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A record 115 towers are under construction in London, up 26% from 91 in 2016 according to New London Architecture’s annual count of buildings of at least 20 storeys. Canary Wharf and the Docklands continue to hold the highest number of tall buildings in the pipeline, with 70 towers planned in Greenwich and 85 in Tower Hamlets, both up from the previous year. Last year's tower tally of 510, which includes those being planned, is a rise of more than 12% on the 455 recorded in 2016.
City AM (18/04/2018)
Homes in nearly a fifth of UK local authority districts have “earned” more than their owners over the past two years, research suggests. Halifax compared rising property values against people’s average take-home earnings and found that house price growth in Barnet in London outpaced average earnings by £52,256 – the highest difference in the survey. The proportion of areas where house prices are outpacing earnings has fallen, however, from 31% to 18%. The report also highlighted how 86% of areas where the average house price rise is greater than local earnings are in London, the South East, South West or East of England.
The Times (13/04/2018)
February saw 50,000 mortgages handed to first-time buyers or home movers, according to figures from UK Finance. This marks the highest level for a February since 2007. The £5.3bn of new lending in the month was 1.9% more year-on-year. There were 25,200 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in February 2018, up about 2.4% from the same month in 2017, and 35,400 new homeowner remortgages, an 11.3% increase on February last year. The month saw 24,800 home mover mortgages completed, the same as a year earlier.
Daily Mail (17/04/2018)
13th April 2018
The Silvertown Partnership is in talks with Indian conglomerate Essel Group, over the sale of its £3.5bn development in the Royal Docks. Existing plans to build 3,000 new homes on the brownfield regeneration site will still go ahead; however, Essel wants to build a 2.5m sq ft destination at the heart of the 62-acre project, celebrating India’s culture and history, including museums, a theatre, retail outlets, restaurants, a botanical garden, and a luxury hotel. HPW Architects will lead on the design while Mace, the developer behind the Shard, will take control of its construction. If the plans are approved by the Greater London Authority and the Silvertown Parnership, Essel Group’s proposed development could see the cultural centre open by 2023. A decision is expected this month.
Property Week (09/04/2018)
13th April 2018
House prices in London declined at their sharpest rate for nine years during the first part of 2018. Prices fell by 3.2% in the first three months of the year to an average of £430,759, the lowest since the end of 2015, according to a report by Halifax and IHS Markit. On an annual basis, London saw a 3.8% reduction, the worst drop since 2011. Most regions continued to show house price growth, but the South East was sluggish at just 0.3%. Leading growth was the East Midlands, at 7.3%, followed by East Anglia at 7.2% and Scotland at 6.7%. IHS Markit's Paul Smith said that as a result of the squeeze on real incomes, an undercurrent of Brexit-related uncertainty, and the likelihood of higher interest rates, "the market seems set to persist in a subdued state".
The Times (12/04/2018) City AM (12/04/2018) The Guardian (12/04/2018)
13th April 2018
Londoners pay at least four times more stamp duty, £27,232 on average, than the rest of the UK, according to London Central Portfolio (LCP), which said the capital contributed 39% of Britain’s stamp duty receipts, with the most expensive 10% of all properties contributing around 60% of receipts. Buyers in England and Wales paid around £7,161 on average.
City AM (09/04/2018)