020 7538 0102
3rd June 2016
Khan: Londoners should have first option on new homes
London mayor Sadiq Khan has called for the city’s residents to have the first option on new homes, partly to prevent London becoming “the world’s capital for money laundering”. Mr Khan told ITV's Peston On Sunday that developers may be obligated to market new property in the capital to Londoners for the first six months in order to receive planning permission. He added: “We shouldn't be embarrassed of saying our homes are homes, not gold bricks for investment for investors in the Middle East and Asia".
Evening Standard (30/05/2016)
3rd June 2016
House price inflation slowed in May to a rate of 4.7% a year, according to Nationwide Building Society, but it added that a more prolonged slowdown is unlikely. The monthly increase in May was 0.2%, the same as April, helping to cut the annual rate from 4.9%. The average price for a home in the UK is now £204,368. Investors in the buy-to-let and second home sectors rushing to beat April’s stamp duty increase drove up demand in March, which has since dropped substantially, Nationwide said. Meanwhile, house prices in Greater London have breached £600,000 for the first time – 14% higher than a year ago and an increase of 7.9% on the previous quarter, according to analysis of Land Registry data by wealth manager London Central Portfolio. It claimed record low mortgage rates and decreases in the cost of stamp duty on properties costing less than £937,000 are helping to push up demand.
The Times (01/06/2016) Daily Mail (03/06.2016)
3rd June 2016
Home buyers paid the lowest interest rates ever on their mortgages in April, according to the Bank of England. The average borrower paid just 2.41% on a new mortgage last month, down from 2.49% in March and 2.64% in April 2015. The BoE data also showed that mortgage lending so far this year is at its highest level since the financial crisis. A total of 497,301 mortgages were approved between January and April, up 17.6% on the same period a year earlier.
The Daily Telegraph (02/06.2016)
27th May 2016
Deptford is proving to be a popular area for young professionals looking to live close to Canary Wharf and the City, without necessarily paying the same high property prices. New developments are springing up all the time which, combined with relatively affordable prices for a town in Zone Two, means deposits are among the lowest in the capital for first-time buyers. Lend Lease is developing six new neighbourhoods under the collective title of The Timberyard, while Barratt London is constructing five buildings containing 562 new homes at Greenland Place. In one of his final acts as Mayor, Boris Johnson gave the green light to Convoy’s Wharf, bringing 3,500 new homes to the area at a cost of £1bn.
City AM (26/05/2016)
27th May 2016
Homebuyers in London are seeking areas with good air quality as concerns grow about pollution, according to the National Association of Estate Agents. Mark Hayward, NAEA managing director, said: “Emission levels are very much on house hunters’ radars… buyers want to make sure they are investing in an area where they can bring their children up with low emissions”. He estimates that air pollution was a concern for around one in 10 house hunters.
Evening Standard (23/05/2016)
27th May 2016
New research suggests the often cited average house price of £550,000 for London is misleading: less than half of the capital’s property is at this price - and even less in prime central London locations. The key outliers were Kensington and Chelsea, where only 6% of the properties are on the market at the average price of a London home, followed by Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham with 7% and 14% respectively.
City AM (25/05/2016)