Docklands News

Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, has announced a draft policy for England's National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that aims to deliver 1.5m new homes. Under the new regime, all local authorities will have a duty to deliver more homes, and if they fail to produce a clear plan, the Government could take over the process. The new mandatory housing targets will rise from 300,000 to 370,000 per year. The Government plans to boost social and affordable housing, streamline the work of local authority planning committees, and review green belt land to identify potential development sites. The full definition of grey belt will be included in the new NPPF, which will be out for consultation until September but it will include sites on the edges of existing towns and villages, next to roads, and former petrol stations or car parks. Such projects in the green belt will be subject to particular rules, including that at least 50% of the homes must be affordable, and that developments come with infrastructure and a net increase in access to green spaces. 

BBC News (30/07/2024)   Daily Mail (30/07/2024)   The Guardian (30/07/2024)   The Times (30/07/2024)  

A new mortgage lender is offering first-time buyers, home movers and those remortgaging the chance to borrow up to six times their annual salary. April Mortgages will also give borrowers the chance to fix for up to 15 years and borrow up to 95% of a property's value. This puts the lender’s offering alongside that from Perenna, which last year began lending up to 95% of a property's value, with fixed terms of between 20 and 40 years and loans at up to six times a borrower's annual income. Most lenders offer the majority of borrowers a maximum of 4.5 times their income. Data from UK Finance shows that the average first-time buyer is currently borrowing an average of 3.26 times their annual income.  

Daily Mail (29/07/2024)  

Two-thirds of first-time buyers who got on the property ladder in the past two years were unfamiliar with their new neighbourhood, according to research by Santander UK. This compares with just over half of those who bought more than five years ago. The research indicated that moving to an area they had never previously heard of and being further away from family and friends were among the main compromises people were willing to make to get a foothold on the property ladder. The research also found that more than a third of people who moved to an unfamiliar neighbourhood did so because it was less expensive. 

Daily Mail (30/07/2024)   Daily Mirror (30/07/2024)   Evening Standard (30/07/2024)  

Planners in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets have called for more time to consider planning for a residential skyscraper at 4-5 Harbour Exchange Square in the Millwall Inner Dock cluster. The Make Architect-designed One East Point project has been recommended for approval but a decision has been delayed to allow for a site visit to investigate potential construction work disruption in the local area.

Construction Enquirer (23/07/2024)  

The Government is being urged to prioritise Stamp Duty in the next Budget, after data showed homebuyers have collectively paid £4.2bn in Stamp Duty between April and June 2024. This is £500m higher than the same period last year. The nil-rate threshold for Stamp Duty is set to be reduced back to £125,000 in March 2025, doubling the tax bill on an average-priced home in England. First-time buyers will also see a drop in the threshold from £425,000 to £300,000. Jonathan Stinton, head of mortgage relations at Coventry Building Society, called on the Chancellor to set out an ambitious, long-term plan for property tax in the next Budget to provide certainty to homebuyers. 

The Express (22/07/2024)  

The Government has set out ambitious house-building targets, aiming to construct 1.5m new dwellings in the next few years. However, some observer fear such a gung-ho attitude to building will come at the cost of high quality homes. Although new builds provide a blank canvas and lower maintenance costs, issues such as poor workmanship and hidden costs have been common complaints in recent years. For Paula Higgins, the chief executive of HomeOwners Alliance, which campaigns for better rights for homeowners, new homes are often beset by problems - including snagging, lack of insulation and poor quality. But positive new-build outcomes can also be achieved. According to the Home Builders' Federation, in the year September 2022 to 2023 a customer survey of 50,000 people in newly-built estates showed 88% were satisfied with the quality of their home, and 90% would recommend their builder to a friend. 

The Sunday Telegraph (21/07/2024)