builder. First time buyers under this scheme must show they can afford a 75% mortgage
and have the funds to put down a 5% deposit as well as up to £5000 to cover legal costs and mortgage
fees.
For the first five years, the loan is interest free and charged at 1.75% in year 6, and inflation plus 1%
thereafter. On sale of the property, the loan is paid back equal to 20% of the sale price, unless the
homeowner has purchased the remaining shares.
Help to Buy Equity Loans
The Help to Buy scheme was
launched in April 2013 and in
essence is an extended version of
First Buy. Again, it is restricted to
the purchase of new build homes
but is not restricted to first time
buyers. Under the scheme the
government provides an equity loan worth up to 20% of the value of a new build home, interest free for
the first 5 years, which can be repaid at any time or when the home is sold. The maximum home value is
£600,000 and there is no income cap constraint.
Help to Buy mortgage guarantees
Launched in October 2013, this scheme is open to all home buyers and for all types of home (not just
new builds) and requires home buyers to have only a minimum 5% deposit of the purchase price (it is
open to buyers with up to a 20% deposit). The guarantee is provided to the mortgage lender, not the
mortgagee. The guarantee compensates participating mortgage lenders for a portion of net losses
suffered in the event of repossession. The guarantee applies down to 80% of the purchase value of the
guaranteed property covering 95% of these net losses. The lender therefore retains a 5% risk in the
portion of losses covered by the guarantee. This ensures that the lender retains some risk in every
mortgage originated.

17 | P A G E
To qualify for a Help to Buy mortgage guarantee, the home being purchased must be valued at £600,000
or less and must not be a shared ownership or shared equity purchase. Since 1 October 2014, no new
loans with a loan-to-income ratio of 4.5 and above can be included in the scheme.
Shared ownership
The government also helps social tenants and other first-time buyers to buy a home through shared
ownership schemes. These allow people to buy an initial share of a home and pay rent on the
remainder, usually to a housing association. Shared ownership is aimed at first-time buyers who are
unable to buy a property suitable for their needs without financial help.
Rent to buy
With Rent to Buy, consumers can rent a newly built home at approximately 20% below the market rate
for up to five years (exact period of time varies by property). During that time period, the tenant has the
option to buy the property or to buy part of the property under a Shared Ownership scheme.
When the tenant gets to the end of the time period they either have to buy part of the property or
leave. This scheme is open to first time buyers with a household income of £60,000 a year or less (or
£64,300 if looking at homes in London). In additional to FTBs, the scheme is also open to consumers
who used to own their own home but cannot afford to buy one on the open market now.
Help to Buy ISA
The Help to Buy ISAs was announced in the 2015 Budget. It will give first-time buyers a 25% deposit
subsidy — an extra £50 for every £200 they save. The maximum initial deposit in the account will be
Since the launch of the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee 46,877
mortgages have been completed with the support of the scheme. Of
these, 78% were purchases by first time buyers. Compared to total
mortgage completions in each region, the scheme is supporting a
higher proportion of mortgages in the North West and the East, and
a lower proportion in London and the South East
The total value of homes purchased under the scheme
is £7.29 billion. The mean value of a property
purchased or remortgaged through the scheme was
£155,603, compared to a national average house price
of £273,000.
Source: HM Treasury/IRN Research
4
162
817
1578
2090
2648
3322
4031
3872
4379
3893
3419
3823
3145
2847
2266
2098
2483
£1 £21
£112
£226
£306
£383
£479
£585 £567
£661
£587
£515
£562
£459
£425
£331
£305
£351
£0
£100
£200
£300
£400
£500
£600
£700
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
2013 2014 2015
£m
Numberofcompletions
Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee. No.mortgage completions andvalue properties from
October 2013 toMarch 2015
Completions Value of mortgage loans

18 | P A G E
£1,000, with maximum monthly deposits of £200. The measure has been criticised for not helping
housing supply and for the fact that with the current deposit subsidy it would take savers four and a half
years to build up £15,000, or a 10 per cent deposit on the average UK home. Researchers at Capital
Economics estimate that the scheme would give potential buyers an extra £60,000 to spend, once their
additional borrowing scope is taken into account, so it will boost demand for housing.
However, it has also been argued the scheme may perversely reduce housing demand in 2015, as
potential buyers wait for the official launch of the scheme in autumn 2015. The Institute of Fiscal Studies
has argued the scheme may have a negative effect on demand until 2020 when the first buyers to use
the scheme would make their purchases.
The housing charity, Shelter, have pointed out that the scheme will cost £2.2 billion over the coming five
years, enough to build 65,000 affordable homes.
Demand grows as property generates better returns than cash or equities
Many investors and adults looking to build up a nest egg for
themselves in later life have faced a period of low investment
returns as interest rates worldwide have been low after the
financial crisis that stared in 2007/08. At the same time, many
consumers have lost confidence in their pensions to provide
them with a good retirement income or they have realised they
do not have adequate pension provision. Low returns and a
desire for a better income in the future has resulted in a
significant growth in buy-to-let landlords. According to the
Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), the typical
landlord generates an income (i.e. rental) return of around 5%
and this has been the case over the 2010 to 2015 period. In
contrast, equities generate typical dividend returns of 3%-4%, while cash assets and government bonds
generate much lower returns.
Buy-to-let landlords and other landlords are competing with home purchases to buy the limited supply
of housing in the UK. This has helped push up house prices and squeeze many would-be home buyers,
especially younger first-time buyers, out of the market. The tax advantages for buy-to-let landlords (see
below) has also meant they have been better able to finance a house purchase compared with home
owners.
Not only has housing offered a better income return than many other assets it has also outperformed
the stock market recently in terms of capital appreciation. According property adviser Savills, UK
Landlords have made £177 billion profit from capital growth over the past five years with buy-to-let
landlords the biggest beneficiaries of rising house prices. The £177 billion of profit only represents
capital gain and excludes income from tenants’ rents.
But Buy-to-let made less financially attractive…
The 2015 Budget introduced measures to make the financial returns on renting a home less attractive to
buy-to-let landlords. From April 2017, the offset of mortgage interest available to higher rate taxpayer-
landlords will gradually be reduced to the basic rate. Under the four-year withdrawal of the relief, in
2017/18 landlords will only be able to apply the existing relief rules to 75% of their finance costs with
Annual average income return, 2014
Rental yield - flats 5.18%
Retail yield - houses 5.03%
UK equities 3%-4%
10 year Govt security 2.57%
5 year government security 1.72%
2 year fixed rate bond 1.60%
Fixed rate cash ISA 1.49%
Cash ISA* 1.17%
Instant access deposit* 0.67%
* including bonuses
Source: ARLA/Bank of England/IRN Research

