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Mortgage approvals for July hit a two-year high, according to the latest Bank of England data. Lenders approved 67,306 mortgages last month, up from 66,506 in June, while net mortgage lending rose by £4.6bn, or 1.2%, the largest increase since March 2016. So far this year more than 461,000 mortgages have been approved for movers. However Hansen Lu at Capital Economics warned that transactions this year would fall by 1% if the UK struck a deal to leave the EU – and by as much as 10% in a no-deal Brexit scenario. “We think the mid-year recovery in lending will be cut short,” he said.
City AM (30/08/2019) The Daily Telegraph (30/08/2019) Daily Mail (30/08/2019)
The average house deposit jumped by 22% to £105,260 over the past five years, according to research by Lloyds Bank. The average price paid by those moving home also went up, by 32%, to £329,648. The largest deposit was paid by people in London (£213,907); the smallest in Northern Ireland (£56,763). Lloyds said a total of 160,540 people used a mortgage to move house in the first half of 2019, an annual rise of 1%.
The Sunday Times (01/09/2019)
The kitchens in the Loft apartments of One Park Drive, in Canary Wharf, have the wow-factor to pass muster with any would-be Great British Bake Off contestant. The signature development at Wood Wharf, and designed by Swiss practice Herzog & de Meuron, the building is divided into three distinct typologies: Loft, Cluster and Bay. The Loft apartments feature generous wraparound terraces framed by fluted terracotta panels, naturally sheltered within the building’s form. The interiors, by Bowler James Brindley, feature sliding walls, cool resin floors and bathrooms clad in mother of pearl – with the kitchens taking centre stage, with masses of space for all a top baker’s tools. Prices start from £875,000
Metro (27/08/2019)
The number of mortgage approvals in Britain has reached its highest level since December 2016, according to financial services body UK Finance, with 43,342 mortgages for house purchases approved by the main high street lenders last month in seasonally-adjusted terms. This represented a rise from 42,775 in June and over 10% higher than a year earlier.
City AM (27/08/2019)
The spiralling cost of private education has meant that families are now taking advantage of a sluggish property market and a surprise fall in the extra amount you have to pay for house near a good grammar or comprehensive school. Research by Santander has found that the average good school premium had fallen from 15% to 5% in the past 12 months. As a result, buying a property near a top state school is an average of £32,100 cheaper than it was a year ago.
The Daily Telegraph (23/08/2019)
Carol Lewis in the Times considers Sajid Javid’s options in regard to property tax after the Chancellor told the paper he is “a low-tax guy” who also called for "bold measures" to stimulate the housing market. She notes that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has met the Association of Accounting Technicians to discuss the idea of sellers, rather than buyers, paying stamp duty - but highlights criticism of such a measure. She also says scrapping stamp duty for downsizers could be an option, as could relief for first-time buyers or pushing ahead with the Prime Minister’s suggestion of raising the stamp-duty threshold to £500,000 and reducing the highest rate of tax from 12% to 7%.
The Times (23/08/2019)