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25th December 2017
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has warned that house prices will see a slowdown in 2018, with growth to be hit by the gap between incomes and property prices, tax changes and interest rate rises. The report said that transactions next year are unlikely to breach the 1.2m sales seen in both 2017 and 2016, "with political and economic uncertainty proving a hindrance as well as the lack of stock, stretched affordability, tax changes and interest rate rises". In London, a net balance of 49% of surveyors expect prices to fall over the coming year.
The Times (19/12/2017)
22nd December 2017
Mortgage borrowers who managed to get a type of loan banned in the UK could be the last to benefit from such flexibility. Self-certified mortgages were attractive to those who found it hard to obtain finance from high street providers. When Selfcert.co.uk managed to obtain a lending licence in the Czech Republic, it received 4,000 applications and approved 280 loans. However founder Graeme Wingate says that despite the popularity of his service, the uncertainty over Brexit meant there were no plans to offer more loans.
The Times (15/12/2017)
22nd December 2017
The Independent profiles the non-for profit developers Naked House - created by a London-based start-up – which supplies homes that provide the bare minimum in order to pass mortgage regulations for homes around £200,000, in a bid to ease the housebuying crisis for generation rent. The idea is to buy a property without the bells and whistles of a regular home - kitchen fittings, lights or internal walls. Instead its left up to the owner to customise their house. Naked House, which has received the backing of the Mayor of London, already has a site in Enfield in development, with other planned sites set to be announced.
The Independent on Sunday (17/12/2017)
15th December 2017
The Standard looks at Landmark Pinnacle, a 75-storey tower on the Isle of Dogs, on a bend in the Thames at Westferry Circus. One of the tallest residential towers in Europe, the Squire & Partners-designed skyscraper is clad in glass and stainless steel, and features the capital’s highest gym and roof gardens. It also includes landscaped internal areas, and such amenities as a private cinema, golf simulator and putting green, and a sky bar. Prices at the development start from £475,000.
Evening Standard (08/12/2017)
15th December 2017
A third of all Londoners aged between 21 and 35 still live with their parents, new research has revealed. Some 54% said they could not afford to buy or face paying the expensive rent prices in the capital, the survey by consumer credit reporting agency Experian found.. Meanwhile 12% revealed they had previously moved out and then returned home because it was too expensive. Despite this, 36% said their main financial goal was to buy a home.
Evening Standard (12/12/2017)
15th December 2017
House price growth in the UK slowed again in October, for the third month in a row, according to official figures. Property prices rose 4.5% in the year to October, down from 4.8% in September and 5.1% in August, while on a monthly basis prices fell 0.5% to £223,807. House price growth reached 7% in the East Midlands, 6.7% in the South West, while London suffered the lowest annual growth of any region, with average prices up just 2.1% in the year to October and falling 0.9% to £481,102 between September and October. Overall, Prices in England went up by 4.7% over the year, compared with 4.5% in Wales, 2.8% in Scotland and 6% Northern Ireland.
BBC News (12/12/2017)