More activity on land market
Activity in the land market is picking up, albeit from a low base, and confidence is returning due, in part, to the uptick in the housing market and the release of pent up demand.
There is some uncertainty about how long this demand will support the market and whether sales rates could fall back in the autumn. However, the recently announced Stamp Duty holiday will do a lot to maintain the level of impetus in the mainstream market.
In a recent survey of Savills development teams, including the Birmingham office, a net balance of 29 per cent reported that there were new sites coming onto the market – a significant change from the minus 75 per cent net balance in April.
Many new sites are being soft marketed to test the appetite in the market.
There is some regional variation with parts of the West of England continuing to see land traded regularly where small price reductions have been accepted.
Although there is less transactional evidence for land values this quarter, evidence from deals being negotiated and the sales that have happened indicates that land values have remained relatively stable with UK greenfield and urban land values falling slightly by minus 1.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively at a national level.
Andrew Galloway, Head of Midlands Development at Savills
