Docklands News

Fears among property experts of homebuyers flocking to the country in the post-pandemic era have been proven unfounded, new data suggests. According to a white paper, entitled COVID City Exodus: Reality or Urban Myth, sales in urban areas are now 7% ahead of those in rural or country areas. It comes after successive COVID lockdowns sparked a "race for space", causing property purchases in the countryside to outstrip urban sales by 10% in the second half of 2020. However this dropped to 4% in the first half of 2021, before disappearing altogether during the last six months of the year. Bob Pannell, author of the paper and an economist with Atelier, writes: "The most recent data debunks the myth that Britain's cities are in decline. There is little evidence of the paradigm shift in housing preferences supposed by many". The report predicts sustained growth in the urban housing markets for 2022. 

Daily Mail (28/01/2022)  

Developers want to revive HOK’s stalled Spire London skyscraper, previously known as Hertsmere House, which faced a backlash four years ago after it was revealed the design included only one fire escape stair to its upper floors. Shanghai-based Greenland Group has submitted plans to remove all 96 homes from the tower, at West India Quay, in a bid to ‘unlock the viability’ of the scheme. An additional 60 affordable homes it had promised to build at nearby Limehouse will still go ahead, according to an application lodged with Tower Hamlets Council. The site, near Grade I-listed docks buildings by George Gwilt the Younger, formerly housed a low-rise 1980s office development. In addition to its new homes and 941 sq m of commercial space, the building will feature communal amenity pavilions for residents that will be connected to the tower by glass winter gardens, landscaped roof terraces, public open spaces, and both internal and outdoor children’s play areas.

Architects' Journal (25/01/2022)  

IPE Developments has secured a £15.5m loan from Global Growth Capital (GGC) against 41 homes across two developments in east London. The first, in Walthamstow, is for 18 private homes plus a 2,034 sq ft commercial space, while the second, in Poplar, is a residential scheme over four floors with seven one-bedroom flats, 15 two-bedroom flats and one three-bedroom flat. The full planning consent is for the restoration and conversion of a grade-II listed building built in 1873, which was severely damaged by fire in 2007, and the development of an adjacent new building. The property is next to Bartlett Park, between Limehouse Cut and the Isle of Dogs.

Property Week (25/01/2022)  

Leaseholders in London are to be given more protection from service charges under new rules introduced by Sadiq Khan. The Mayor of London is launching a new Service Charges Charter that will require housing providers to be more transparent and give more clarity to leaseholders over the charges they may incur. Housing providers will have to give new buyers a clear list of all the charges they could incur before the lease begins. Service charges will have to be set at “realistic” levels and reviewed regularly. Although it will not be mandatory for housing providers to sign up to the charter, any provider involved in the delivery of the GLA’s affordable homes programme will be expected to do so. 

Evening Standard (25/01/2022)  

House sales were down by a fifth in December 2021 when compared with a year earlier, figures have revealed, but increased on the previous month. An estimated 100,110 transactions took place across the UK in December 2021, marking a 20.0% decrease compared with 125,190 house sales in the same month in 2020. The December 2021 total was however 7.6% higher than in November 2021, according to the figures released by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Andrew Montlake, managing director of mortgage broker Coreco, commented: “Transactions in December 2020 were given a phenomenal boost by the stamp duty holiday, so it’s no surprise that transactions last month were down in comparison".

The Independent (22/01/2022)  

There were a record number of people buying their first property last year, according to Halifax, despite rising house prices and falling affordability. Figures from the lender show that more than 400,000 people were first-time buyers in 2021, up 35% from the previous year, the Halifax said. That rate dropped by 13% in 2020, when the number of Halifax buyers was about 300,000. The biggest increase was in Greater London where there was a 49% rise in first-time buyers; the lowest was in Scotland at 24%. Esther Dijkstra, mortgage director at the bank, said: "It's clear that the stamp duty holiday increased the availability of first-rung homes as others moved up the ladder. In 2021 the increase in average house price, combined with difficulties in raising a deposit, meant that the gap between purchase price and deposit widened in every region." 

BBC News (21/01/2022)