Property news roundup: Vertical Rush

Plus choosing where to rent, wind farms and house prices, and Shed of the Year entries

Shed of the Year 2013 winner

Housing charity Shelter is preparing for its sixth Vertical Rush event to raise more than £500,000 in vital funds to support the Shelter helpline. Participants will race up the 920 stairs of Tower 42, the City of London’s iconic skyscraper on 4 March. Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: "It’s a heart-racing opportunity for all of us to get fit and raise vital funds to give families the lifeline they need to keep their homes." More details at www.shelter.org.uk/verticalrush

Wind farms and property prices

A new study by the London School of Economics due out later this month is expected to show that house price values near large wind farms have dropped by around 11 per cent over the last dozen years, and by seven per cent nearer small wind farms. It looks at 150 wind farms sites in the UK.

How do you choose where to rent?

We reported last week on Savills' latest report about why do tenants rent and here are some more interesting findings from their study:

* 52 per cent of tenants live within five minutes of their nearest public transport, rising to 73 per cent if you expand the catchment area to 10 minutes

* Almost half of all the 2,300 people surveyed said that being close to work or university was important, with the figure nearer 70 per cent in London

* Families with children said it was important to be close to good schools (48 per cent), and 42 per cent of them were willing to pay more

How fast will house prices rise?

New figures from Ernst & Young suggest that average UK house prices will rise by 8.4 per cent this year and 7.3 per cent in 2015, before dropping to around 5.5 per cent a year afterwards. By 2018, EY estimates that the average house price in London will reach nearly £600,000.

Outside London and the South East, the South West and East of England are the regions with the highest levels of predicted house price growth, both up by 6.2 per cent from 2013-18. The North East is expected to have the lowest level of price growth (4.2 per cent), with Scotland (4.5 per cent and the West Midlands (4.6 per cent at similar levels).

The report also predicts that 1.36 million people will move home in 2018.

Shed of the Year

Entries are now open for the annual Shed of the Year competition, with a closing date of May 2014. For more details go to readersheds.co.uk