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Canary Wharf Group has revealed proposals by architects Allies and Morrison for a 3.8m sq ft development on the North Quay site at Canary Wharf. A flexible masterplan has been submitted to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, that includes up to 1.6m sq ft of residential space, up to 640,000 sq ft of retail, leisure and/or community uses, and up to 2.5m sq ft of commercial office space. Sir George Iacobescu CBE, executive chairman of Canary Wharf Group, said: “Our plans offer a great new place to work and to live, with the extensive public realm, high-quality retail, and new connections, next to a brand new railway station… In a dynamic and unpredictable world, the extensive flexibility in this plan will enable us to respond quickly to market demand within a framework agreed with the local authority”.
Architects Journal (20/07/2022) PBC Today (17/07/2022)
Almost a third of people who plan to buy their first home within the next year say their finances have improved during the coronavirus pandemic. Some 32% of people hoping to get on the property ladder felt this way, according to the research from YouGov, which suggested it may be because they had been able to save more money with fewer opportunities for discretionary spending. Among existing homeowners, 18% reported their finances had improved, while 36% said they had diminished. Starter home buyers have also struggled to get a mortgage with 53% finding they had a limited choice of competitive rates. People planning to sell a property within a year were particularly likely to say they had been negatively affected financially by the crisis, with early 38% saying it had made their finances worse.
The Daily Telegraph (17/07/2020) Daily Express (17/07/2020) The Independent (17/07/2020) The I (17/07/2020)
Banks are turning away some mortgage applicants who took repayment holidays amid the coronavirus crisis, despite ministers and credit agencies saying pausing repayments would not impact their ability to borrow, reports the Mail on Sunday. Sources said borrowers who made use of payment holidays have since received initial confirmation of their credit worthiness when applying for new mortgages, only to be denied a loan after a more detailed analysis. One mortgage source said it was “reasonable” for banks to take a dispassionate view rather than lend to someone whose financial position was now uncertain. MP Siobhain McDonagh said she intends to write to Chancellor over the matter.
Mail on Sunday (19/07/2020)
London house prices stayed flat in the second quarter of 2020 as coronavirus took an uneven toll on the UK’s property market. The Halifax house price index on Tuesday showed that UK house prices fell for the fourth month in a row in June, dropping by 0.9% in the second quarter of the year. However, the average fall masked sharp differences across the country, according to IHS Markit’s new breakdown of Halifax’s figures. It found that in London, house prices stayed the same in the second quarter, with the average home costing £500,632. Yet in Scotland, prices plunged by 4.2% quarter on quarter. Wales saw the biggest rise in house prices, which were up 1.8%. In the south-east, prices dropped by 0.8% quarter on quarter to an average of £331,547.
City AM
High-end country property prices have bounced back from the COVID-19 outbreak stronger than any type of housing in the UK, property firms have reported. Sales of £1m-plus homes rose by 66% from March 8 to June 21, according to Zoopla, while sales of homes priced between £500,000 and £1m only saw an increase of 17%. For £5m to £10m country houses, Knight Frank's figures show that, between May 13 and June 24, the number of offers accepted was 182% higher than the five-year average, compared to 64% for all the other price brackets. Reigate, Midhurst and Exeter are a hive of high-end activity, according to agents at Jackson-Stops. A £2.15m, seven-bedroom Victorian house sold by the agency in Redhill went under offer in two weeks after nine viewings, and a £1.5m five-bedroom home in Dunchideock, Exeter, had 13 interested buyers and sold in one week.
The Sunday Times
Buy-to-let landlords have swooped into the property market to take advantage of the stamp duty tax giveaway, as the tax break means that their bills could fall by as much as half. Rentround, a letting agent comparison website, said the number of landlords contacting its agents across the country had risen by 22%. In north and east London, inquiries have risen by 31%, higher than anywhere else in the country. Meanwhile, in the cheaper parts of the country, such as the North East, the holiday has a minimal impact. Here, it will save investors £280 on the average purchase, compared to £7,240 in London, Hamptons International found. Kay & Co said: “We have seen buy-to-let investors return to the market but only on properties valued sub £1m and in most cases £500,000.”