020 7538 0102
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)
27th May 2016
Chancellor George Osborne has predicted that house prices could fall by between 10 and 18% in coming years if Britain votes to leave the EU. The Telegraph notes that if this forecast were to prove accurate, the projected value of an average house in Britain could drop by over £50,000 within two years.
The Daily Telegraph (20/05/2016)
20th May 2016
The Evening Standard looks at the spate of new, family-friendly properties sprouting up in London’s Canary Wharf and surrounding Docklands. Developments such as Galliard’s Millharbour Village, a new, 1,500 high-rise quarter, have been designed to bring a sense of community to the capital’s second financial district, while Berkeley’s South Quay Plaza, an 888-home project set around a 66-storey skyscraper, also brings a new dockside promenade and park, along shops, parks and restaurants.
Evening Standard (18/05/2016)