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Homebuyers continued to take advantage of low mortgage rates during April with approvals up 2.7% year-on-year, according to the latest data and analysis from e.surv. According to the figures, there were 65,781 mortgages approved during April 2019, with the proportion of all loans given to customers with a small deposit, including most first-time buyers, being 28.5% – an increase on the 26% recorded in March and indicative of how lenders are turning their attention to first-timers, given the slowdown in other parts of the market. “In many parts of London and the South East, the property market continues to move slowly. Yet this has not translated into the mortgage market with activity remaining strong,” said e.surv director, Richard Sexton.
Property Reporter (15/05/2019)
Mortgage advisors must explain if and why they are not offering would-be borrowers the cheapest deal available to them, under new rules proposed by the City regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority said advisers must explain if they have not recommended a cheaper mortgage if their client would be eligible.
The Sunday Times (12/05/2019)
Homeowners are more satisfied in life than those living in both private and social rented housing, according to ONS data. Furthermore, within the rental sector, social housing tenants rated life satisfaction lower than those who rent privately.
Mortgage Introducer (15/05/2019)
Almost 5,000 new homes are planned over the next decade for the Poplar section of the River Lea, winding from north-east London via Stratford on the Thames near Canning Town. Up to 2,800 new homes will be built on the 20-acre Poplar Gasworks site in Levan Road, all served by a secondary school, shops, restaurants, offices, and a small riverside park and towpath walk. The gasworks site, which is being developed by the National Grid and Berkeley Homes, is just one of a number of projects on the Lea, along with the 1,000 new homes planned for the Aberfeldy Estate, almost 800 at Ailsa Wharf, and the 100 already completed at Leven Wharf, adjacent to the gasworks.
Evening Standard (06/05/2019)
UK house prices edged up this month as Brexit uncertainty continues to impede the housing market, according to data from Nationwide. March saw prices increase by 0.7% - up from 0.4% the month before. Nevertheless, house prices still look soft on an underlying basis as they were up just 0.1% in the three months to April 2019 compared to the three months to January. London was the weakest performing region in the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 2019 with prices falling by an annual 3.8%, due to unaffordable prices for many buyers and tax changes affecting the buy-to-let market.
Reuters (06/05/2019)
The number of new home sales has fallen for the ninth consecutive month. A monthly residential survey by the Rics found that newly agreed sales were down in April, and there were also fewer new properties on the market last month than at any time since June 2016. The national house price net balance came in at -23% last month, unchanged from March. Respondents further predicted flat or declining volumes across all parts of the country in the next three months. Meanwhile more than 60% of estate agents surveyed said that properties listed at up to £500,000 were sold at a price at least level with the asking price, up from 57% six months ago.
The Times (08/05/2019) Daily Mail (08/05/2019)