Monday property news update
Footballers face housing crunch
3 minutes to read
Footballers face rental supply crunch
More homeowners are capitalising on the fact demand is surging for outdoor space and have decided to sell rather than let. This has been more marked in higher-value markets, where buyers and sellers can often act more quickly, writes Tom Bill.
As a result, there is now a supply shortage of higher-value rental properties. This has been laid bare by the start of the football season. Alex McLean, head of the sports team at Knight Frank’s relocation services business, says that footballers who typically rent at the start of their contracts are having to opt for hotels, particularly in the A3 corridor out through south-west London.
The number of valuation appraisals for lettings properties between April and August increased 28% between 2019 and 2020 across London and the Home Counties. However, for properties valued at more than £15,000 per month, the figure fell 13%.
A critical week for pandemic policy
Britain is at a critical point in the COVID-19 pandemic and faces a very challenging winter, chief medical officer Chris Whitty will say this at a public briefing this morning. The Times reports the PM is expected to announce further lockdown measures in the coming days, with cabinet ministers split over how extensive these should be.
The piece carries quotes suggesting an effective vaccine or treatment may be available in the spring, according to Downing Street's best estimates, so any measures need to be introduced and managed with that timeline in mind.
Meanwhile, the FT reports Rishi Sunak is to extend the Treasury’s UK-wide programme of business support loans.
The global picture
After levelling off at about 260,000 daily new cases, that figure has ticked up to about 285,000 a day, driven by increasing numbers of infections in Europe and Asia. Daily new cases in North and South America have started plateau or decline, according to Johns Hopkins.
Africa’s daily incidence peaked in late June, and has steadily decreased since then. The continent is now reporting fewer than 7,500 new cases per day.
Tracking the retail recovery
We continue to see growth in retail sales but there is still a very long way to go to recover the ground lost during lockdown, writes Stephen Springham.
In the first eight months of the year, overall retail sales volumes were down -4.8% on the corresponding period last year. Food sales were up +4.4%, but non-food sales were down -18.2%, with clothing sales -30.1%, all according to the ONS.
Online sales continued to unwind slightly as the physical retail market slowly returns to something like full capacity. Online sales declined month-on-month by -2.5%, reducing online's share of sales to 28.1%, down from a high of 33.4% in May.
Brexit for second home owners
In a new Intelligence Talks podcast, Anna Ward is joined by Kate Everett Allen and Fragomen lawyer Katie Good to spell out what those in the UK with second homes in the EU need to think about before the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December.
Plus, Chris Druce talks to partner and head of national waterfront Christopher Bailey about the premiums being commanded by waterfront properties, and Flora Harley and Alexander Lewis discuss what development will look like in a post-Covid era.
Listen now on Spotify, Acast or Apple. Our other Intelligence Talks podcast episodes are also available on our website.
In other news...
Andrew Shirley's Rural Update on Covid-19, commodity markets and the latest on the Agriculture Bill.
Finally: China’s export machine comes roaring back to life; ECB to review flagship bond-buying tool in fighting Covid crisis; Fast-track plan for factories to build a quarter of new houses; UK manufacturers see little sign of 'V'-shaped recovery; Jet fuel is now so cheap it’s being blended for use by ships.