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Prime properties in London face stagnant house price growth until 2020, according to research that cites uncertainty over Brexit as a key limiting factor on the housing market. The rate of annual growth in the prime country market has averaged less than 1% since mid-2016, compared to up to 5% in the mainstream UK market.
Financial Times (12/10/2018)
Plans for a new urban district in London's Canary Wharf featuring 3,600 homes have been revealed. The development, called Wood Wharf, is expected to create 20,000 new jobs and be completed by 2023. It is overseen by Canary Wharf Group, which is owned by the Qatar Investment Authority - the country's sovereign wealth fund. The scheme was approved by Tower Hamlets Council in 2014, which described its design as "innovative." A spokesman for CWG said the company had been "focusing on detailed building design and managing the infrastructure requirements for a development of this scale" since then. The development will involve homes - a quarter of which will be affordable, shops, new parks, offices, a GP surgery, leisure centre and restaurant, as well as a two-form primary school for 420 children, spread over 23 acres.
Luxury residential developer Mount Anvil has seen its average home selling price hit £1.2m in 2017 on the back of a number of high-value properties, including penthouse apartments at its Dollar Bay project in Canary Wharf and riverfront flats at Queen’s Wharf in Hammersmith. Turnover rose to £225.5m from £198m, while pre-tax profits to £89m from £73m.
Source: Evening Standard (09/10/2018)
The number of Londoners under the age of 40 setting up their own home in the capital is to fall significantly over the next 15 years, the Office for National Statistics has warned. While boroughs including Barking, Bexley and Havering, will buck the trend by showing projected increases, most will show a decline, including Hounslow, Harrow, Lambeth, Camden and Haringey. Joanna Harkrader of the ONS said changes in “living arrangements” meant the number of younger households would fall by 7%, from 1,051,800 in 2016 to 974,100 in 2041.
Source: Evening Standard (09/10/2018)
As tax changes force landlords out of the market, lenders are lowering their buy-to-let rates to lure in new business. The average two-year fixed rate buy-to-let mortgage rate has dropped from 3.09% two years ago to 2.90% at present, with the average five-year fixed rate down from 3.77% two years ago to 3.40% in October. Top for two-year fixed rates is Sainsbury’s Bank, with a 1.40% interest rate at 60% loan-to-value and a £1,745 fee, while top for five-year fixed rate deals is The Mortgage Works, which is offering a 1.99% interest rate at 50% loan-to-value and a £2,335 scheme fee.
Source: Daily Mail (10/10/2018)
Britain's most expensive home, in one of the country's most exclusive locales, has been snapped up for a landmark £160m. The owner, listed as two companies based in Guernsey, used an £80m mortgage from Credit Suisse UK to pay for the penthouse at One Hyde Park. One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge was developed by property tycoon brothers Nick and Christian Candy, and is among the most expensive pieces of real estate in Britain.
Source: Daily Mail (10/10/2018) The Times (10/10/2018)