Property Review – April 2019

Our monthly property market review is intended to provide background to recent developments in the property markets as well as to give an indication of how some key issues could impact in the future.

Overview

PRIME LONDON PROPERTY INVESTMENT RISES BY 28% IN Q1 2019

London’s West End and the City welcomed investment of £3.2 billion in the first quarter of 2019, which eclipsed the £2.5 billion investment seen in the same quarter of 2018, according to data released by Savills.

SCOTTISH LANDLORDS MOVE TO UPGRADE ‘GRADE B’ PROPERTIES

A lack of ‘Grade A’ office space in major Scottish cities has been identified as driving an increase in landlords and institutional investors repurposing existing Grade B properties to Grade A, according to the latest research from Colliers International.

RICS ANNOUNCE NEW PROFESSIONAL STATEMENT REGARDING SERVICE CHARGES

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) new professional statement ‘Service Charges in Commercial Property’ came into effect on 1 April 2019. This makes it mandatory for RICS firms to ensure service charges in commercial property are disclosed and any firm not complying with this requirement will face disciplinary action.

MORTGAGE ACTIVITY

  • Gross mortgage lending across the residential market in February 2019 was £19.10bn
  • This is 2.5% higher than February 2018
  • The number of mortgages approved by the main high street banks in February 2019 was 2.2% lower than February 2018

HOUSE PRICES HEADLINE STATISTICS

  • UK house prices grew by 0.6% in the year to February 2019
  • This is down from 1.7% in the year to January 2019
  • Scotland saw house prices fall by 0.2% over the last 12 months.