19 | P A G E
the remaining 25% using the basic rate reduction. The following three years will see the proportion
change by 25% each year before the basic rate cap applies in full from 2020/21. Landlords who have
small borrowings or are basic rate taxpayers will be unaffected by the change.
In addition, landlords will be hit by a fall in their tax-deductible expenses. From 2016, the annual Wear
and Tear Allowance will be removed. The Wear and Tear Allowance serves to reduce taxable property
income and is available against lettings of furnished, residential properties. It was intended to account
for the deterioration of the fixtures and fittings. It does not cover fixtures that are deemed to be
“integral” to the building, such as baths, toilets, etc. Instead of the Wear and Tear Allowance, landlords
will be able to deduct the actual costs they incur on replacing furnishings in the property; but no tax
relief will be available on the initial cost of furnishing a property. The new relief will be available to
unfurnished and part-furnished properties, as well as fully-furnished.
Newer landlords or those undertaking refurbishments of their properties might benefit from the change,
as they will be investing in kitting-out their properties. But well-established landlords whose properties
need very little upkeep year-to-year are likely to miss the Wear and Tear Allowance.
The mortgage interest restriction applies to individuals owning properties, not companies. Further plans
to cut Corporation Tax were also announced in the Summer Budget, so operating as a limited company
may become more viable. However, the tax advantages for owners of limited companies have already
been slashed significantly (see the Housing Wealth section).
Which could force up rents
The above changes are likely to result in landlords increasing the rents they charge in order to account
for the increase in their tax liabilities, which will hamper first-time buyers’ ability to save for their
deposit.
A tipping point for mortgage affordability
A feature of the past
seven years has been an
economy in which
interest rates are low,
which has contained
mortgage interest costs.
At the same time,
however, consumer
incomes have failed to
grow significantly making
it harder to afford a
deposit for a home and
obtain a large enough
mortgage. These
opposing forces have
resulted in relatively subdued mortgage activity, compared with pre-financial crisis years.
88.0
90.0
92.0
94.0
96.0
98.0
100.0
102.0
104.0
106.0
-3.0
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
Index
%change
Real Household Disposable Income (% change over previous year)
88.0
90.0
92.0
94.0
96.0
98.0
100.0
102.0
104.0
106.0
-3.0
-2.0
-1.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
Index
%change
Real Household Disposable Income (% change over previous year)
% change over previous year Index, 2011=100

20 | P A G E
However, there are now
signs that the economy
has reached a tipping
point. Data in mid-2015
suggests that incomes are
starting to rise in real
terms while mortgage
rates have reached a floor
and are set to rise. While
the Bank of England is
unlikely to increase Base
Rates until the first
quarter of 2016, fixed
terms mortgage rates are
already edging upwards in
anticipation. May 2015 could well mark the point at which mortgage rates hit their lowest point. The
Bank of England’s monthly series on quoted mortgage rates showed that in May short-term fixed rates
advertised in the market fell to their lowest levels since records began in 1995 for those borrowing
below 75% of the value of their homes.
And Stamp duty reforms have taken the edge off the top end of the market
In the 2014 Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne announced the scrapping the current stamp
duty system in favour of a sliding scale. Previously, Stamp duty had a slab structure, whereby
homebuyers pay the tax rate on the full value of the property. Duty was charged at 1% on homes worth
between £125,000 and £250,000, rising to 3% on homes costing more than £500,000, then 4% on homes
up to £1m, reaching 5% on homes worth £1m and above. This system has been scrapped in favor of an
incremental scale of tax rising to 12% on homes worth over £1.5m, with the new tax charged in a similar
way to income tax. Under the new system 98% of buyers will pay less tax. Only those buying homes
worth more than £937,000 will pay more under the new system.
The result of these reforms has been to cut the upfront cost of buying a home for most buyers but it has
made is much more expensive to buy higher prices homes, especially homes in prime locations in central
London. This and other tax changes have led to prices of top-end London homes declining recently.
While the Mortgage Market Review has slowed the rate of mortgage applications
1
1
3
1
1
1
Source: Bank of England/IRN Research
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
9.00
3 9 3 9 3 9 3 9 3 9 3 9 3 9 3 9 3 9 3 9 3
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
%
UK Mortgage Rates (%), 2005-2105
Tracker mortgage 2 year fixed (75% TLV) 2 year variable rate (75% TLV) Standard variable rate

