Docklands News

Housebuilders have welcomed Labour's plans to build 370,000 new houses, but questions have emerged over whether the industry has the capacity to meet these targets. The last peak in housebuilding was in the 1960s, with just 189,000 homes built last year. Labour plans to reintroduce mandatory top-down housebuilding targets for local authorities and force councils to build on the grey belt. However, the construction industry is facing a skills shortage, with 55,000 vacancies and an ageing workforce. Brexit has also led to a loss of EU workers in the sector. Construction apprenticeships are not filling the gap, and the industry needs to provide more secure work and longer contracts. Steve Morgan, founder of Redrow, noted that two of the country's largest brick makers had mothballed some of their kilns. "You can't just go down to Tesco and pick up bricks. It takes time . . . You can't turn it on like a tap." Barratt chief executive David Thomas predicted that in the first two years of the Labour government, between 180,000 and 200,000 homes would most likely be built, before a surge in the latter half of the parliament. 

The Sunday Times (04/08/2024)  

Newham is the most popular place in London for buying a first home, with 77% of all property purchases in the first half of the year coming from those taking their first step on the housing ladder. Buyers paid an average of £388,170 for a property. The most popular streets in the area were Earlham Grove in Stratford, Silvertown Way in Canning Town, and Gallions Road in Beckton. Barking & Dagenham followed Newham, with Thurrock - technically in Essex - taking third place.

Time Out (01/08/2024)  

The latest figures from HMRC have revealed a surge in UK home sales during June. There were an estimated 91,370 property transactions, which is an 8% increase compared to the same month last year. However, there was a slight dip of less than 1% from May 2024. Despite this, industry experts remain optimistic about the market's recovery. Iain McKenzie, CEO of the Guild of Property Professionals, commented that a month-on-month decrease is nothing to worry about and the market still shows strength compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, Kevin Roberts, managing director at Legal and General Mortgage Services, remarked on the market's stability through June and July, with buyers showing resilience amidst General Election speculation. 

Evening Standard (31/07/2024)   The Express (31/07/2024)   The Independent (31/07/2024)   The Mirror (31/07/2024)  

Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, has announced a draft policy for England's National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that aims to deliver 1.5m new homes. Under the new regime, all local authorities will have a duty to deliver more homes, and if they fail to produce a clear plan, the Government could take over the process. The new mandatory housing targets will rise from 300,000 to 370,000 per year. The Government plans to boost social and affordable housing, streamline the work of local authority planning committees, and review green belt land to identify potential development sites. The full definition of grey belt will be included in the new NPPF, which will be out for consultation until September but it will include sites on the edges of existing towns and villages, next to roads, and former petrol stations or car parks. Such projects in the green belt will be subject to particular rules, including that at least 50% of the homes must be affordable, and that developments come with infrastructure and a net increase in access to green spaces. 

BBC News (30/07/2024)   Daily Mail (30/07/2024)   The Guardian (30/07/2024)   The Times (30/07/2024)  

A new mortgage lender is offering first-time buyers, home movers and those remortgaging the chance to borrow up to six times their annual salary. April Mortgages will also give borrowers the chance to fix for up to 15 years and borrow up to 95% of a property's value. This puts the lender’s offering alongside that from Perenna, which last year began lending up to 95% of a property's value, with fixed terms of between 20 and 40 years and loans at up to six times a borrower's annual income. Most lenders offer the majority of borrowers a maximum of 4.5 times their income. Data from UK Finance shows that the average first-time buyer is currently borrowing an average of 3.26 times their annual income.  

Daily Mail (29/07/2024)  

Two-thirds of first-time buyers who got on the property ladder in the past two years were unfamiliar with their new neighbourhood, according to research by Santander UK. This compares with just over half of those who bought more than five years ago. The research indicated that moving to an area they had never previously heard of and being further away from family and friends were among the main compromises people were willing to make to get a foothold on the property ladder. The research also found that more than a third of people who moved to an unfamiliar neighbourhood did so because it was less expensive. 

Daily Mail (30/07/2024)   Daily Mirror (30/07/2024)   Evening Standard (30/07/2024)