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The number of buy-to-let mortgage products currently available is at its highest since the credit crunch, according to Moneyfacts. Landlords now have the choice of 2,162 buy-to-let mortgages, meaning the number of products has not been higher since October 2007, when 3,305 products were available. “It is encouraging that buy-to-let landlords have more mortgage choice than they have had at any time in almost 12 years. Total product numbers have increased by 397 over the past year and by 706 over the past two years to stand at 2,162 products today,” said Darren Cook, finance expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk.
Your Mortgage (25/02/2019)
The Telegraph looks at the underappreciated areas of London where homes can still be snapped up at reasonable prices - including Bromley-by-Bow, just 12 minutes away from Canary Wharf, and even closer to Stratford Westfield and the East Bank cultural area. Mount Anvil, in a joint partnership with Peabody, is breaking ground on Three Waters, a 307-apartment waterfront scheme set beside a plaza with a coffee shop and plenty of spaces for new businesses. Prices start from £371,500 for a studio apartment and owners have access to 24-hour concierge – a bargain for the area, according to Mount Anvil’s Tony Usher “At £750 per sq ft, it’s a very competitive price point – lower than Stratford (at around £1,200), Hackney Wick (£1,100 to £1,200) and Canary Wharf (£1,000 to £1,450)”, he explains.
The Daily Telegraph (18/02/2019)
The former Ferrier council estate in Greenwich has been bulldozed to make way for Kidbrooke Village, a “garden suburb” designed by architects Studio Egret West, with shops, two schools, GP surgery, dentist and pharmacy, and a new station offering a 16-minute commute to London Bridge. Over 1,500 of 4,800 planned homes have already been built across the 276-acre neighbourhood; the latest phase of which, Birch House, is an elegant high-rise tower. Two-bedroom flats there start at £567,0000, rising to £1.04m for a three-bedroom duplex with balcony and terrace.
Homes and Property (19/02/2019)
Rising house prices have delayed the age when British adults become homeowners by at least eight years since 1997, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics said it now took until the age of 34 for more than half of the population to own their own home, compared to 26 in 1997. Over the period, house prices in Britain have skyrocketed by more than 270% - with a significant acceleration since the financial crisis a decade ago. The ONS study also revealed that the average home ownership age had been 28 as recently as 2007, meaning the bulk of the shift has taken place in the past decade. Factors exacerbating the housing issues facing millennials include the rising cost of entry-level property and the introduction of stricter mortgage lending rules, according to the ONS. Over the past 20 years, renting has also become more common across all age groups except the oldest, with the biggest change for those aged between 25 to 34 in 2018, with 55% renting, up from 35% in 1998.
The Guardian (18/02/2019) The Times (18/02/2019) The Daily Telegraph (18/02/2019)
New data has revealed a sharp drop in property transactions during the last three months. The average number of sales recorded by estate agents in November to January were an “unprecedented” 6% lower than the long-term average. The figures, by software platform Reapit, also found that property viewing dipped 5% during the period, while properties under offer were 8% lower than the long-term average. “Although house prices remain reasonably resilient, our research sheds light on the extent to which Brexit uncertainty has affected property transactions in the past three months,” Reapit chief executive Gary Barker said.
City AM (18/02/2019)
Last year, Government schemes such as Help To Buy and improved competition in property prices paved the way for the highest number of first-time buyers since 2006. Data from UK Finance reveals there were 370,000 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in 2018, a 1.9% rise on 2017. It is also above the 367,800 mortgages purchased by movers last year, which is barely half the level seen before the credit crunch. The average buyer took on a mortgage with a deposit of just 15%, the smallest proportion since 2008. Loans are also growing compared to incomes, with the median mortgage worth 3.64 times the borrower’s annual income - a record high, up from 3.27 times a decade ago.
The Daily Telegraph (19/02/2019) The Times (19/02/2019)