21 | P A G E
The Mortgage Market Review
rules came into effect April
2014. Under MMR, lenders
are fully responsible for
assessing whether a
mortgage applicant can
afford the loan, and they
have to verify the customer's
income. While lenders are
still allowed to grant interest-
only loans, this can only be
done where there is a
credible strategy for repaying
the capital.
The new MMR rules have resulted in lenders being more rigorous in the checks they make on mortgage
applicants before granting a loan which has slowed the mortgage arrangement process and made it
more difficult for applicants to get a mortgage approval. The impact of MMR was felt before the rules
were formally applied with many lenders informally implementing the new rules earlier in 2014.
Mortgage approvals have been relatively subdued since MMR came into force compared with the pre-
MMR period.

22 | P A G E
Trends in Household Tenure
This section presents a brief overview of household tenure the UK, indicating how changes in tenure will
impact on the residential property market.
The rise of the landlord
A feature of the UK residential property market over the past twenty years has been the continued rise
in private rental landlords. By 2015, almost one-in-five properties in the UK are expected to be owned
by a private landlord, representing 5.47 million properties.
In contrast, the number of properties in owner occupation peaked in 2008 when 18.14 million
properties were owner occupied. By 2015, the number of owner occupied properties is expected to be
down to 17.79 million.
Mirroring the changes in housebuilding, the number of properties owned by local authorities has
declined. Under the 1988 Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) policy, local authorities transferred
much of their housing stock to housing associations and registered social landlords. Moreover, the
introduction of Right to Buy in the 1980s led to a large transfer of properties from local authority control
to owner occupation.
Source: DCLG/Welsh Assembly Government, Scottish Government/IRN Research
65.9% 66.9% 68.9% 69.0% 67.2% 65.5% 63.5% 63.0%
8.5% 9.4% 9.4% 11.9% 14.5% 16.4% 18.5% 19.4%
3.0%
4.1%
5.8%
8.1% 9.0% 9.4% 9.9% 9.9%21.8% 19.1% 15.5%
10.6% 9.0% 8.4% 7.8% 7.6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014(est)
2015(est)
Breakdown of the UK Dwelling Stock by Tenure, 1991-2015
Owner occupation Privately Rented Housing Association Local Authority Other public sector

23 | P A G E
The privately rented
sector began to take
off in the UK with the
introduction of
Assured tenancies,
which were
introduced by the
Housing Act 1988.
The Act replaced
most of the greater
rent protection
under the Rent Act
1977 and in rarer
cases, other Rent
Acts. Since February
1997, all new
residential tenancies
with three
exceptions are deemed to be assured short-hold tenancies: the exceptions are those excluded by notice
before or after the tenancy, those specifying it is not a short-hold, and lettings to existing assured
tenants.
Owner occupation gets progressively harder for first time buyers…
The average age at which consumers can first enter the housing market is rising progressively. The
difficulties saving for a deposit and the need to have a substantial salary to meet mortgage repayments
are making it harder for younger consumers to buy their first home. Four factors have hit younger
potential first time buyers in particular
 House price inflation traditionally has, and certainly in the past few years has, outstripped wage
and earnings inflation, making homes progressively more unaffordable to most individuals, but
especially those with lower incomes. Younger adults tend to have lower incomes than their
older, more established counterparts.
 The financial crisis has made mortgaged lenders more risk averse with the new MMR rules only
increasing this attitude. As a result, the minimum deposit required for a home purchase is higher
today that in pre-crisis times, making it harder for those with lower incomes the save the
necessary amount.
 The financial crisis had made it very hard to get interest-only mortgages, a type of mortgage that
makes it affordable for less affluent adults to finance relatively larger mortgages.
 The wages of younger adults have tended to rise slower than those of their older counterparts
with younger adults more likely than other working adults to be in less secure modes of
employment like part-time work or on zero hours contacts.
The result of these developments is that an increasing number of younger adults are being forced into
rental accommodation, with the percentage buying a home with a mortgage falling progressively in
Source: DCLG/Welsh Assembly Government, Scottish Government/IRN Research
2,010
3,920
5,469
711
2,440
2,795
5,133
2,427
2,149
15,531
18,184
17,791
14,000
14,500
15,000
15,500
16,000
16,500
17,000
17,500
18,000
18,500
-
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014(est)
2015(est)
Owneroccupied
Non-owneroccuplied
The number of UK Dwellings by Tenure, 1991-2015
Privately Rented Housing Association Local Authority Owner occupation

24 | P A G E
recent years. Between 2003 and 2014, the proportion of under-35 year olds in England living in rented
accommodation has doubled and the proportion buying with a mortgage has almost halved.
Among over 35 year olds the main tenure changes over 2004 to 2014 has been the substitution of
buying a home with a mortgage with outright ownership. Among under-35 year olds the main changes
were the substitution of buying a home with a mortgage with private renting.
Source: English Housing Survey 2013-14/DCLG/IRN Research
The tenure of individuals in England by age 2003-2014
50% 48% 46% 48% 45% 41% 38% 34% 33% 31% 29%
26% 28% 29% 32% 34% 37% 42% 46% 46% 49% 52%
13% 12% 12%
10% 10% 11% 9% 9% 8% 8% 7%
9% 9% 10% 8% 9% 9% 10% 9% 10% 9% 11%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
%ofadults
Under 35 year olds
own outright buying with mortgage private renters
local authority housing association
35% 37% 36% 37% 40% 38% 38% 39% 38% 39% 40%
41% 38% 40% 38% 36% 35% 35% 34% 34% 33% 31%
6% 7% 7% 7% 7% 9% 10% 10% 11% 11% 12%
11% 10% 9% 9% 9% 8% 8% 8% 8% 8% 7%
7% 7% 8% 8% 8% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
%ofadults
Over 35 year olds
own outright buying with mortgage private renters
local authority housing association

