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First-time buyers are missing out on £9.4bn of extra cash as fewer than 2% of those eligible are using a Lifetime Isa, research from savings app Moneybox suggests. It says that while 9.5m Britons are potential first-time buyers, only 150,000 have opened the Isa launched in April 2017 which lets savers aged 18 to 39 add up to £4,000 in each tax year - with the state adding 25% to the pot.
The Daily Telegraph (04/05/2018)
UK construction output fell 2.7% in March, according to the Office for National Statistics, the biggest decline since August 2012, driven by falls in both repair and maintenance, and new work, which fell 2.8% and 2.6% respectively. On a month-on-month basis, construction output fell 2.3%.
City AM (10/05/2018)
Developer St George City has launched Cashmere Wharf, a 26-storey residential tower in Wapping designed by architects Patel Taylor. The building hosts 141 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, and is part of London Dock, a project by St George to create 1,800 homes where once goods from across the world were unloaded and stored. The site, once home to the News International empire, is an 11-minute walk from Shadwell Overground, where the DLR to Canary Wharf takes just seven minutes; it is also close to Wapping, Aldgate and Whitechapel, soon to be served by the Elizabeth Line. Residents will have exclusive access to amenities such as a gym, swimming pool, sauna, private screening room, and 24-hour concierge. Prices start at £685,000.
The Wharf (28/04/2018)
The annual rate of house price growth edged higher in April, after two consecutive months of decline, according to Nationwide. House prices rose by 2.6% in the year to April to reach an average price of £213,000, up from £211,625 in March. In monthly terms prices rose by 0.2%, after falls in March and February, and the annual rate of growth remains down from 4.9% in April 2016. The share of cash transactions has dipped slightly since the introduction of the additional stamp duty levy on second properties, while first-time buyer levels are back "broadly in line" with pre-crisis levels, Nationwide added. Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said subdued economic activity and the ongoing squeeze on household budgets meant the slowdown would continue.
Financial Times (27/04/2018)
According to the latest housing market research from UK bank Halifax, only half of Britons expect house prices to rise, down from 58% last year, meaning confidence in house prices has remained at its lowest level since 2013. However, the survey showed that fewer people are negative about the market overall, with 17% predicting a fall in prices over the next year, down from 20% six months ago. People under 25 were the most pessimistic about buying or selling, while those aged between 55 and 64 were the most confident. Meanwhile fewer than a third of mortgage holders were concerned about the possibility of rising interest rates, down from 42% in 2014.
City AM (29/04/2018)
Ahead of the Government crackdown on unfair ground rent increases, the number of houses sold under leasehold agreements soared last year, according to analysis of Land Registry data by the ONS, which shows that 15.6% of new build houses were sold as leaseholds in 2017. The figures show that London has seen the biggest rise in new-build leasehold houses for any region in England and Wales since 2012, followed by the North West
The Daily Telegraph (02/04/2018)