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The Government’s Help to Buy scheme looks set to be extended as housebuilders warn that home sales are at risk of collapse because of construction delays caused by COVID-19. An announcement on whether to extend the stop date to the Government's loan scheme for new-build homes could come as early as this week, the FT reports. The present scheme is due to end in April 2021. However, applications will be accepted only for properties that are completed by December 31. Construction delays caused by the pandemic, which led most of the larger housebuilders to down tools on sites temporarily, means that thousands of agreed sales on homes that had been scheduled to be completed by the end of the year could fall through if the deadline is not extended.
The Times (28/07/2020) Financial Times (28/07/2020) The Guardian (28/07/2020)
Berkeley Homes has revealed plans for a 26.2-acre development between Stratford and Canary Wharf, not far from West Ham station. TwelveTrees Park will comprise 3,838 homes, with an assortment of studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes available, with prices starting at £385,000. Penthouses will also be available, as will apartments purpose-built for rent and homes available under shared ownership. Homes can be purchased off-plan, with completions due to start in 2023. In addition to the homes, the TwelveTrees development includes over 25,000 sq ft of commercial space, including shops and restaurants, and a 4.5-acre WiFi-enabled park.
Evening Standard (22/07/2022) Property Week (22/07/2022)
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.
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