25 | P A G E
Who are increasingly in a Catch 22 situation
Young adults increasing find that they can neither find a deposit for their first home nor save up for that
deposit if they are living in privately rented accommodation. This is especially true of young adults living
in London and the South East of England.
Rents across Great Britain rose
by 10.2% between January
2011 and June 2015, with
London driving the aggregate
level forward. Excluding
London, private rents rose by
only 6.5% across GB. Over a
similar period (January 2011
to May 2015), total weekly
average earnings (regular pay
plus bonuses) rose by 5.5%.
2.8%
2.9%
3.3%
3.3%
5.8%
6.2%
6.5%
7.0%
7.3%
7.4%
9.7%
10.2%
17.9%
0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0% 18.0%
North East
North West
Wales
Yorkshire & the Humber
West Midlands
East Midlands
GB excluding London
Scotland
South West
East
South East
Great Britain
London
Percentagechange inprivate sector rents, Jan 2011-June 2015

26 | P A G E
Housing Wealth
Rising house prices increase the housing wealth effect
As house prices
rise, so housing is
becoming an
important
generator of
wealth for
families and
landlords. For
landlords, capital
appreciation is
often the main
return on their
housing
investment.
But with a the
proportion of
adults in the UK
owning their own homes declining and likely to continue to decline into the future, housing wealth is
being concentrated into a smaller number of hands. Moreover, the major difference in the rise in house
prices across the UK is also accelerating regional inequalities in wealth.
Almost £6 trillion of wealth held in dwellings
At the end of 2015,
IRN Research
estimates UK
dwelling will have a
collective value of
£5.7 trillion,
compared with
£3.92 trillion in 2008
just after the
financial crisis hit the
UK economy.
The amount of
wealth tied up in
dwellings has tended to increase rapidly over the past couple of years reflecting rising house prices.
With little house building, relative to the stock of homes, the value of wealth tends to move in tandem
with house prices. IRN Research estimates that in 2015, dwellings represented around 12% of total UK
national wealth, compared with 9% in 2008.
Source: Data produced by Land Registry © Crown copyright 2015/IRN Research
369.7
317.5
515.0
285.9
241.5
292.4
233.3
191.9 187.3
0.0
100.0
200.0
300.0
400.0
500.0
600.0
Jan-1995
Sep-1995
May-1996
Jan-1997
Sep-1997
May-1998
Jan-1999
Sep-1999
May-2000
Jan-2001
Sep-2001
May-2002
Jan-2003
Sep-2003
May-2004
Jan-2005
Sep-2005
May-2006
Jan-2007
Sep-2007
May-2008
Jan-2009
Sep-2009
May-2010
Jan-2011
Sep-2011
May-2012
Jan-2013
Sep-2013
May-2014
Jan-2015
Index(Jan1995=100)
Index of House Prices (seasonally adjusted, Jan 1995=100)
London (fastest growing region) All England & Wales North East (slowest growing region)
£3.43 £3.56
£3.92
£4.31
£3.92 £4.05
£4.26 £4.28 £4.44
£4.65
£5.28
£5.70
£0.00
£1.00
£2.00
£3.00
£4.00
£5.00
£6.00
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
(est)
2015
(est)
£trillion
Net UK Housing Wealth

27 | P A G E
With households owning the lion share
Around 95% of the wealth held in dwellings in the UK is owned by households and non-profit making
organisations serving housing (e.g. housing associations) with this percentage having been around this
level since 2007. In 2015, IRN Research estimates households and non-profit making bodies had £5.4
trillion of dwelling wealth.
And private landlords owning around 16% of housing wealth
In 2014, UK tenants spent £61.1 billion on rents, equivalent to around £500 per month per rented
property. Private landlord rents are considerably higher than this. According to ARLA, in Q4 2014, the
average private landlord generated a rental income of £1,812/month for houses and £1,195/month for
flats. Private landlords own around 51% of all rented property in the UK and given the high rents in the
private sector, compared with the social housing sector, they probably account for around 70%-75% of
the total rental income. If private landlords account for 70%-75% of rents (£43-£46 billion) a 5% return
(as estimated by ARLA) implies an investment of £0.86-£0.92 trillion by private sector landlords in
housing. This represents around 16%-17% of the total wealth held in dwellings in the UK or 17%-18% of
housing wealth owned by households and non-profitmaking institutions serving households.
Overseas owners important at the top end of the market
The growth in house prices at the top end of the market – especially prime locations in London- have
been driven by foreign buyers. Concerns have been raised that some of these transactions could be
vehicles for money laundering. Land Registry figures show that in England and Wales, 2.2 million UK
companies and 90,000 entities registered in tax havens but not beneficial owners own UK properties.
More than 100,000 property titles are registered to overseas companies, with more than 36,000
properties in the capital owned by offshore firms. In total, at least £122bn of property in England and
Wales is owned by offshore companies. This represents around 2% of UK housing wealth.
The Government has changed the taxation on overseas companies owning UK property. From 6th April
2013, an offshore company owning a UK residential property valued above £2m has had to pay an
Annual Residential Property Tax (ARPT), determined by the value of the property, ranging from £15,000
for properties between £2 million and £5m, up to £140,000 for properties with a value of more than
£20m. This is on top of 15% Stamp Duty Land Tax that offshore companies pay on acquisitions of UK
residential property costing more than £2m.
In addition to the ARPT, from 6th April, Capital Gains Tax (CGT) will be charged to offshore companies
disposing of UK residential property, where the disposals proceeds are over £2m. Only the gain from the
April 2013 value will be taxed.

