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Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the threshold for paying stamp duty will be raised from £125,000 to £500,000 immediately in a bid to help the UK housing market out of the coronavirus lockdown. The chancellor said the stamp duty holiday, which will run to March 31st next year, will result in an average saving of £4,500 and will benefit nine in 10 house buyers.
Daily Telegraph (09/07/2020) Daily Mail (09/07/2020)
East London neighbourhoods such as Plaistow and East Ham represent excellent value for house hunters wishing to remain close to the heart of the city, and Canary Wharf, while enjoying the benefits of gardens and a closer sense of community. In Plaistow, four- to five- bedroom houses can be found for £600,000 and rising, with three-bedrooms from £500,000, and two-bed flats at £300,000-£350,000. One of the newest developments is Upton Gardens, the former home of West Ham United FC, where almost 850 homes are being built in landscaped grounds, with a play area, residents gym and shops. Two-bedroom flats start from £474,000. East Ham also offers value, with streets of Victorian terrace houses originally built for factory workers and costing £380,000 to £425,000 for a three-bedroom home. Alternatively, studio flats at the 277-apartment New Market Place begin at £304,000.
Evening Standard (02/07/2020)
A survey has revealed that Londoners are twice as likely as other Britons to be planning to move. Some 15% of those in the capital are seeking to move to cheaper homes both within and outside the city, compared with just 7% for the wider UK. The urge to move was also found to be stronger among young adults, revealed the poll by life assurance provider Legal & General. In London, 18% of those aged between 16 and 34 are planning to move house as soon as they can, versus 9% for 35- to 54-year-olds.
The Independent (28/06/2020)
House prices in the UK fell for the first time on an annual basis in eight years in June, according to Nationwide, slipping 0.1% year-on-year, having increased 1.8% in May. Month-on-month, prices slipped 1.4% as the coronavirus lockdown hit the property market. Figures show the typical home was worth £216,403 in June. Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, commented: “While latest data from HMRC showed a slight pick-up in residential property transactions from April’s low, in May they were still 50% lower than the same month in 2019.” He added that with lockdown measures set to ease further, market activity is likely to edge higher in the near term but remain below pre-pandemic levels.
BBC News (01/07/2020) The Times(01/07/2020) The Guardian(01/07/2020) The Daily Telegraph (01/07/2020)
Mortgage approvals reached record low levels last month, the latest Bank of England figures reveal, with around 9,300 new loans approved in May, down from 15,900 in April and 90% since February. Approvals for remortgages with a different lender dropped to 30,400 in the month, down 42% on February’s total. However, net mortgage borrowing picked up to £1.2bn in May, after the closed housing market led to zero borrowing in April. The monthly rise in borrowing was due to more new borrowing by households, rather than lower repayments. Analysts warned that a “two-tier” mortgage market has emerged, with banks and building societies willing to lend to homeowners with large deposits but excluding first-time buyers.
The Guardian (30/06/2020) City AM (30/06/2020)
The number of homes sold in May 2019 was double the number of those sold in the same month of this year, mainly because of COVID-19 lockdown. HM Revenue & Customs says that 46,230 property transactions were completed in May, down 52% from last year. Restrictions on the housing market were lifted in the middle of the month.
The Sunday Times (28/06/2020)