Docklands News

The housing market is showing signs of cooling, according to Halifax, as households face a squeeze on their finances. The mortgage lender said that while house prices continued to climb in May, with prices up 10.5% in 12 months, this was slowest rate of growth since the start of the year. The rise meant the average price of a house hit another record of £289,099. Halifax said that house prices have now climbed for eleven consecutive months. "Despite the very real cost of living pressures some people are experiencing, the imbalance between supply and demand for properties remains the primary reason driving the continued climb in house prices," said Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax. "However, the housing market has begun to show signs of cooling. Mortgage activity has started to come down and, coupled with the inflationary pressures currently exerted on household budgets, it's likely activity will start to slow," he added.

BBC News (08/06/2022)   The Daily Telegraph (08/06/2022)   The Independent (08/06/2022)   The Times (08/06/2022)  

Thousands of first-time buyers are now opting to invest in buy-to-let property - while staying renting in the more expensive areas they prefer. Nearly one in 10 buy-to-let mortgages are taken out by first-time buyers as young people priced out of London and the South East turn landlord instead. The number of first-time purchasers applying for buy-to-let mortgages has jumped by 5% in the past year, according to broker Norton Finance. They accounted for one in 12 of all buy-to-let mortgages the firm has processed. Rod Lockhart of LendInvest said: "These first-time buyers tend to be living and working in London and buying regional property... They are investing to build up deposits." 

The Daily Telegraph (04/06/2022)  

Analysis shows that house prices have climbed by 13,972% during the Queen’s reign. In 1952, the average UK house cost £1,891, according to Nationwide, while the current average is £260,771. The average house price is still 4.3 times higher in real terms than it was in 1952. Adjusting for inflation, the average 1952 house was worth £61,000. In the year the Queen took to the throne, just 32% of households owned their own home, compared with 65% today. 

The Mail on Sunday (05/06/2022)  

ONS data show London’s economic output grew 1.2% in the first three months of 2022 compared with the previous quarter - the highest of any UK region and outstripping the national average of 0.8%. 

Financial Times (07/06/2022)  

Developer Mount Anvil is set to get the go-ahead for updated plans for an Isle of Dogs regeneration scheme, drawn up by architects HTA Design. The developer previously obtained consent to deliver a 26-storey tower and low-rise houses and flats on a site bounded by Byng Street and Manilla Street on the Isle of Dogs last year. That scheme required the demolition of 24 houses and flats currently on the 0.3ha site south of Canary Wharf, and would have delivered 148 new properties. However, updated proposals recommended by Tower Hamlets planning officers increase the height of the tower to 31 storeys and deliver a total of 202 new homes – including replacement properties for those currently on the L-shaped sites. Tower Hamlets’ strategic development committee meets from 6.30pm on 8 June to consider the application.

Housing Today (31/05/2022)  

The Help to Buy property subsidy scheme is to close for applications six months early at the end of October. The final applications for loans will be accepted in October, with all of them to be processed over the following five months. A government source said the October deadline would allow enough time for customers to legally complete the purchase of their home before the scheme is wound up at the end of March.  

The Sunday Telegraph (29/05/2022)