28 | P A G E
Residential Property Sales
Introduction
There are two main sources of data on residential property sales in the UK: data from HMRC and data
from the property registries in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These figures differ in
important ways. The HMRC figures are based on the HMRC's Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and the
Scottish Administration's Land and Buildings Transactions Tax (LBTT) databases. These figures exclude
any transactions valued at less than £40,000. The HMRC figures also include land transactions as well as
home transactions.
The data from land registries are narrower than the HMRC data in that they focus on specific types of
property transactions. The Land Registry in England and Wales for example only records residential
home sales that are sold for full market value and are lodged with its for registration. Therefore it
excludes, for example, repossessions and transfers between parties and sales of properties with leases
of less than seven years. However, Land registry data is useful for assessing the types of homes
properties being sold.
1.2 million Residential property sales
HMRC data
shows that
around 1.2
million property
transactions took
place in 2014,
valued at just
over £300 billion.
2015 look set to
be a year where
property
transactions
broadly match
those of 2014.
While the
number of
transactions in
2015 is expected to slightly lower than the number of 2014, the value of transactions is expected to rise
by 3.8%. House prices continue to rise in the UK, although the rate of growth is moderating, and the top
end of the market for properties in prime locations in London has been falling, knocking some of the
froth off of the value of property transactions.
See the Appendix for detailed tables
Source: HMRC/IRN Research
£258.3
£339.0
£361.0
£199.4 £185.1
£207.0 £206.5 £214.8
£254.1
£303.3 £315.0
1,578
1,670
1,614
900 858 886 885
932
1,074
1,219 1,201
£0.0
£50.0
£100.0
£150.0
£200.0
£250.0
£300.0
£350.0
£400.0
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
(est)
Value(£bn)
Transactions(000)
UK Residential Property Transactions, 2005-2015
Value (£bn) Number (000)

29 | P A G E
Residential property
transactions have
been rising steadily
since the low point of
2009 after the
financial crisis of
2007/08. The
Government’s Help to
Buy scheme started
to boost the first time
buyer market which
aided market
recovery from 2013
onwards.
However, the first half of 2015 saw transactions number fall compared with 2014. This reflected a lack
of homes coming onto the market for sale, with pre-Election uncertainty one factor behind this. This
drop in transactions is expected to be a temporary phenomenon and from mid-2015 the market looks
set to pick up with rising transactions volumes seen in June and rising numbers of mortgage approvals.
Houses dominate the market
The residential
property market is
dominated by the
sale of houses, with
flats typically
accounting for
around one-in-five
home sales.
Detached homes
represent around
one-quarter of
annual home sales
but closer to one-
third of the value of
homes sales
because of their
higher cost. While
the breakdown of
home sales by types shows some variations year on year, the market have been relatively stable since
2010. Of more significance are the differences in sales composition between the difference regions of
the UK.
The market in Northern Ireland features far more detached home sales than is the case for the rest of
the UK, while the market in Scotland features proportionately far more sales of flats than is the case for
the rest of the UK and considerably more than the Northern Irish market. The market in England and
Wales is strongly focused on semi-detached and terraced houses.
* change compared with the same month of the previous year
41%
34%
16%
31%
13%
19%
12%
9%
12% 13%
-10%
-1%
-11%
-9%
0%
-8%
-4%
6%
-20%
-10%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Annual monthly change*in residential propertytransactions, 2014-2105
* % percentage of volume sales
** - January to June
Source: England and Wales (Data produced by Land Registry © Crown copyright 2015)/Scotland (Registers of
Scotland)/Northern Ireland (Department of Finance and Personnel)/IRN Research
25% 24% 24% 24%
32% 31%
25% 24%
27% 27%
18% 18%
31% 30%
26% 26%
28% 30%
21% 21%
29% 32%
27% 29%
20% 19%
37% 37%
8% 7%
22% 21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2014 2015** 2014 2015** 2014 2015** 2014 2015**
England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland UK
The Structure* of Home Sales by Type and Region,2014-15
Detached Semi-Detached Terrace Flat/maisonette

