Motor trade sales are increasing in Scotland which is great news for businesses within this industry as there will be more money to pay for the essentials such as motor trade insurance. According to the Scottish motor trade sales of new cars is set to be at the highest level seen since 2007. They released figures which show that there were 19,000 new car registrations during June which is just under 14% higher than in June last year.
The Scottish Motor Trade Association have increased their forecast based on these figures from predicting that there will be a total of 185,000 new car sales to 190,000 during 2013. It isn’t just Scotland that have experienced a year on year increase either, the rest of the UK also saw a 13.4% increase since the same time in 2012. In total there were a total of 215,000 new registrations around the UK.
Due to this great increase experienced in Scotland, they are now more than 14% ahead of the performance which was seen in 2012 during the first half of the year. There are a variety of vehicles that made the top ten best sellers in June. Within the list there are two different models of BMW that feature; the 3 series and the 1 series. Below is the full list:
1. Ford Fiesta
2. Vauxhall Corsa
3. Ford Focus
4. Vauxhall Astra
5. BMW 3 Series
6. Volkswagen Polo
7. BMW 1 Series
8. Nissan Qashqai
9. Renault Clio
10. Fiat 500
Douglas Robertson is the chief executive at the Scottish Motor Trade Association and he has said, “Once again we are very pleased to note increased demand over last year.
“Private buyers are driving this demand and again accounted for over 55% of our new car registrations in June.
“Scotland has always been more of a private buyers market than the rest of the UK and this is reflected in our 14.3% increase over last year compared with the rest of the UK’s 9.6% uplift.
“Following this excellent first half of 2013 we wonder if perhaps we can now look at adjusting our original forecast of 185,000 new registrations for 2013.
“A forecast of 190,000 for Scotland would now look more accurate. This would be the highest figure since 2007.”
A think tank have announced that the government should put in place regulations that will mean that buy-to-let landlords can’t buy new build properties and have a lending cap. They suggest that these regulations will prevent another housing market boom. On top of this, The Strategic Society Centre has said that buy-to-let landlords are blocking first time buyers from the market.
James Lloyd is the director of The Strategic Society Centre and he has said, “The government champions aspiration and getting people on to the property ladder. But the last decade has seen the unending growth of the private rented sector, with more and more private tenants trapped renting seeing their dreams slip away.
“But building new homes will be enough for the government to help people’s aspiration for home ownership without new restrictions to ensure that new build homes go to new homeowners.”
The think tanks research found that buy-to-let landlords were usually wealthier than their tenants with an average of £75,103 in savings, bonds and investments whereas tenants have on average £9,506.
Mr Lloyd continued to say that the government should hold public talks about the private rented sector and create more opportunities for home ownership.
The reason for the sudden change in thinking is that the think tank feels that landlords are becoming much wealthier than those who are supplying their income and could be crippling their chances of getting onto the property ladder.
Although this may be true in terms of landlords become richer, many don’t have any other option than to rent. This is due to the fact that property prices are on the increase even though wages remain stagnant. For those who are looking to move out of their family home into a place of their own they are happy to be renting.
Although it is becoming harder for first time buyers to enter the market this is not solely down to the price tenants are paying for rent. Landlords are a major part of the property market and they buy houses which is great news for those who are looking to sell a property. Without sales in the market it becomes stagnant with no real chance of progression. In order for tenants to be able to afford a property of their own, wages will have to increase at the same rate that properties are.
