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1st December 2017
Figures from UK Finance show that £23.1bn was lent for mortgages in October, a 14% increase on the same month last year. The data shows that remortgaging hit an eight year high ahead of the Bank of England’s interest rate increase, climbing to 34,036 from 30,499. However, new mortgage approvals for house purchases hit a 13-month low, dipping to 40,488 in October from September’s 41,576, with the total down 3% on that seen in October 2016. UK Finance said that with an average of around 100,000 transactions a month, housing market activity in 2017 is set to follow a pattern seen since 2014. Howard Archer, the chief economic adviser to EY Item Club, said the mortgage approval figures were the latest evidence of "lacklustre housing market activity".
The Daily Telegraph (24/11/2017) The Times (24/11/2017)
1st December 2017
Analysis of official figures shows that 685,136 homes approved for development in England are still waiting to be built. Government figures show that planning permission was given for 262,000 new homes last year but just 142,000 got under way. The research, by ChamberlainWalker, shows that 55.5% of the outstanding planning permissions are held by landowners waiting to strike a deal with a builder – with the rate at 71% in London. Chancellor Philip Hammond this week announced a review of the “significant gap” between applications granted and homes built.
Sunday Express (26/11/2017)
24th November 2017
The Evening Standard predicts that the Isle of Dogs, already being transformed by countless new residential developments, will truly come into its own next year, with the opening of the Canary Wharf stop on the Elizabeth Line next year. The new transport link, which will take journey times into Liverpool Street down from 22 minutes to just six, is being accompanied by new projects to bring life to the area at weekends, such as the Museum of London Docklands, community activities at the Crossrail Place Roof Garden, and open air events such as an ice skating rink and food markets. Among the new-build developments are Herzog & de Meuron’s One Park Drive, where prices start at £575,000 for a studio apartment, South Quay Plaza where a home can be bought for £770,000, and Lansbury Square, where Bellway Homes has one-bed apartments available for £387,995.
Evening Standard (22/11/2017)
24th November 2017
New analysis has suggested that staying in some of London’s zone three locations instead of moving to the suburbs could be significantly cheaper. Taking into account moving fees and commuting fares for many of the most popular commuter towns, housebuilding investment platform Homegrown found that moving to locales such as Sevenoaks, Woking or St Albans can cost over £11,000 more annually than living in Upton Park, Tottenham or Stratford. Homegrown said the housing crisis had pushed up the cost of living in the commuter belt.
City AM (20/11/2017)
24th November 2017
Nicky Gavron, chair of the London Assembly planning committee, has written to the Chancellor requesting more funds, saying £300m is needed for prefab homes in the capital. She said: “We have never reached high housing targets in the past without a significant contribution of factory-built homes. If the Government wants to build 300,000 a year they will have to invest in this."
Evening Standard (21/11/2017)
24th November 2017
Chancellor Philip Hammond has abolished stamp duty for first-time buyers on properties up to £300,000. Placing measures to tackle the UK’s housing crisis at the centre of his Budget, the move will also apply on the first £300,000 of a purchase in high-price areas, providing the property's value is under £500,000, meaning 95% of first-time buyers will see at least a cut in the amount of stamp duty, with 80% paying none at all. Setting out plans to build 300,000 extra new homes a year by the mid-2020s, Mr Hammond also pledged at least £44bn of capital funding, loans and guarantees to support the housing market over the next five years. The Office for Budget Responsibility has questioned the impact the stamp duty shift will have, saying it will push up house prices by around 0.3%.
Daily Mail (23/11/2017) The Daily Telegraph (23/11/2017)