020 7538 0102
24th October 2014
According to a new report published earlier this week, more than 1m young people have been kept off the housing ladder over the last decade due to declining social mobility. Mobility tsar Alan Milburn said that young peoples’ dependence on their parents’ money to buy a home is “threatening to break the link between effort and reward that is core to social mobility”. The report points out that the rate of home ownership among 25-year-olds has halved over 20 years, from 45% for those born in the mid-1960s to 21% for those born in the mid-1980s.
The Sunday Times (19/10/2014)
17th October 2014
The Financial Times looks at Wapping, and its transformation from a Docklands area known for its thieves, smugglers and array of raucous inns, to one popular with bankers and other workers in the financial sector, with great access to both the City and Canary Wharf. Since the peak of the market, prices have risen 48.6% by some estimates, outpacing Tower Hamlets as a borough (up 16.9%) and central London as a whole (up 40.2%). A three-bed penthouse apartment toward the east of Wapping High Street is currently on the market for £2.15m, with a similar property in Gun Wharf available for £3m. A new 1,800-home development, London Dock, is due to open by 2017, designed by planning firm Patel Taylor; it will feature 486 affordable homes and 212 apartments for first-time buyers, as well as a new secondary school. Prices start at £739,950 for a one-bedroom apartment.
Financial Times (10/10/2014)
17th October 2014
The Evening Standard reports that Canary Wharf Group is looking to move into the private rented sector (PRS), and is to build a 37-storey tower on Wood Wharf consisting entirely of flats purpose built for renting, to be known as Grid after the Southwark firm that designed them. The group is also considering converting some or all of the 566 flats in its Newfoundland tower on Canary Wharf into rental units, according to group finance director Peter Anderson. Mr Anderson said total returns from PRS exceeded those obtained from building and renting offices.
Evening Standard (16/10/2014)
17th October 2014
East Village, the re-named former Athlete’s Village in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, has just welcomed its 1,000th resident, Christin Ender, who says she was attracted to the area by its new-found vibrancy and unusual architecture. Get Living London, the development’s management company, says that prices for renters start at £340 per week for a one-bed apartment, rising to £590 for a four-bed townhouse. All properties benefit from free 20Mbps broadband and weekend and evening phone calls, along with savings on Sky TV deals and high-end furniture packages at no extra cost.
The Wharf (12/10/2014)
17th October 2014
A total of 55,000 new homes – almost a third of the total planned for London – will be built in Newham, Tower Hamlets, Greenwich, and Barking and Dagenham over the next five years, thanks to lower average capital values. The key emerging areas include Canary Wharf, Canning Town and the Royal Docks, the Greenwich Peninsula, and Stratford.
Property Wire (14/10/2014)
17th October 2014
CBRE has reported that since its approval in 2008, Crossrail has increased the value of homes around its planned stations by over 20%. The consultant predicts that there will be a further 13% increase by its opening in 2018.
Evening Standard, Homes and Property (15/10/2014)