Docklands News

Borrowers are paying charges to get out of their mortgages early so they can move onto new deals before rates increase further. Yorkshire Building Society customers paid 88% more in early repayment charges in the first five months of this year than in the same period of 2020. "More borrowers are considering their options before coming to the end of their deal. With rates seemingly only heading in one direction, I suspect we'll see similar activity throughout the year at least," commented Ben Merritt, the director of mortgages. 

The Sunday Times (26/06/2022)  

Secondary property purchases accounted for 29% of all property sales in London last year compared to 23% in the rest of England, an analysis has found. According to data collated by Octane Capital on property purchases in the last financial year, second property purchases accounted for 50% of sales in some London boroughs. The most active additional home market in London was Kensington and Chelsea where 1,200 additional home purchases equated to 52% of all market activity in the borough. The boroughs with the lowest percentage of additional homes were Waltham Forest, Lewisham, and Bexley, in all of which they account for 21% of market activity.

Plans have been submitted for a 52-storey residential skyscraper on the Isle of Dogs in London. One East Point, designed by architect Make at the site of 4 & 5 Harbour Exchange Square for client GAW Capital, is an an 170m-tall stepped tower that will provide nearly 460 flats. A mixture of affordable homes and market homes are planned for levels up to the 24th floor, with upper levels for market sale. It is expected that construction could begin in the first quarter of 2024 on a four-year plus programme that would see the building completed in the summer of 2028. 

Construction Enquirer (21/06/2022)  

The average UK house price surged by 12.4% in April, up from 9.7% in March, according to the Office for National Statistics. Average values jumped to £281,000 in April, £31,000 higher than this time last year. In Wales and Scotland, house price growth hit 16.2%. In England, the rate was 11.9%, while Northern Ireland recorded 10.4% growth. The South West had the fastest price rises of any region in England, with growth at 14.1%, while London recorded the slowest pace of growth at 7.4%. However, due to a lag in ONS data, the figures do not reflect the current state of the cooling market. Andrew Montlake, of mortgage broker Coreco, said: “This data is not a true reflection of where the market is at right now. The era of ultra-cheap money is finished and that will soon start to feed through into house price growth.” 

Evening Standard (22/06/2022)   The Daily Telegraph (22/06/2022)  

House sales were down by 5% in May this year than in the same month in 2021, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures. Some experts said it could be a sign of the impact of rising mortgage rates and living costs on the housing market. Across the UK, 109,210 homes changed hands last month, marking a 5.1% fall compared with May 2021. However, the total did edge up by 1.3% compared with April 2022. The total for May this year is also up compared with the 96,500 house sales recorded in the same month in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic. 

Evening Standard (21/06/2022)  

Around a quarter of first-time buyers are paying stamp duty as house prices have soared, analysis has revealed. The HomeOwners Alliance called for an urgent review of the tax, which applies in England and Northern Ireland. The organisation, which made its findings using provisional HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures, said around 26% of first-time buyer transactions were liable for stamp duty in the first quarter of this year. This compares with around one in five first-time buyer transactions in the fourth quarter of 2017. Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance, a property advice website, said: "It's clear that the stamp duty tax needs to be reviewed to ensure it's facilitating rather than fettering first-time buyers." 

The Independent (21/06/2022)