Inheritance tax affects more properties
Research from Halifax calculates that the number of properties in the UK valued at more than the inheritance tax (IHT) threshold of £275,000 now stands at an estimated 2.1 million, or 12 per cent of all owner-occupied properties. There has been an almost threefold increase in the number of properties above the threshold over the past five years, from 800,000 in the third quarter of 2000 to 2.1 million in the same period in 2005.
The inheritance tax take is expected to more than double between 1996/97 and 2005/06, from £1.6bn to a projected £3.4bn, according to the government's own estimates. A properly drawn will, together with professional tax advice, are key factors in ensuring that owner-occupiers effectively manage their tax liabilities.
At a local level, Halifax calculates that the average house price is now above the threshold in one in ten local authorities. Compare this to five years ago, when the average house price was above the then threshold (then set at £234,000) in only one in 50 local authorities.
Halifax calculates that the IHT threshold of £275,000 would now be £406,600 if it had been increased in line with house price inflation over the past ten years. House prices have risen by 164 per cent in the past ten years, compared to only a 79 per cent increase in the IHT threshold.
Rural architecture ‘under threat’
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has called for a more uniform planning policy to combat poor-quality barn conversions and other threats to the quality of rural architecture.
In the wake of a recent report, which claims that misguided farm building conversions are contributing to the decline of England’s rural architecture, the NAEA believes that the emphasis should be shifted from the tastes of individual home owners to the planning departments whose responsibility it is to approve such developments. The NAEA calls upon those concerned about the ‘suburbanisation’ of rural life via unsuitable barn conversions to look to the planning departments of local councils for the introduction of more unified planning policies.
Stewart Lilly, Vice President of the NAEA with responsibility for land planning and development says, ‘In many respects this report is right, but the difficulty lies in the fact that planning legislation and policies vary significantly from one local authority to another … Planning legislation needs to be addressed on a national basis, with guidance given, as opposed to allowing local authorities their own diverse policies.’
New home construction down slightly
The latest survey by NHBC reveals that new build completions totalled 13,752 in October, a one per cent decrease on the same month last year.
Figures also show that there were 13,488 applications to start new homes during October, a six per cent decrease from October 2004. However, within this total there were 2,422 UK housing association applications, showing a 51 per cent increase on the previous October’s figure.
An average new homes were sold each day during October 2005, representing a nine per cent increase on the same month last year.
Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC, says, ‘The number of NHBC housing association applications to start new homes has risen substantially on last year. So far this year our figures show that there have been 25,353 housing association applications to start new homes, a rise of 36 per cent on the same period last year.’