Docklands News

Barratt has partnered with TTL Properties (TTLP), the commercial property company owned by Transport for London (TfL), to develop a £365m residential project in Acton's Bollo Lane. The joint venture will see up to 900 homes, of which half will be affordable, built on the site. Barratt London's Gary Ennis said that the location was advantageous because of its proximity to three stations. The development is part of TfL's efforts to generate additional revenue, which will be reinvested in the transport network. The partnership could also lead to further collaborations on other West London land that TfL owns. Under the deal, TTLP and Barratt will share the profits generated by the joint venture. 

Evening Standard (04/04/2023)  

The price of the average London home stood at £680,806, with house prices in the capital rising 2.5% compared to 3% in Britain as a whole in the last 12 months. When looked at borough-by-borough, Camden residents saw their property rise 13.4% to reach an average of £1,121,609, while house prices in Kensington and Chelsea fell by 1.8%; although the west London enclave is still London's most expensive place to buy with the average property valued at £1,672,224. The capital's cheapest properties were in Barking and Dagenham where prices rose 1.8% to £370,289 during the year; even so they are still more expensive than the average price of property in the UK, £365,357.

City AM (24/03/2023)  

New childcare support announced by the Chancellor in his Spring Budget could add tens of thousands of pounds to the property budgets of new and expecting parents across the capital. Mortgage experts said the measures, which are due to be rolled out in stages from April 2024 to September 2025, could be transformational for prospective London home buyers with young families. Adrian Anderson, director at property finance specialist Anderson Harris, said the childcare pledge could allow many young parents to get on the property ladder having previously been locked out of home ownership. Others may be able to raise their sights in terms of space or location, while some families will be released from a status as “mortgage prisoners”. 

Evening Standard (27/03/2023)  

Mortgage approvals have improved for the first time since August, with the Bank of England’s Money and Credit report showing net mortgage approvals for house purchases increased to 43,500 in February from 39,600 in January. However, lending fell to its lowest level since April 2016, excluding the pandemic. The report shows that homeowners borrowed £700m in February, down from £2bn in January. Martin Beck, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said: “The latest household lending data indicated continued weakness in housing market activity, albeit with signs that the worst may be in the past”. Karen Noye, a mortgage expert at Quilter, suggested people were still in "wait-and-see" mode as borrowing costs remained high – but added that the rebound in approvals meant "green shoots might be appearing" in the housing market. 

BBC News (29/03/2023)   City AM (29/03/2023)   The Daily Telegraph (29/03/2023)   The Times (29/03/2023)  

An estimated 195,000 "mortgage prisoners" are to face rates of over 8% after the Bank of England raised its main rate to 4.25%, the highest level in 14 years. The rates for the standard variable rate mortgages of those unable to remortgage have almost doubled since December 2021, rising from 4.4% to 7.12%. According to Moneyfacts.co.uk, once yesterday's rate increase filters down, this could soon hit 7.37%, an average increase of £386 a year. Andrew Montlake, spokesperson for Coreco mortgages, said: "Mortgage prisoners should not have any further rate increases subjected upon them. They have been paying over the odds for years through no fault of their own. Increasing the rate when it's already up to 8% is, in my view, not justifiable." In total there are 773,000 home owners on standard variable rates who are being hit hard by rapid rate rises, with the majority being people who have reverted to this rate after their fixed-rate deal has ended. 

I (24/03/2023)  

Official figures reveal that the average UK house price increased by 6.3% in the 12 months to January 2023, down from 9.3% in December 2022. The Office for National Statistics found the average UK house price was £290,000 in January 2023, which was £17,000 higher than 12 months earlier. House prices in the capital remain the most expensive of any region in the UK, with the annual increase of 3.2% in January taking the cost of a home to £534,000 on average. Meanwhile, private rental prices in London increased by 4.6% in the 12 months to February 2023, accelerating from a 4.3% rise in the 12 months to January 2023. The average UK house price recorded a monthly fall of 0.6% in January 2023, following a 0.4% drop in December 2022. ONS head of housing market indices, Aimee North said: “Annual house price inflation, measured using final transaction prices, slowed again in January, consistent across all nations and regions. UK rental prices continued to climb, with the strongest growth since records began in 2016. The surge in London's rents remained evident with the highest annual percentage increase in over a decade.” 

Daily Mail (22/03/2023)   Evening Standard (22/03/2023)   The Independent (22/03/2023)