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Taylor Wimpey has acquired a 1.5 acre site on Fish Island in Hackney Wick, from Telereal Trillium. Located west of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and not far from Hackney Wick Station, the land – which formerly hosted a BT depot – has planning permission for 145 flats across four buildings, and for 23,000 sq ft of commercial space at ground level. The proposed development was designed by the architecture and interior design firm Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher.
Property Week (30/09/2020)
Southern Grove has unveiled plans for a £22m development in Limehouse, an eight-storey building close to the local Overground and DLR stations, and within walking distance of Canary Wharf. Construction on Quinnat Yard, as the 45-apartment scheme is known, is scheduled to begin next spring, subject to planning permission.
Property Week (06/10/2020)
Young people are planning to stay in London despite the trend, sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, to seek bigger and cheaper housing outside of the capital. Research published by PwC showed that 73% of Londoners aged 25 to 44 were planning to remain in the capital, compared to 74% before the pandemic. The new research comes after reports that around a third of over 45-year-olds who currently live in the capital said they expect to move to a different region outside of Greater London the next time they move, an increase of 14% compared to before the pandemic.
City AM (06/10/2020)
The UK housing market remained buoyant last month as the post-lockdown bounce continued, however experts have warned that sales are expected to weaken in the year ahead. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said its house price index shot up unexpectedly to +61 from +44 in August. According to RICS, house price growth has continued to accelerate in all regions, except for more modest rises in London. There was exceptionally strong growth in East Anglia, the South West, and Yorkshire and the Humber. Buyer enquiries, agreed sales and new listings all remained strong in September, with surveyors expecting sales to keep rising in the next three months. However, this near-term view is “becoming increasingly at odds with the longer term view”, RICS said, with surveyors seeing sales falling back next year as they expect more job losses once the furlough scheme is withdrawn. The Times looks at evidence from property professionals showing signs of the impending slowdown.
City AM (08/10/2020) Daily Mail (08/10/2020) The Daily Telegraph (08/10/2020) The Times (08/10/2020)
A property buying surge in the wake of the coronavirus crisis has sent the cost of upsizing to a record high of nearly £68,000, according to new data. Demand for larger homes has pushed up prices as Britons seek more space both inside and out. House prices have not risen equally in the market mini-boom, however, and the difference between larger properties and starter homes has increased. A growing divide has limited who can afford the traditional dream of upsizing to a house, so-called second steppers.
The Daily Telegraph (02/10/2020)
Boris Johnson has confirmed that he intends to create 2m more owner-occupiers by introducing 5% mortgage deposits for first-time buyers to transform "generation rent" into "generation buy". The pledge was one of a series of ambitious promises in the prime minister's speech to the annual Conservative conference. However, Eric Leenders, managing director of personal finance at banking trade body UK Finance, commented that, while the banking industry looked forward to working with the Government on its proposals, "firms have a duty to lend responsibly and consider the affordability of the mortgage in the long term, helping customers to avoid the risks associated with negative equity."
The Independent (06/10/2020) The Guardian (06/10/2020) Financial Times (06/10/2020) Daily Mail (06/10/2020)