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22nd May 2015
A luxury penthouse in Wapping has won the top prize in the Evening Standard New Homes Awards. Ballymore’s The Penthouse at Wapping Lane bagged the Grand Prix Award, as well as Best Apartment. The crown of a new 18-storey tower, the 5,000 sq ft home features glass walls, offering 360° views of the capital. The apartment also features a private-lift lobby and an open-plan kitchen, and is on the market for £3.95m.
Evening Standard (15/05/2015)
22nd May 2015
Analysis released by Labour mayoral candidate Tessa Jowell, based on government figures, indicates that the proportion of Londoners holding mortgages will fall by almost a third in the next 10 years to just one in five households. This will see demand for private rented homes grow by 600,000 households, with 1.6m families in the sector by 2024. The number of Londoners able to access social rents is also predicted to fall over the same period. The analysis reveals that the proportion of Londoners holding mortgages has fallen by 31% over the past 10 years.
Evening Standard (20/05/2015)
22nd May 2015
UK house prices accelerated with a 9.6% increase in the year to the end of March, according to the Office for National Statistics. The annual rate of increase accelerated from 7.4% a month earlier, despite consumer prices in general being flat. A lack of homes on the market has been cited as a key factor behind the rise, at a time when activity was expected to have been curtailed by the election campaign. The ONS said that the cost of the average UK home in March was £273,000, and £498,000 in London.
BBC News (19/05/2015)
22nd May 2015
Tessa Jowell says the Mayor of London should take a direct role in building homes in the capital. After confirming her intention to run for the post, the former Olympics minister said she would set up “Homes for Londoners” (HfL) if elected - a city agency on a par with Transport for London (TfL). The agency would build homes using public sector land and would be overseen by a dedicated Housing Commissioner appointed by the Mayor. “It’s not enough for the Mayor to exhort others to build homes. We’ve tried that - it hasn’t worked,” she said.
Financial Times (19/05/2015)
15th May 2015
A new housing development at Blackwall, on the Thames waterfront is due to be ready by the end of the year, and is being marketed as ideal for keen cyclists. The Jessops tower block scheme, part of Ballymore’s New Providence Wharf development, features uniquely low-cost housing just a stone’s throw from Canary Wharf, and sits on top of the Cycle Highway, which passes through Poplar and Limehouse to the City and beyond. The scheme is being aimed at first-time buyers earning below £71,000 a year, and offers the option for shared ownership. Prices start at £93,688 for a 25% share of a one-bedroom flat, based on a full market-value of £374,750.
East London Advertiser (14/05/2015)
15th May 2015
According to a new report from Rentify, children born this year could pay up to £70,000 in rent a year in London by the time they reach 18. The survey calculates that should the rental market continue rising at its rate of 7.5% a year, rent in London could rise from an average of £1,413 a month to £6,135 a month.
The Daily Telegraph (14/05/2015)