Today the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, delivered his budget speech, so I thought I would pass on a few thoughts on the bits that relate to UK property. If you would like to see the whole speech, click here.

• From this April, key workers in the UK such as teachers and nurses, will be able to borrow money from shared equity schemes. Stamp duty on shared ownership homes will not be required until people own 80% of their home.

This budget measure is a significant helping hand and should be the leg up many key workers need to get their own property. Interestingly enough we had a question by one such person on our forum about this issue: The lady in question, writing under the forum name Alistair (spooky coincidence), should feel the benefit of this.

• More people should have the chance to have a long term fixed mortgage, the Chancellor said.

If the Government is serious about this, I’m sure they could do something tomorrow. Basically there can be little or no reason why all borrowing can’t be at a fixed rate from the moment the mortgage is taken out. Investment banks are able to agree lending rates in advance, so why can’t they fix rates for long term loans? I realise the answer is - because they make more money this way.

• Alistair Darling said in his budget speech that a report showed that long term fixed rate mortgages can reduce the risks for first time buyers and can keep them on the housing ladder.

I totally agree. If borrowers know that their monthly mortgage payments are stable, then they can budget their household expenditure accordingly. Interest rates usually go up in increments of a quarter percent. This equates to an increase in the monthly mortgage of £20.83 per £10,000 borrowed.

• Sites for 70,000 more houses have been identified, Mr Darling said.

This is great news for all involved with property, which is what makes it the unique and exciting investment vehicle that it is.

Technorati Tags: budget, property investment, real estate, offplan property

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Bridget Jones bemoaned her sad fate as a lonely singleton, but Australians seem to be embracing the single life. And instead of sitting at home, drinking cheap wine and waiting to be discovered by the neighbours, half-eaten by the pet Alsatian, young single Aussies are getting out to buy property.

Agents and property experts have reported a resurgence in popularity of the one-bedroom apartment, traditionally the hardest property to offload in any new development.

One-bedroom properties are an affordable alternative for people to get into the property market, and an increasingly important sector for investors in view of the growing number of people living alone.

Loving the single life

Research released last month by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows single person households are the fastest growing segment of Australian society.

Factors driving the shift are the ageing population, the longer life expectancy of women over men, increases in separation and divorce and the delay of marriage amongst young people.

One-person households in Australia are expected to increase from 1.8 million (25% of all households) in 2001 to up to 3.7 million (34% of all households) in 2026.

Affordability the key to one-bed properties

This week, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the housing affordability was “disturbing”.

“It is no exaggeration to say that in early 2008 housing affordability is the worst it has been in living memory,” Mr Rudd said.

With double-digit growth in housing prices in most Australian capitals over the past few years, potential property buyers on single-incomes are finding it hard to raise the deposit and make the repayments on bigger loans for larger units.

Affordability is also being affected by the rising cost of debt.

Twelve straight interest rate rises, culminating in the latest imposed by the Reserve Bank of Australia last week, has taken the cash rate to 7.25 percent. But the major banks have broken tradition and have increased their loan rates at a faster pace than that set by the central bank, with consumers likely to pay interest rates of around 10 per cent in the near future.

But still, the desire to get a foothold in the property market is still there.

The Real Estate Institute of Australia, in its 2008 Market Outlook, suggests home buyers will this year look to medium and higher density housing as more affordable options in areas where affordability is low. “It is likely that this sector will experience ongoing price growth during 2008″, the REIA reports.

Enter the one-bedroom unit.

Compact homes now come with extras

Australand is combating the traditional space problem of one-bedroom apartments by offering its Discovery Point at Wolli Creek development with extensive community facilities, including a proposed boardwalk entertainment precinct, and already including a residents pool and café, together with 2.3 hectares of parkland, picnic and recreation areas to increase the sense of space.

The soon to-be-completed apartment complex in Cremorne, just north of the Sydney CBD, is targeting the singles market with 12 of 22 apartments being one-bedders. But the developer Optima Property Developments, has ensured the facilities are there to make the one-bedroom experience comfortable, with each one having a parking space and access to a storage room.

The Bondi Vue apartments, near the iconic Bondi Beach, are even offering one-bedroom apartments on the top floor, to cater for singles who want a compact apartment, but do not want to miss out on the views.

The regional Queensland town of Mackay, at the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, is experiencing fast growth, and the establishment of CBD apartments is testament to the demand for convenient living. Honeycombes Property Group’s Azucar apartments in central Mackay are offering one-bedroom apartments with large terraces, to enable residents to enjoy views over the city.

In Melbourne, Hamton property group is selling Society South Yarra, which it dubs a “vertical village” of one and two-bedroom apartments. “Created for a lifestyle and design savvy generation, the building offers a sophisticated lobby culture, ground floor reception bar, the ‘Dining Room’ restaurant, ‘Socialite’ bar, ‘Loaf’ produce store/café, and ‘Mum’ launderette,” the company says.

With a greater range of facilities and locations for one-bedroom apartments, it seems Australia’s developers and investors alike are definitely appreciating the benefits of compact living.