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England & the World Cup 2018

Categories:Reading and Research
What has England, the World Cup and real estate got to do with each other?

The World Cup season is upon us! CSI Prop examines the unlikeliest connection between England, football and real estate.

Did you know that since its inception in 1930, 79 national teams have made at least one appearance in the FIFA World Cup Finals but, of this number, only 8 nations have ever won the Cup?

Drilling down a little further, now: England made history when it won the trophy for the first time in 1966. It may remain the only time, to date, that this will ever happen — pundits are claiming England has just about a smidgen of a chance (4%, to be exact) of winning the World Cup this year.

But where are we going with all this footie talk? Patience; we’re getting to it.

Watch England’s winning goal and a very pretty young Queen E presenting the cup!

History shows that 1966 is not just when England won the World Cup.

It was also a time when house prices in the UK were at a stupendously affordable average of £2,006.

Research shows that UK house prices are 106 times higher now than they were when England won the World Cup, catapulting from an average price of £2,006 in 1966 to £211,000 today.

Wages, meanwhile, had risen at around a third of the rate, moving from £798 to £26,500. Meaning, it’s 3 times harder to get on the property ladder than it was in 1966, when the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine rode the top of the charts, the miniskirt came into fashion, David Bowie released his first single, and Gordon Ramsay was born.

It gets a little grimmer. House prices aren’t deflating any time soon, not with demand far outstripping supply and driving prices to increasingly stratospheric levels.

In February, research by Heriot-Watt University showed that England is facing its biggest housing shortfall ever, with a backlog of 4 million homes. Meanwhile, rough sleeping or homelessness has risen by 169% since 2010.

This means, in order to address the escalating housing crisis in the UK, the government needs to build 340,000 new homes each year until 2031.

This is a significantly higher figure than the government’s annually targeted 300,000 homes that we talked about in some of our previous posts.

In 2017, Professor David Miles, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, said that the shortage of housing and restriction on the availability of land in the UK, will mean house prices keep soaring for decades to come. He referenced analysis that showed that house price inflation over the past 30 years is likely to continue for the next 50 years.

Britain is wont to remain a nation of renters, by the looks of it, particularly as the younger generation moves increasingly towards the idea of renting a home, rather than owning one.  

If you’d hedged your bets (and currency!) on UK property all these years, you’ve certainly scored big time on rental returns. We suggest you continue taking your chances on the UK property market, and forget about betting on England’s remote chances of winning the World Cup this year. Keen to talk property or even football? Call us at 03-2162 2260 or email info@csiprop.com. Or share your thoughts on who’ll win the World Cup this year in the comment box below!

By Vivienne Pal

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England Hits Highest Happiness Level

Categories:Reading and Research
Despite concerns over the uncertainty of Brexit and the effects it might have on household budgets, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that England has hit its highest level of happiness since 2011.

Despite concerns over the uncertainty of Brexit and the effects it might have on household budgets, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that England has hit its highest level of happiness since 2011. On the other hand, there have been no significant improvements in happiness in neighbouring Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

The method of research is fairly simple, depending entirely on citizens self-reporting their feelings; those aged 16 and over were asked to rate their “happiness”, “anxiety” and “worthwhile” levels out of 10.

The results from 2011 showed that for the most part, England’s overall happiness was faring well at an average rating of 7.29. Interestingly, this figure has now risen to 7.52. In terms of feeling “worthwhile” the average score has risen from 7.67 to 7.87. Even anxiety levels have dropped from 3.13 to 2.92  — why is this the case?

Happiness Level Related to Quality of Life

Silvia Manclossi, head of the quality of life team at the ONS, said, “People’s social connections and health status play an important part in personal wellbeing. However, some economic factors are also important, so perhaps this trend over time is not surprising as the country came out of the economic downturn. ”

It seems that England’s citizens have been, even with misgivings that accompany economic unpredictability, finding their own reasons to continue thriving.

Manclossi also mentions the large difference in overall happiness levels between those of different ages, giving the quality of life team at the ONS something to look further into. A quick look at said discrepancies reveal the following:

  1. The overall happiest age group are those between 65 and 80 years old
  2. The least satisfied aged group are those between 50 and 54 years old
  3. People aged 16 to 19 reported the highest levels of life satisfaction of any age group

Happiness Level: UK vs other countries?

In a dispatch called the World Happiness Report 2017, an initiative of the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a group of independent experts including economist Jeffrey Sachs surveyed people in 156 countries to find out how highly they evaluated their lives on a scale from 0-10.

The top 5 spots were taken by Nordic countries; Norway tops the list, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and Finland. The UK found itself taking the 19th place, right after Luxembourg. Worth noting is Australia’s title as the 9th happiest country in 2017 as it is also home to the World’s Happiest and Most Liveable City, Melbourne.

While explanations for this list are naturally complex, experts have condensed them roughly into six factors: income, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on in times of trouble, generosity, freedom and trust, with the latter measured by the absence of corruption in business and government.

Evidently, the UK  has managed to remain resilient in the face of uncertainty following Brexit — if the citizens are getting happier, something must be working right!

Need to up your happiness level? Invest in England and get a slice of that happiness! For more information on the property market in the UK, check these articles out: https://csiprop.com/uk-property-outlook-2018/ and https://csiprop.com/regional-uk-property-tops-price-growth/.

By Nimue Wafiya

Sources:

World Happiness Report 2017

Overall UK happiness level given boost by English ONS Life Satisfaction Survey

Melbourne World’s Happiest City Survey

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CSI Prop proudly promotes international investment property with high yields at low risk. Our portfolio comprises residential and commercial property including student accommodation and carehomes, in cities across the United Kingdom (London, Luton, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, York, Glasgow, Scotland; Sheffield, etc) and Australia (Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane). Our projects are concentrated in high-growth areas with great educational, infrastructural and job growth potentials. We aspire to make a difference in the lives of our clients by helping them achieve their investment goals through strong market research backed by third party experts. 

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