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29th September 2017
London property remains in bubble territory, according to UBS Wealth Management's Global Real Estate Bubble Index, which ranked the capital's housing market as one of the most vulnerable in Europe, polling third across the continent and sixth globally. UBS raised concerns that the prime market was facing an oversupply, with around 36,000 homes are being built in central London and 96,000 in the planning pipeline. The UBS report also says London house prices are 45% up on five years ago, once adjusted for inflation.
The Times (28/09/2017)
29th September 2017
Mortgage lending has hit its second highest level since April 2008, according to figures from UK Finance, which showed total gross lending rose to £24.2bn in August, up 6.4% on July. The number of mortgages approved for house purchase rose to 41,807 in August, stronger than the monthly average of 41,133 over the past six months and 11% higher than the same time last year.
The Daily Telegraph (26/09/2017)
29th September 2017
The Treasury is working on plans that will see foreign buyers face tougher restrictions on purchasing British property in an effort to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder. The Telegraph cites a Whitehall source who points to the amount of property being bought off plan by buyers from overseas, especially the Far East. “They are bought when the flats are still under construction, meaning first time buyers don’t get a look in. That is not just in central London, but in the suburbs and other cities such as Manchester”.
The Sunday Telegraph (24/09/2017)
22nd September 2017
Construction is well under way now on One Park Drive, the residential crown jewel of Canary Wharf’s New District, an 8.9-acre community just east of the Isle of Dog’s financial centre. Designed by Swiss architects Herzong & de Meuron, every apartment in the 58-storey tower, clad in glazed, fluted terracotta, comes with generous terrace space, designed to ensure that no balcony is overlooked by another. The interiors focus on natural, responsibly sourced materials; Martin Gettings, lead on the subject for Canary Wharf Group plc, says “Sustainability is foremost in our minds. We consider at design stage how the new buildings we construct can be disassembled and have a second use. We specify only Forest Stewardship Council-certified timber and encourage and support our supply chain”. Prices at the flagship tower start from £665,000 for a studio apartment of 466 sq ft.
Metro (18/09/2017)
22nd September 2017
The latest landlord sentiment research from Foundation Home Loans has found over two-thirds of landlords think landlord confidence has fallen, with a fifth noticing increased competition in the buy-to-let market as a result of political uncertainty. A quarter of landlords operating in central and outer London have raised rental prices as a result of the lingering political jitters across the UK over the past year – below the average of 30% across the UK. Meanwhile, 45% of landlords in central London had reviewed the size of their portfolios, FHL said, and 47% had seen a drop in transactions.
City AM (15/09/2017)
22nd September 2017
Experts say borrowers could slash their home loan bills by more than a third thanks to an "end-of-season" remortgage jamboree. Mortgage brokers John Charcol and London & Country say banks and building societies have begun trimming rates, cutting fees and introducing cashback offers in an effort to get more business onto their books before the end of the year, with the homeowners with most to gain those on standard variable rates.
The Sunday Times (16/09/2017