Docklands News

Analysis reveals that property makes over 50% the wealth of estates in London paying inheritance tax (IHT) – around twice as much as most other regions - with an average value of over £820,000. Retirement specialist Just Group revealed that in 2019-20, the latest financial year of available data, the average estate value in the capital was over £1.4m, nearly £200,000 higher than the South East which was the region with the second highest average estate values. The proportion of housing wealth in IHT-paying estates dropped to 39% in the South East, at £604,000, 36%in the East of England (£524,000), 32% in the South West (£474,000) and 31% in the West Midlands (£398,000) but then falls to a quarter or less in all other regions. 

City AM (09/01/2023)  

Halifax has revealed that house prices across the UK fell for the fourth consecutive month in December. According to the latest figures, the average price of a home in the UK fell by 1.5% last month to £281,272. This leaves prices 2% higher than where they were this time 12 months ago and takes them back to where they were in February and March last year. Meanwhile, the annual rate of house price inflation fell for the sixth month in a row, having come in at 4.6% in November. It had hit 12.5% in June. Halifax said that all regions saw a slowdown in year-on-year house price inflation in December, while the northeast of England was the worst affected, with annual growth dropping to 6.5% from 10.5% in the previous month. The cost of an average home in London in December was £541,239, 2.9% up annually, compared to 5.0% last month. Kim Kinnaird, director of the Halifax mortgages division, said: “As we’ve seen over the past few months, uncertainties about the extent to which cost of living increases will impact household bills, alongside rising interest rates, is leading to an overall slowing of the market.” 

The Guardian (07/01/2023)   The Independent (07/01/2023)   The Times (07/01/2023)  

Halifax is to offer tracker mortgages for the first time in four years as demand increases among homebuyers. Halifax now has a two-year deal that charges the Bank of England's base rate (3.5%) plus 0.59 percentage points, so a starting rate of 4.09%. This means monthly repayments on a £250,000 mortgage over a 25-year term would be £1,332, although they could go up as soon as next month if the Bank rate increases. There is a £999 fee and borrowers need at least a 40% deposit to qualify. Meanwhile, those with a 10% deposit can get a two-year deal which tracks base rate plus 1.09 percentage points, giving a starting rate of 4.59%. Currently, the best tracker rate is from Barclays, which is 0.34 percentage points above base rate, giving a total now of 3.84%. On a £250,000 25-year mortgage this would mean monthly repayments of £1,298. 

The Sunday Times (08/01/2023)  

Figures from Nationwide show that house prices fell for the fourth consecutive month in December. The price of an average UK home fell by 0.1% to £262,068 between November and December, down by a little over £1,700 compared with November. Year-on-year, the pace of price growth slowed from 4.4% to 2.8%. This was the lowest rate of growth since the 1.5% recorded in July 2020. Nationwide's chief economist, Robert Gardner, said the recent weakness in mortgage applications “may, in part, represent an early seasonal slowdown,” adding: “With the chaotic backdrop and elevated mortgage rates in recent months, it wouldn't be surprising if potential buyers have opted to wait until the New Year to see how mortgage rates evolve before deciding to step into the market.” The slowdown in the annual rate of increase in house prices was recorded throughout the country in the past three months, most dramatically in Scotland, where prices rose by 3.3%. House prices rose by an average of 4.8% across the UK. 

Daily Mail (30/12/2022)   Financial Times (30/12/2022)   The Daily Telegraph (30/12/2022)   The Times (30/12/2022)  

The number of first-time buyers is estimated to have fallen by around 9% in 2022, as the cost of borrowing soared and low-deposit mortgages disappeared from the market, according to analysis by Yorkshire Building Society. Across the UK, the number of people taking their first step onto the property ladder was estimated to have fallen to 370,287, edging down from a 20-year high of 405,320 in 2021. The housing markets in 2020 and 2021 were skewed by the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, the mutual added. It said its estimate for 2022 would still represent a 5% annual increase, compared with 2019. But although the number of first-time buyers in 2022 was thought to be fewer overall than the previous year, those who bought a property for the first time in 2022 were believed to represent more than half (53%) of all house purchases with a mortgage, up from 50% in 2021, and 41% a decade ago. 

City AM (03/01/2023)   Daily Mail (03/01/2023)   Daily Telegraph (03/01/2023)   Evening Standard (03/01/2023)  

Halifax is predicting that UK house prices will fall by 8% in the year ahead. The average house price increased by 23%, or nearly £55,000 in cash terms, between March 2020 and August 2022. To put the predicted 8% fall in house prices into perspective, the bank's homes director Andrew Asaam said: "Such a fall would place the average property price back at roughly the level it was in April 2021, reversing only some of the gains made during the pandemic." Surging living costs, including some mortgage outgoings, and expectations that unemployment will also rise will add to the challenges the housing market faces. 

City AM (02/01/2023)   Daily Star (02/01/2023)   The Independent (02/01/2023)   The Sun (02/01/2023)