30 | P A G E
New builds losing popularity
Given the relatively low rate of housebuilding in the UK, it is no surprise that most homes sold are
existing/established properties rather than new builds. Data on composition by age of the home is only
available in England and Wales but this shows clearly how new builds represent only a small share of the
housing market.
The share of home sales in
England and Wales taken
by new build properties has
declined in the past couple
of years, despite the
Government’s efforts to
boost housebuilding. The
introduction of the
mortgage guarantee Help
to Buy Scheme, which
applies to all types of
home, may have skewed
first time buyer demand
away from new build properties. Up until 2015, new build sales grew the strongest for detached and
semi-detached properties, possibly reflecting demand for new builds in new housing estates. Moreover,
it appears new build sales have been most popular when buying more expensive executive type homes
which are not in the price range of most first time buyers. The share of new build sales in the flats
market has declined steadily since 2010.
Detached
Semi-
Detached Terrace
Flat/
maisonette All
2010 7% 5% 7% 21% 9%
2011 8% 5% 7% 19% 9%
2012 10% 6% 8% 18% 10%
2013 10% 7% 8% 16% 10%
2014 11% 7% 6% 14% 9%
2015 (est) 9% 5% 4% 10% 6%
Trend
Percentage of home sales taken by new build properties in
England and Wales, 2010-2015

31 | P A G E
London dominates the UK housing market
England and Wales account for
around 90% of the property
transactions in the UK.
Trends in the England and
Wales market tend to
determine the trends across
the UK as a whole.
Within England and Wales, the
Greater London market and the
markets in the major
conurbations are the most
important. In the Figure
opposite, the size of the bars
reflects the number of home
sales. It demonstrates how
important the Greater London
market is for England and
Wales as a whole.
In 2014, Greater London accounted for 13% of all home sales in England and Wales and 26% of the value
of home sales in England and
Wales. In the Figure opposite
the bar size reflects the value
of home sales in 2014 and it
shows how in value terms
Greater London is of even
greater importance to the
national picture than it is in
volume terms.
The housing market in London
is very different to anywhere
else in the UK with a far
higher proportion of
purchasers buying flats and a
much smaller proportion of
detached homes.

32 | P A G E
With selected postcodes of national importance
It is not just Greater
London as a whole which is
significant for the UK home
market. Within London
there is considerable
variation in average house
prices so that selected
postcodes within Greater
London account for a
relatively high share of the
value of all home sales in
England and Wales and the
UK as a whole.
The figure opposite
indicates how a few
postcodes in central/west
London are of national
importance in terms of the
value of homes sold.
This is shown more explicitly in
the figure opposite, where key
London postcodes, mainly in
Westminster and Kensington
and Chelsea account for very
high levels of home sales in
value terms.
Less than half of home sales financed with a mortgage
While the majority of homes in the UK are purchased with a mortgage (an estimated 77% in 2014), these
mortgaged homes represent less than half of the value of all home sales in the UK. Non-mortgage
means of finance, including cash purchases, tend to be used when purchasing very expensive properties
and whole blocks of flats.
PostCode Borough
Home
Sales 2014
(£m)
No of
home
sales 2014
Average Price
per home (£)
SW1W 9AH Westminster £198.63 39 £5,093,128
W14 8QA Kensington and Chelsea £188.36 131 £1,437,884
SW8 2BW Vauxhall £163.14 47 £3,471,124
SW1P 2FE Westminster £101.33 52 £1,948,575
SW1P 2DU Westminster £88.54 71 £1,247,096
SW3 5QP Kensington and Chelsea £79.32 13 £6,101,539
SW7 1QJ Kensington and Chelsea £78.00 3 £26,000,000
W2 1BF Westminster £68.21 48 £1,421,015
SW6 1DQ Hammersmith and Fulham £65.18 19 £3,430,526
W2 1AZ Westminster £60.97 57 £1,069,619
E1 7AP Tower Hamlets £56.83 106 £536,148
The Greater London Postcodes with the highest value of home
sales, 2014

33 | P A G E
The share of
home sales
taken by
mortgaged
purchases has
grown in recent
years as the
mortgage
market has
recovered from
the shock of
the global
financial crisis
and sales at the
luxury,
premium end
of the UK
(mainly
London)
market have
begun to fall
back.
Buy to let landlords and first time buyers a growing force
The Figure above also shows the growing importance of buy-to-let landlords in the housing market along
with the rising demand from first-time buyers. The fact that the share of home purchases coming from
existing home buyers is dropping confirms another problem facing the UK housing market: existing
home buyers are tending to move less. With the average age of acquiring a home now past 30, it
becomes harder for home owners to move multiple times before they retire, especially if they want to
(or have to) repay their mortgage before they retire. The supply of properties coming on the market is
slowing with a greater proportion of existing home owners extending or renovating a home rather than
moving. Moving up to a more expensive property is become as hard as making a first time purchase for
many home owners. (These issues are discussed more fully in the Future Issues section).
Source Home Sales: England and Wales (Data produced by Land Registry © Crown copyright 2015)/Scotland
(Registers of Scotland)/Northern Ireland (Department of Finance and Personnel)/IRN Research
Source Mortgages: Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Return (MLAR)/Bank of England/IRN Research
10.5% 10.8% 11.9% 12.2% 13.4% 13.6%
23.8% 23.5% 23.3% 21.5% 21.4% 21.0%
4.3% 6.1% 7.0% 7.6% 9.0% 10.9%
61.4% 59.5% 57.8% 58.6% 56.2% 54.4%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (est)
The breakdown of value home sales in the UK by type of
finance and mortgage borrower, 2010-2015
First Time Buyers Existing Owners Buy-to-let landlords Non-mortgaged
Mortgaged

