Osborne Said To Be Considering Tax For Foreign Property-Buyers

This article by Amanda Banks of Tax-News Global Tax News on November 5th, 2013 reveals George Osborne has declined to reports confirming that the govt. is considering moves to foreign investors.

UK Chancellor George Osborne has declined to confirm reports that the Government is considering moves to make foreign investors pay Capital Gains Tax on property sales in Britain, as a measure to calm property prices in London.

Asked by the BBC, Osborne said that he would not comment ahead of next month's Autumn Statement, but that the reports were "not a leak that's come from anyone near me."

Currently, foreign investors are exempt from paying the tax, which is imposed on UK residents who sell a property that is not their main residence. The exemption has been described as an "extraordinary anomaly" by Vince Cable, who is the Government's Business Secretary and a member of the Coalition Government's junior partner, the Liberal Democrats.

Lucian Cook, who is Director of Residential Research at estate agency Savills, judged that move would be a "much more targeted and much less controversial solution" to property prices than a proposed Mansion Tax on the most valuable properties. However, the British Property Federation (BPF) reacted by warning that reports about the tax would cause uncertainty, and it has instead called for more homes to be built.

Estate Agency Frank Knight was quoted as saying that around 70 percent of the most expensive new London properties have gone to foreign investors, and that 65 percent of these buyers were buying properties for renting out rather than to live in. Property prices in London rose by 9 percent in August, against a national average of 2 percent.

Overseas purchasers are also thought to be responsible for house prices rises in Hong Kong, Sydney, and Vancouver. Last year, Hong Kong introduced a 15 percent stamp duty surcharge on purchases by buyers who are not permanent residents, while a senior banker in Australia recently made news by suggesting a 5 percent stamp duty surcharge for foreign buyers.

Article Source: http://www.tax-news.com/news/Osborne_Said_To_Be_Considering_Tax_For_Foreign_PropertyBuyers____62574.html 

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All You Need To Know About The Autumn Price Surge In UK Properties

This article by Les Calvert of property-abroad.com on October 2nd, 2013 reveals that UK industry is about to see a price surge in autumn according to the latest report by the real estate market.

The latest reports on the real estate market in the UK suggest that the industry is about to see a price surge around autumn. Contrary to popular belief that UK real estate prices were in general gradual incline, studies have shown that there was actually a slowdown throughout the most part of the year - with the trend changing around the autumn.

Real estate in the UK 

The increase in search activity with regards to the UK real estate market shows that sellers have yet to respond to the sudden increase in interest. Market experts believe that this is the result of people still being very unsure about investing in real estate in what is a very volatile market even right now. However, sellers that really want to get rid of their properties are being seen to aggressively market their property even now as they are not willing to wait till the autumn.

Timing, as always is an essential part of ensuring that you get top dollar for your property. However, various other personal circumstances will usually play a pivotal role in the entire deal. Heavy marketing is essential to get people interested in your property. At the end of the day, there are buyers that have the money to push a deal through, your job is to ensure that the property appeals to them enough for them to sign on the dotted line.

Summer slow down and what it means 

While there is usually a downturn in property sales during the summer, 2013 has proved to be a bit different with market surveys showing a surprising 1.1% increase on the back of a surprisingly improving market sentiment. The same reports show that house prices grew up by around 0.4% last year while prices in London as well as the South Eastern parts of the country grew by 0.9% and 0.5%, respectively.

Last years (2012) summer downturn was experienced heavily on the outskirts of London, with the property in the heart of the city not registering as many numbers as it does through the rest of the year. However, sale prices had not fallen too much, as sellers would usually hold onto their houses until the trends changed rather than sell at a lower cost.

Future trends 

Trends in the near future point towards a much improving long-term health of the property industry. Some of the biggest property brokers in the land have noticed that there seems to be a lot more property coming off the market than there is coming on as people are becoming increasingly open to spending the large amounts of money on investing in property than they were previously. The biggest increases in property values happen to be in, unsurprisingly, the heart of London. The last six years have seen a consistent downturn in people looking to purchase property, but that has taken a sharp and credible turn this year with experts saying that the new model of the way things work now appears to be sustainable.

Also, the speed at which sales are taking place appear to have also been cut down with sales completing in a stunning 8.1 weeks - which is the lowest turnaround time recorded since November 2007.

Article Source: http://www.property-abroad.com/england/news-story/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-autumn-price-surge-in-uk-properties-19317788/

Property Sales on the Rise in Cheltenham say Estate Agents

Good news for property buyers because property sales are prospering in Cheltenham according to this article by Gloucestershire Echo on August 14th, 2013.

PROPERTY sales are booming in Cheltenham, according to local estate agents.

There are less houses on the market than there are willing buyers, making demand for homes the highest it has been in four years.

During July, the number of potential buyers looking to enter the market nationally grew at the fastest rate in the UK since July 2009.

Since the start of the year, buyers have gradually been returning to test the market and the number of would-be buyers seen have grown.

Erling Lindoe, branch partner for RA Bennett & Partners based in Bath Road, Cheltenham, said: "Everything is wonderful.

"The housing market is booming and there are not enough properties to go around.

"If you have got a property that is priced well, it will sell, which is probably due to demand.

"Over the past four years, rents have been increasing and have caused borrowing to stay very low." With rising buyer confidence, more potential sellers looked to test the market and place their homes up for sale.

Last month, 15 per cent more respondents reported rises rather than falls in new instructions.

Mr Lindoe said: "I wasn't necessarily aware that there is a major issue in the market.

"The market in Cheltenham is a very simple case of demand and supply. Demand is currently exceeding supply which helps. But I don't see that house prices are rising at the moment."

As part of continued growth, a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) residential market survey expects sales to rise rather than fall over the next three months.

RICS global residential director Peter Bolton King said: "These results are great news for the property market as it looks like at long last a recovery could be around the corner.

"Growth in buyer numbers and prices have been happening in some parts of the country since the beginning of the year but this is the first time that everywhere has experienced some improvement.

"It is clearly good news those parts of the property market that were struggling are at last showing some signs of life."

Article Source: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Property-sales-rise-Cheltenham-say-estate-agents/story-19655110-detail/story.html#axzz2c02FvAzB