Docklands News

The number of mortgages approved by UK lenders has fallen to its lowest since June 2020, with 65,974 mortgages approved in April. This was down from 69,531 in March and 73,220 in January. The figures from the Bank of England also show that net mortgage borrowing dropped to £4.1bn last month from £6.4bn in March. Mortgage approvals for house purchases also fell, from 69,500 to 66,000. The average rate for a new mortgage rose to 1.82% in April, up from 1.5% in December after the Bank of England raised interest rates four times over the period to reach a 13-year high of 1%. Martin Beck, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said the figures showed slowing demand, adding that he expects housing market activity to continue to cool through 2022, with price growth “decelerating.” 

Financial Times (31/05/2022)   The Daily Telegraph (31/05/2022)   The Guardian (31/05/2022)   The Times (31/05/2022)  

Self-employed people are twice as likely to have mortgage applications rejected compared to salaried employees, new research from The Mortgage Lender has shown. The specialist home loan provider said 23% of self-employed individuals had had a mortgage application denied in the past, compared to just 12% of salaried workers. 'There are around 4.2m self-employed people in the UK, and it is typical for that number to grow when coming out of a recession, or in this case a pandemic also,” commented Peter Beaumont, chief executive at The Mortgage Lender. “While it may offer those workers more freedom, the major drawback of self-employment is the perception of income inconsistency, and consequently a greater challenge when it comes to borrowing large sums of money.” 

Daily Mail (28/05/2022)  

Nationwide has warned that house prices may cool this year as the rising cost of living puts pressure on people’s finances. The building society said that while house prices have been increasing at double-digit rates so far this year, they could start falling again. “Higher property prices and interest rates, together with steep increases in the cost of living, mean housing has become less affordable and we expect housing market activity to slow and the rate of house price growth to moderate in the coming quarters,” it said in an update on Friday. “There is a risk of a downward movement in house prices, given the pressure on household budgets.” Inflation reached a 40-year high in the year to April, hitting 9% as measured by the Consumer Prices Index. There is a risk of a downward movement in house prices, given the pressure on household budgets. Although unemployment remains low, this is still squeezing household budgets very hard, especially among those on lower incomes who were unable to save, or saved less, during the pandemic. “We will continue to plan for geopolitical risks and economic pressures arising directly and indirectly from the war in Ukraine, notably the rising energy bills and inflation, which are intensifying pressure on household budgets, which are already under strain,” said chairman Kevin Parry. 

The Independent (21/05/2022)  

House buying volumes have dropped “dramatically” compared to last year, according to the latest HMRC figures, as the market feels the absence of the stamp duty holiday. Residential deals in April plunged nearly 14% in comparison with 12-months ago, and are 10.5% lower than in March, according to the government’s latest data. Meanwhile, non-residential transactions, which can include six or more residential properties bought in a single deal, fell 7% year-on-year and 16.7% in comparison with last month. 

City AM (24/05/2022)   The Independent (24/05/2022)   The Sun (24/05/2022)  

Ideas floating around Whitehall with the aim of incentivising pensioners and landlords to sell up include cutting stamp duty for the elderly looking to downsize and slashing capital gains tax for those willing to sell buy-to-let properties. The ideas, in the very early stages, aim to make it easier for younger people to get a first foot on the housing ladder. 

Daily Mail (23/05/2022)  

The UK’s average property price in 1952 stood at around £56,000 in today's money, according to analysis carried out to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The typical house price in early 1952 was just under £2,000 – equating to around £56,000 when taking inflation into account. The average house price nowadays is more than four times this sum – at £260,000. “

Daily Mail (23/05/2022)