020 7538 0102
15th January 2016
A government scheme offering homebuyers in London loans of up to £240,000 to help them buy new-build properties will go live on 1 February. The extension of Help to Buy London, which was announced in the chancellor’s autumn statement, will be available to buyers of new properties in Greater London costing up to £600,000. As under the existing scheme, borrowers will need to be able to raise a deposit of at least 5%, and to qualify for a normal mortgage. They will also have to show that they can afford interest payments on the government loan when the five-year interest-free period ends.
The Guardian (12/01/2016)
15th January 2016
Home loans advanced to UK buy-to-let investors in November leapt 35% from a year earlier, ahead of key tax changes. The Council of Mortgage Lenders said the rise took the number of buy-to-let loans to 23,300, although this was down 6% compared with October. Landlords in England and Wales will have to pay a 3% surcharge on each stamp duty band from April, and in addition, changes being brought in over the next few years will alter some relevant tax breaks available. "Landlords may be disgruntled by the double whammy of tax changes and the impending hike on stamp duty, but they can't complain about some of the cheapest buy-to-let rates ever," said Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients. The figures also revealed that £4.2bn of home loans were advanced to first-time buyers in November, a 14% rise on the same period a year earlier. Paul Smee, director-general of the CML, said: "As expected, mortgage lending activity eased back as the normal dip in the winter months began. There was still growth across all lending types in November compared to the year earlier, suggesting continued improvement."
BBC News (15/01/2016) The Times (15/01/2016)
8th January 2016
Housing industry research consultancy Molior London says developers in the capital sold more than twice as many two-bedroom apartments costing between £650,000 and £1m as cheaper homes priced at about £300,000 last year. Figures show that over 5,300 homes valued at between £1,000 and £1,499 per sq ft, while 2,000 properties were sold at values of less than £400 per sq ft. Shadow housing minister John Healey said: “For young people and families on ordinary incomes, these figures will make infuriating reading,” adding that “in many areas of the country, house prices have become completely detached from local incomes”.
The Guardian (02/01/2016)
8th January 2016
House prices in London have jumped by £52,900 in the past year to an average of £449,800 despite recent evidence that the capital's housing market is slowing down. Hometrack said that the fastest rate of growth in the 12 months to November was in London, at 13.3%. Its House Price Index for 20 big cities in the UK recorded annual house price growth of 10.1%, pushing the average house price to £228,800. This growth was driven by a chronic shortage of homes for sale. The average income needed to afford a home in a UK city, with a 76% mortgage at a borrowing rate of three and a half times income, is £49,700, up from £45,200 last year. A separate report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors predicts that property prices will rise by an average of 5% across London over 2016..
The Times (19/12/2015) The Wharf (31/12/2015)
8th January 2016
Transport for London has redrawn the Zone 3 fare boundary, creating a new Zone 2/3 region. Stratford, Stratford High Street, Stratford International DLR station, West Ham, Canning Town, Star Lane and Abbey Road have all been rezoned, meaning the stations will be classed in Zone 2 or 3 depending on which way the passenger is travelling, giving the cheapest travel option for the journey. Anyone travelling Stratford to Westminster will be charged a Zone 2 to Zone 1 fare, while anyone journeying eastward will be charged as if from Zone 3. Sir Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham, said: “We’ve been campaigning for this for some time. The truth is London's moving eastwards and it’s sensible to reduce the cost of travel. It's going to encourage people to come to Stratford, West Ham and Canning Town, which will be great”.
Evening Standard (06/01/2016)
8th January 2016
The London borough of Newham enjoyed the biggest rise in house prices across the UK in 2015, according to the Halifax. The average house price there rose 22.2% over the year compared with 2014. Homes in Newham are now worth an average £319,522 against £261,399 previously. Wales fared far worse, with Merthyr Tydfil and Colwyn Bay topping the list of worst performing areas for 2015. A surprise inclusion in the worst performers was Kensington and Chelsea, the borough that includes the UK's most expensive and exclusive areas. Prices there rose just 1% to an average £807,407.
The Daily Telegraph (28/12/2015)