Docklands News

With the Queen moving out of Buckingham Palace to "work from home" at Windsor Castle, research has found it would cost almost £250m just for a deposit to purchase the London landmark. Mortgage solutions specialist Henry Dannell found that the building's estimated market value is £995m, with monthly mortgage repayments sitting at nearly £1m per month, or £3m for anyone paying off the loan. Other Royal residencies would also come with a hefty price tag, with Windsor Castle costing £124m up-front, while Sandringham would require ‘just' under £200,000 each month in repayments, Henry Dannell calculated.  

City AM (14/03/2022)  

A £1.7bn Docklands project backed by Boris Johnson during his time as London mayor has been put up for sale after the the developer behind the project fell into administration. Six buildings at the Royal Albert Dock development are being sold by Savills. The developer behind the proposals, ABP (London), collapsed earlier this year following an extended period of troubles that owner Xu Weiping blamed on the UK's decision to leave the European Union. The site, just east of Canary Wharf, will have “retail, leisure and residential accommodation, all conveniently located within five minutes of London City Airport and Crossrail", Savills said in the marketing document. 

The Sunday Telegraph (06/03/2022)  

British Land has sold 50% of its share in the 53-acre Canada Water Masterplan to AustralianSuper for £290m. AustralianSuper is one of Australia’s largest pension funds with more than £140bn in assets under management and a growing presence in the UK property market. The joint venture is to begin Phase 1 of the Masterplan, one of the largest London regeneration projects in history, with completion expected in the third quarter of 2021. “The investment by AustralianSuper, who have extensive experience investing in major regeneration schemes, is testament to the strength of British Land’s reputation and best in class development and operational platform", said British Land chief executive Simon Carter. "This new partnership enables us to move faster, delivering new homes and workspace, creating new opportunities for local people and delivering value for our shareholders".

Property Week (08/03/2022)  

House prices increased at the fastest annual pace since 2007 in February to hit a new record high. Halifax said that at 10.8%, the annual rate of house price growth was the strongest since June 2007. The increase took the average house price across the UK to a new record high of £278,123. Property values increased by 0.5% month-on-month. Russell Galley, managing director, Halifax, said a lack of supply continues to underpin rising house prices. He continued: “Looking ahead, as COVID moves into an endemic phase and almost all domestic restrictions are removed, geopolitical events expose the UK to new sources of uncertainty.” The average house price in the West Midlands in February was £234,481 – an annual increase of 9.7%. 

The Independent (07/03/2022)  

The Bank of England is considering ditching the stress test which requires lenders to check if a borrower can afford a mortgage if they have to pay their lender’s standard variable rate plus three percentage points. The Bank is consulting on a plan to replace the stress test with looser Financial Conduct Authority rules which are based on expected future interest rate rises and require a minimum stress test of one percentage point above a borrower’s mortgage. Research suggests that the present stress test restricts 30,000 borrowers a year to smaller mortgages than they wanted. George Nixon in the Sunday Times says that it might seem an unusual time to change mortgage rules, with bills, costs and interest rates rising, but notes suggestions that the stress test has been too restrictive. James Daley from consumer group Fairer Finance said limiting mortgages based on income multiples was a “crude” way of doing things, arguing that a borrower’s outgoings, commitments and career were as important. “As long as people can afford it — including if interest rates go up significantly — I don’t think we should be too concerned about lending people more,” he said. It is noted that in 2010, 10.6% of mortgages were for four or more times a person’s income, while this year 12.9% were at this income multiple or higher.   

The Sunday Times (06/03/2022)  

Redrow and Peabody have teamed up to build a £50m, 130-home development at Pontoon Reach in the Royal Docks. The build-to-rent project, which includes a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments, has been funded by Pictet Alternative Advisors in joint venture with Pinnacle Investments, and the apartments - 53 of which are set aside for shared ownership - are anticipated to be available from summer 2022 and form part of the wider regeneration of the Royal Docks area. "The scheme will be a great addition to this exciting regeneration area, and we’re here for the long term, with affordable homes to rent and buy, and great open spaces for all to enjoy", said James McMylor, regional development officer at Peabody. 

Evening Standard (01/03/2022)