34 | P A G E
Future issues
The aims of this section is to consider the future shape of the residential mortgage market over the
coming five years.
Base Rate starts to rise from 2016 onwards increasing mortgage rates…
The costs of borrowing
money to purchase a
home are set to rise over
the coming years.
Even if mortgage
providers squeeze their
margins, rising Base Rates
will force up mortgage
costs.
According to the Office of
Budget Responsibility
(OBR), between the third quarter of 2015 and the first quarter of 2021, Base Rates will increase by 1.7
percentage points.
But household incomes will rise, as long as unemployment stays low
The OBR anticipates that household incomes will rise over the coming years as real wage growth returns
to the UK. The one potential fly in the ointment is the rise in unemployed seen in mid-2015. As
productivity rises in the UK, having been subdued or falling since the start of the financial crisis, there is
a worry that employment levels could drop: employers will need fewer (but more productive) workers
to fulfil their orders. If aggregate demand in the UK rises slower than anticipated, the rise in wages could
be offset by their being fewer people in work.
House prices are set to continue to rise as housing demand outstrips supply
House prices will continue their rise in the UK despite efforts to boost housebuilding. The level of
investment in dwellings (new building and renovations) is expected to rise by over 50% between 2015
and 2021. Despite this, demand for homes will continue to outstrip supply despite the fact that
mortgage approvals will be restrained somewhat by the new Mortgage Market Review regulations and
bank’s attempts to repair their balance sheets.
The pace of house price inflation, according to the Office of Budget Responsibility, will rise over the
coming five years so that by 2021 Q1 prices will be rising by almost 6% per year. The rate of growth over
the coming five years is not anticipated to be high by historical standards. Even so, by Q 1 2021 house
prices will be around 34% higher than they were in Q1 2015. Over that same period, consumer
Source: Office of Budget Responsibility/IRN Research
0.5% 0.6%
0.8%
0.9%
1.0%
1.2%
1.3%
1.4%
1.5%
1.6%
1.7%
1.8%
1.9%
2.0%
2.1%
2.2%
0.0%
0.5%
1.0%
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
UK Base Rates (%), 2015-2021

35 | P A G E
disposable
income is
expected to rise
by around 28%,
meaning homes
will continue to
become less
affordable for a
large number of
potential first
time buyers.
The rise in house
prices will mean
that by 2021, £8
trillion of wealth
will be held in
houses in the UK, a rise of 41% over the level of wealth in 2015.
House sales expected to rise by 19% between 2015 and 2020
Based on forecasts by the Office of Budget Responsibility, IRN Research estimates that the coming five
years will see a
steady rise in the
number of home
sales, although
even by 2020 the
number of sales
will remain below
the levels
recorded
immediately
before the 2007/8
financial crisis.
Between 2015 and
2020, the OBR
predict that
residential
property transactions will rise by 19% and IRN Research expects the number of house sales to move
broadly in tandem with property transactions. House sales will rise relatively quickly from 2015 to 2018
but the rate of increase will slow in 2019 and 2020, at which time Base Rates will exceed 2% and house
price inflation will be approaching 6% per annum.
Fewer owners of housing wealth
Housing wealth is being concentrated into the hands of fewer adults. With increasing numbers of
younger adults renting rather than buying and with more landlords buying properties, younger adults
* % change over the same quarter of the previous year
Source: Office of Budget Responsibility/IRN Research
8.5%
4.3%
3.7%
5.0%
5.8%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
7.0%
8.0%
9.0%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Annual percentage change in house prices, 2015-2012*
House price inflation
rises from 5% to almost 6%
at a slow pace
0.8 percentage point rise in 12
quarters
House price
inflationrisesfrom 3.7% to 5%
at a fast pace.
1.3 percentage point rise in 7
quarters
Rapid declinein
house price
inflation
Source: Office of Budget Responsibility (property transactions)/IRN Research (House Sales)
879 884
932
1067
1222 1201
1241
1301
1373
1418 1434
743 737 741
893
1010 993
1027
1076
1136
1173 1186
600
700
800
900
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
(000)transactions/sales
Actual and Forecast of House Sales and Property Transactions, 2010-
2020
Property transactions House Sales
ACTUAL FORECAST

36 | P A G E
whose parents do not own their own homes are finding it harder to buy a property. The children of
landlords and owner-occupying parents are likely to inherit housing wealth which can be used to finance
their own buying activities. Moreover, the children of property owners can also benefit from their
parents remortgaging their homes and providing cash to their children. It is now estimated that just over
half of first time buyers receive cash injections from their parents.
The narrower base of home ownership could increase if the number of buy-to-let landlords increases.
Pension liberalisation (see IRN Research Pension Landscape report) could increase housing investments
by buy-to-let landlords as pension holders aged 55 and over cash in their pension pots and invest in
property. This is unlikely to have a very significant impact on the housing market as few pension holders
have sufficiently large pension pots to invest in a property without taking out a mortgage and many will
find it hard to get a mortgage given their closeness to retirement. Moreover, the restriction in mortgage
interest rate relief to the basic rate and the removal of the ‘wear and tear allowance’ (see earlier in this
report) will probably counter any increase in buy-to -let buying because of the pension reforms.
Will the housing market become increasingly illiquid?
Yes, if there are fewer first time buyers
A real danger in the future is that increasingly fewer and fewer individual will ever get onto the housing
ladder, which could permanently impact on the liquidity of the housing market. First time buyers are
often the instigators of buying chains. Assuming they do not buy a new build, when first time buyers
purchase their homes from existing home owners, they allow the seller to move up the housing ladder,
creating a ripple of buying and selling further up the housing chain.
Yes if there are not enough homes made available to buy
The above problems are being compounded by the increasing age at which first time buyers are coming
onto the market, thereby reducing the number of years between first purchase and retirement. The age
of first time buying is now around 31 and is edging upwards every year. This limits the ability of home
owners to move home multiple times while taking out a 25 year mortgage on each move. Once home
owners pass the age of 45, they will find it hard to get a 25 year mortgage (most mortgage holders insist
the mortgage is finished by the age of 65 or 70). Therefore, first time buyers today have a 14 year
window to take out 25 year mortgages. Home moves past the age of 45 must be financed with
mortgages less than 25 years in length which tends to increase monthly repayment costs, thereby
making it harder and harder to move. According to Lloyds Bank, the average age of a home mover is 39
years old; down from 41 in 2005. This fall may be due to a reduction in the number of total home moves
being made over a lifetime with fewer people over 40 now moving.
Other studies have also shown that the cost of making a home move have risen sharply over the past
decade again making it harder to move home multiple times. According to a study compiled by Post
Office Money and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), published in April 2015, the
cost of moving home has leapt by 59% over the last decade to reach £11,894. The average cost of
moving is forecast to increase further, reaching £15,414 by the end of 2020.
Given the above factors, the number of house moves undertaken by the typical house owner before
they retire is declining. A study by Lloyds Bank, published in August 2015, confirmed that the number of
people moving home is in decline thanks to the huge costs involved. The bank estimates that that

