Lisa’s predictions for 2018
A new year is a great time to start searching for your dream home. Lisa Westerman, Director of LWC, talks about what she’s expecting for the housing market in 2018.
“The start of a year is always a good time for the “new”. Demand for housing remains resilient, with an active start to 2018. Indeed, the number of monthly visits to Rightmove in January was at its highest ever level, at over 141 million.
On househunters
“Anyone looking for a new home in the New Year should do their research to make sure they understand what affordable housing initiatives are available near where they want to buy – and importantly look at what fits their own circumstances. There’s plenty of Government schemes out there including Help to Buy and Shared Ownership, but key is to make sure you get financial advice which links in with your search so that you can make the best decisions to increase your chance of acceptance.”
On house prices
“In relation to house prices, Rightmove is predicting that house prices across England and Wales will rise by one per cent in 2018, but that there will be a further decline in London. Analysts said they expected the price of properties typically bought by first-time-buyers (two beds or fewer) to increase by three per cent next year, but also for second-stepper homes (non-detached homes with three or four bedrooms) to increase by two per cent over the next 12 months.
“However, I think that it will be a different picture in Manchester as both Manchester and Liverpool are both enjoying huge booms in property prices. In November, Savills predicted that the North West is set to experience the fastest price growth in the UK over the next five years: a surge of 18.1 per cent, followed by increases of 17.6 per cent in the North East and Yorkshire and Humberside region.
“in the North West, we have seen price growth in our markets with a two bedroom home now costing on average £136,100 and a three-bedroom home costing on average £166,180. Shared Ownership is helping to make home ownership more accessible for single income households in particular as a 35 per cent share of a new home starts from £46,635 (with rent payable on the remaining share)
“While Spring is always renowned for being a busy time of year for house hunters, there are good deals to be had from house builders earlier in the year as they tend to focus on securing sales to enable completion before year-end. There’s a steady flow of new Shared Ownership homes available across the region being sold by Housing Associations. In the North West you can visit www.helptobuynw.co.uk and www.helptobuyneyh.co.uk to view available properties in the area of your choice and to see what’s coming soon.
On the Government
“Shared Ownership is recognized as an important player in the delivery of new homes for Britain, but the Government needs to do more to raise the profile, perhaps with a national campaign similar to Help to Buy. Buyers need to be educated about options as there is still a lack of awareness regarding what is Shared Ownership and who it is for. We need more homes generally and particularly affordable homes as demand for affordable housing generally exceeds supply in most of our development areas. Strategic groups such as the National Housing Group are working tirelessly to raise the profile of Shared Ownership with Government and lenders.
“More generally, Britain needs to get building. The consensus is that, to keep prices in check, we need to build 300,000 houses a year, double what it erected in 2015-16”
On interior trends for 2018
“We’re expecting a few interiors trends for 2018. The trend for light greys mixed with white is looking set to continue, but with warm, natural dark wood furniture and floors and terracotta and tan shades of leather.
“For the more adventurous, very dark blues, blacks and dark greys are on trend, along with bold multicolours thrown together – inspired by South American tribal fabrics and jewellery.”