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Mortgage rates are beginning to fall after the “premium” caused by the aftermath of Liz Truss’s mini-budget, the governor of the Bank of England said. Andrew Bailey told the Lords economic affairs committee that more mortgages were becoming available and that the rates on new fixed-rate deals were coming down after hitting 6.2%. However, he said it would still be “very difficult” for hundreds of thousands of households when they came off fixed-rate deals next year on to higher rates. He said interest rates would have to rise further as the Bank tried to control inflation, but insisted that they would do so by less than the 5.35% priced in by markets. |
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The Times (30/11/2022) |
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A report by real estate investment company AEW claims that Britain is on track to have Europe’s strongest property market across the next five years as UK Government bond yields are better placed to endure interest rate rises than their European counterparts. AEW said UK property figures show investment in London and Paris grew by 17% and 11% respectively from the beginning of the year to the end of October, while real estate investment in Berlin fell by 55% and in Frankfurt by 21%. |
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The Daily Telegraph (25/11/2022) |
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The only remaining London borough where home prices on the resale market have increased by double digits is Barking and Dagenham, according to analysis of Land Registry data by Bloomberg. The east London district defied a wider house price slowdown in the capital the research found. The opening of a new train station in the summer, connecting Barking Riverside to central London in as little as 22 minutes, may have contributed to the 10% increase in the borough’s home prices during the period. The figures show the median price paid for an existing home in Barking and Dagenham was more than £377,000 ($449,460) in July compared with about £341,900 one year prior. Transport for London says reduced journey times to central London will help create 7,000 more homes in the Barking Riverside area, on top of the 3,000 already built or under construction in the former industrial site. An Uber Boat service which opened in April also runs from Barking Riverside Pier to central London locations including Canary Wharf, Westminster and the City. |
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Estate agents have reported a rise in high-end London rental supply as sellers give up on sales and move their properties on to the rental market. According to Chestertons estate agents, in the first two weeks of November the number of London rental listings increased by 15% year on year. Across its 10 central London offices the rise was 16%. Katinka Hill of Chestertons said: “This is the first time this year that we have seen stock rise year on year. A lot of it is coming from the sales side – vendors whose properties are not selling, or who are holding out for a better price. The turning point was definitely everything that happened after the mini-Budget.” David Mumby of Knight Frank estate agents said: “The rise in supply in the prime lettings market [of the most expensive properties] is certainly a result of the uncertainty seen in the sales market.” According to Knight Frank, market valuation appraisals for properties that will let for between £1,000 and £5,000 per week were up by 17% in October compared with at the start of the year. |
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HMRC figures reveal that house sales held steady in October, with the volume of transactions rising by 2% month-on-month. Data shows an estimated 108,480 sales took place, 38% higher than in October 2021, when a stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland ended. However, Lewis Shaw, founder of Riverside Mortgages, said the figures lagged behind economic reality. He added: “On the front line, it’s now a very different story. The phones have stopped ringing, buyers are holding off, and with the World Cup and Christmas upon us, most people have decided to sit tight and wait until next year.” |
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The Times |
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A Conservative rebellion against the Government's Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill has seen a debate on centrally-set targets for house building delayed for a number of weeks. An amendment signed by 50 Conservative MPs, including a number of former Cabinet ministers, sought to remove the targets from the Bill, but the Government last night pulled a vote on the Bill, with a source blaming the "congested parliamentary timetable". Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith said the "top-down targets have to go, and if the Government does not back down we will vote for this amendment". The amendment would require that central targets "may only be advisory and not mandatory", and "should not be taken into account in determining planning applications". Downing Street said that Rishi Sunak was still committed to the target of building 300,000 homes a year. However, Michael Gove, the levelling up and housing secretary, is understood to be in talks with the rebels. |
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