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Developer London Square has withdrawn plans to build more than 1,200 homes around the Ikea store in Greenwich due to "spiralling costs" of construction and building materials. The scheme, called Peninsula Gardens, would have added 1,290 new homes to the east Greenwich area. The site's B&Q store would have been demolished and the Ikea car park reduced by more than 200 spaces. London Square said it was reviewing the viability of the development and may submit a revised application in the future. Nearly a quarter of the homes would have been for London Affordable Rent. |
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Evening Standard (09/06/2023) |
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Banks have been instructed by the Prime Minister to protect struggling homeowners from soaring mortgage costs as traders price in further interest rate hikes following the release of strong wage growth data. Markets are forecasting that rates could rise as high as 6%, sending Government borrowing costs to their highest since 2008. The yield on two-year gilts rose to as high as 4.9%, surpassing the peak of 4.65% reached in the autumn. Mortgage rates have been climbing sharply in recent weeks, cutting further into household disposable income and diminishing profits for landlords. Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said: “The Chancellor has made clear his expectation that lenders should live up to their responsibilities and support any mortgage borrowers who are finding it tough right now.” Banks are expected to offer support to vulnerable borrowers, including mortgage holidays and deals to restructure their payments. |
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Daily Mail (13/06/2023) The Daily Telegraph (13/06/2023) The Guardian (13/06/2023) The Times (13/06/2023) |
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Millions of Britons are living in areas where they are either unable to afford a mid-priced property, face a disproportionately high rent, or both, a Guardian analysis reveals. It shows that close to half of the postcode districts (48%) included in the research are "rental traps" - areas in which a family cannot afford to buy a mid-price property. In a further 11% of the areas it is not only unaffordable to buy but also to rent because the cost eats into a disproportionate amount of the household's income. Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that, while earnings in England and Wales have doubled since 1997, house prices have increased at a much faster pace, multiplying by 4.5 times over the same period. In the year to September 1997 a mid-range house in England cost 3.5 times the median full-time salary, by 2022 that ratio had grown to 8.3 times a person's median earnings. |
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The Guardian (10/06/2023) |
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The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has reported that the flow of fresh homes coming on the market reached its strongest level in nearly two years in May. A net balance of 14% of property professionals reported seeing new instructions to sell rising rather than falling in May, marking the best reading for new property listings since March 2021. The latest survey result also broke 13 months in a row of new instructions falling rather than rising. Housing market demand was also at its least negative level in a year in May. However, Tarrant Parsons, Rics senior economist, warned that the UK's stubbornly high inflation is likely to undermine the recent improvement in activity. A net balance of 7% of surveyors reported a drop-off in sales rather than a rise in May, Rics said. In London a balance of 3% of surveyors reported prices falling rather than rising |
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Daily Mail (10/06/2023) The Independent (10/06/2023) |
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Sadiq Khan says he is “committed to protecting” London’s green belt and that even “derelict and unsightly” parts of it should be shielded from development. It comes despite Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer stating councils should be given the ability to build on certain areas of the green belt as he vowed that a Labour government would be on the side of the “builders not blockers”. Asked about the mayor’s stance in light of Sir Keir’s comments, a spokesman for Mr Khan pointed to his London Plan – a strategy drawn up in 2021 to inform planning decisions in the capital for the next two decades – which is emphatic in its support for the green belt. |
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House prices have dropped 1% year-on-year, the first such drop since 2012, according to the latest Halifax House Price Index. The cost of a typical UK property is now £286,532, down from £286,662 in April, while property prices have fallen by about £3,000 over the last 12 months and by around £7,500 since the peak in August. Kim Kinnaird, the director at Halifax Mortgages, said: "As expected, the brief upturn we saw in the housing market in the first quarter of this year has faded, with the impact of higher interest rates gradually feeding through to household budgets, and in particular those with fixed-rate mortgage deals coming to an end." She added: "This will inevitably impact confidence in the housing market as buyers and sellers adjust their expectations." |
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Financial Times The Daily Telegraph The Times The Guardian |