37 | P A G E
homeowners paid more than £50,000 extra in 2015 to take their next step on the property ladder than
they would have done five years ago, with the extra cost including the extra mortgage required and the
costs of moving. According to Lloyds, the average price paid for a home in the first six months of 2015 by
someone who was already on the property ladder and moving to their next property was £261,524. This
was 25%, or £52,870, more than the typical home mover paid in 2010, when the home they were
moving into home were valued at £208,654. The average deposit put down by a home mover in 2015
was £87,954; 8% higher than in 2014 (£81,549). This equates to 34% of the average price paid by home
movers of £261,524.
Changes to inheritance tax announced in the 2015 Budget may also increase the incentives for the
elderly to remain in their homes and not sell or pass on ownership to their children before they die.
Parents and grandparents will be able to leave homes worth up to £850,000 to their children without
them paying inheritance tax from 2017, rising to £1 million by 2020. The new tax regime reduces the tax
disincentives to hold a property to death, potentially reducing housing supply and putting upward
pressure on house prices.

38 | P A G E
APPENDIX
UK Property Transactions, 2005-2015
Transactions (000) Value (£bn)
England
and
Wales Scotland
Northern
Ireland UK
England
and
Wales Scotland
Northern
Ireland UK
2005 1,379 157 42 1,578 £235.3 £18.0 £5.0 £258.3
2006 1,476 144 50 1,670 £309.1 £21.4 £8.6 £339.0
2007 1,430 147 37 1,614 £327.4 £24.5 £9.1 £361.0
2008 790 96 14 900 £179.6 £16.8 £2.9 £199.4
2009 772 72 15 858 £170.6 £12.0 £2.5 £185.1
2010 798 73 14 886 £192.9 £12.0 £2.1 £207.0
2011 800 71 14 885 £193.1 £11.5 £1.9 £206.5
2012 843 74 16 932 £201.0 £11.9 £1.9 £214.8
2013 970 86 19 1,074 £237.9 £14.0 £2.2 £254.1
2014 1,101 94 23 1,219 £284.3 £16.1 £2.9 £303.3
2015 (est) 1,089 90 22 1,201 £295.7 £16.3 £3.0 £315.0
Abbreviations and definitions used in this report
Definitions for house sales
House sales for England and Wales are gathered from monthly data produced by the Land Registry. The
Land Registry’s monthly sales data covers the transactions received at Land Registry on the first working
day of each month to the last working day of the month. © Crown copyright 2015 - See more at:
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/market-trend-data/public-data/price-paid-data#sthash.wHB4yc73.dpuf
The statistical information for Scotland to cover all sales of residential properties registered with
Registers of Scotland (RoS) in the quarter where the selling price of the property lies between £20,000
and £1,000,000. It exclude sales of blocks of properties and sales that are not "true" sales, e.g. transfers
of ownership between family members, sales of pro indiviso shares, etc. Figures for each quarter relate
to registrations in the quarter rather than sales in the period. The registration date is the date at which
the title to the property is transferred and is generally within a few weeks of the date of sale. See
http://www.ros.gov.uk/pdfs/StatisticsGuidanceNotes.pdf
Data for Northern Ireland comes from the Department for Finance and Personnel (Land property
Services). Sales in Northern Ireland are based on all the sales of residential properties that are notified
for stamp duty. This includes all domestic property sales as well as non-domestic property sales, land
sales and property rentals in Northern Ireland, regardless of how they are purchased e.g. this will
include auction sales. However, there are a small number of property sales which do not require
notification for Stamp Duty, these include: transactions where no money changes hands; property that's

39 | P A G E
left in a will; and transfers of property in a divorce or when a civil partnership is dissolved. See
http://www.dfpni.gov.uk/lps/ni_rppi_quality_report.pdf
ARLA Association of Residential Letting Agents
DCLG Department for Communities and Local Government
HMRC Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
MLAR Mortgage Lenders and Administrators Returns
MMR Mortgage Market Review
NISRA Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
OBR Office of Budget Responsibility
ONS Office for National Statistics
ROS Registers of Scotland

Uk residential property landscape 2015

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Uk residential property landscape 2015