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16th September 2016
House prices continued to rise in London in the month after the Brexit vote, according to latest figures from the Land Registry. The average price of a home in the capital rose 1% in July to £484,716, making it 12.3% higher than a year ago. However, experts caution that the figures could reflect prices agreed in the weeks running up to the referendum. Prices in central London, which were faltering even before the vote, continued their decline: average prices in Kensington and Chelsea were down 3% year on year to £1,287,850. However, house prices in Newham, in districts such as the Royal Docks, Canning Town and Stratford, have risen almost 21%, to £359,000
Evening Standard (14/09/2016)
16th September 2016
London mayor Sadiq Khan says he knows “we won’t fix the housing crisis overnight” but insists he will “raise the level of affordable housing by using my planning powers alongside investing the funding available and the release of public land.” He also revealed that his team are currently developing supplementary planning guidance “to increase the numbers of affordable homes delivered through the planning system”.
16th September 2016
Home-owners borrowed £10.6bn in July, 13% less than they did in June, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which shows the total number of loans fell by 14% to 58,100 in the first full month since the Brexit vote. First-time buyers borrowed a total of £4.4bn in July, with 28,200 mortgages taken out – a 19% month-on-month drop-off. Lending to home movers, at £6.2bn, fell 9% compared with June and 16% compared with July 2015.
The Daily Telegraph (15/09/2016
9th September 2016
China’s Greenland Group has launched one of the most ambitious housing-project commitments in the UK since the Brexit vote, with the tallest residential tower in Europe. The launch of the £800m, 67-storey, 235m-high Spire London tower, in West India Quay, comes despite market concerns over a glut of homes in parts of the capital. The first of the 861 apartments go on sale next month, with one-bedroom properties starting from £595,000. Communal facilities include a crèche, meeting rooms, games room, and a “music/learning/cultural space”; other attractions include a gym, cocktail bar, and an infinity pool promising spectacular views over the capital. Construction is set to be complete by 2020.
The Guardian (05/09/2016) Evening Standard (05/09/2016)
9th September 2016
Apartments at the tallest tower at London City Island have gone on sale, with prices starting at £365,000. Caledonia House contains 217 homes made up of suites, one, two and three-bedroom apartments, and is part of a wider 12-acre island development from EcoWorld Ballymore featuring 1,700 homes, linked to the “mainland” by a 260ft red footbridge across the Lea.
The Wharf (02/09/2016)
9th September 2016
While the market for London’s top-end homes was already slowing before the Brexit referendum, analysts at UBS believe the vote has dented confidence further. A year ago there were roughly four-and-a-half times as many such homes on the market as there were homes sold subject to contract. The ratio is now at a new high of more than 7.5 times. By contrast, ratios for homes costing below £150,000 and between £150,000 and £250,000 – predominantly outside London – have remained just below one-times since February. UBS analysts expect the number of transactions in the capital to fall by 6% in 2016 and 10% in 2017, causing house prices in London to fall by 10% by the end of 2017..
The Daily Telegraph (06/09/2016)