Docklands News

Property transactions reached 96,250 in February, with higher value buying at pre-pandemic levels. Transactions were up 15% last month, compared to 83,450 in January, according to HMRC’s latest data. Total sales for the first two months of the year stand at 179,900, some 18% lower than last year. However, this is still the next highest level since 2007. According to data from TwentyCi, sales for properties worth £300,000-£500,000 were 47% higher than pre-pandemic levels. For properties between £500,000 and £1m, there were 73% more sales than before the pandemic. 

City AM (22/03/2022)  

Buyers save around £1,400 a year compared to renters, mortgage data has shown. Buyers save £115 a month on average on housing costs if they can afford to get on the property ladder, Halifax data suggests. The bank compared the typical monthly rent for a three-bedroom property in Britain with average buying costs, which include mortgage payments, household maintenance, repairs, minor alterations, insurance and income "lost" from funding a deposit instead of saving. Average buy-to-let monthly rents increased by 6% to £874 between December 2020 and December last year, while buying costs rose 2% to £759 a month. Esther Dijkstra, mortgages director at Halifax, said: "Over the last year we have seen record numbers of buyers entering the market, moving to bigger properties and taking advantage of the stamp duty holiday. However, historic lows for interest rates have kept mortgage costs down, compared to rents."

The Times (19/03/2022)  

Morris+Company has added a second set of stairs to a proposed 52-storey tower in Canary Wharf after the London Fire Brigade (LFB) raised safety concerns over the original design. Developer Ballymore's planning application for the 424-home tower was due to ruled over by Tower Hamlets Council in January; however, it was withdrawn following the LFB's comments that the single-staircase design did not provide a ‘suitable and convenient means of escape’ in the case of a blaze. The updated plan replaces a lift in the building’s southern core with a new stairway that can be accessed from every floor. The changes, which do not affect the number of homes or the building’s façade, mean there will be one fewer lift for the building. However, a planning statement said the other three lifts had been "increased in size and will operate at a faster speed to meet waiting time requirements". Morris+Company's 174m-tall tower is earmarked, alongside a pocket park, for a 0.44ha site running along Cuba Street. The castle-inspired scheme is now due to be ruled on by Tower Hamlets' Strategic Development Committee in the coming months.

Architects' Journal (15/03/2022)   My London (15/03/2022)  

The Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has revealed an £83m investment into housing in Newham, East London. The partnership with the London Borough of Newham will fund the construction of 161 homes on a brownfield and industrial site close to London City Airport. The project is funded by the regeneration lease structure, which provides PIC with long-term, inflation linked cashflows. The model offers benefits to all stakeholders including increased employment and spending the local economy during construction. The investment takes PIC's urban regeneration investment to almost £600m in 18 months.

Professional Pensions (15/03/2022)   Property Week (15/03/2022)  

Landlords could see stamp duty bills jump by a third if Rishi Sunak introduces a new tax in his Spring Statement. The Office for Budget Responsibility left a note in autumn Budget documents pointing to the three percentage point stamp duty surcharge on additional properties increasing to four. Ben Beadle, of the National Residential Landlords Association, says a four percentage point charge would shut out new investment at a time when rental supply was at an extreme low, warning: “Increasing stamp duty would lead to a sharp fall in the supply of homes to rent”. Such a move would particularly hit those landlords who chased high yields in the North. 

The Daily Telegraph (16/03/2022)  

First-time buyers take an average of eight years to save enough money for a deposit on their first home, new research has found. According to the Barclays Mortgages' First Time Buyer Index, the average person starts saving for a deposit at 24-years-old and buys their first home when they are 32. The research also found that the number of first-time buyers in the UK has almost doubled in the past year. However, 56% revealed that they would have struggled without support from their family. First-time buyers paid an average of £281,000 for a house in 2021, down £12,600 compared to 2020 but more than the average house price in 2019, which was £249,700. The survey also revealed confusion from potential homeowners about how to even start the process. More than 55% confessed they had no idea where to begin, while 39% didn't know they had to factor in solicitor's fees. Nearly half were unaware of stamp duty. 

Metro (15/03/2022)   The Independent (15/03/2022)