Canary Wharf owner eyes Earls Court site
Posted by The Oracle Group on 19th June 2019 -
COMMERCIAL
Canary Wharf owner eyes Earls Court site
Canary Wharf Group is in talks to buy the majority of the Earls Court site from Capital & Counties. The group is eyeing Capco's 63% interest in the 70-acre west London regeneration project, the value of which has fallen amid the downturn in prime residential property prices in the capital. Capital & Counties last year announced it was considering demerging the Earl’s Court site from its other holdings in Covent Garden, prompting interest from a number of prospective bidders.
INDUSTRY
Over a third of Southern England markets seeing falling prices
Over a third of markets in Southern England are experiencing falling house prices, Zoopla’s House Price Index has found. “The London housing market is coming to the end of what can be described as a three to four year repricing process where many areas have experienced small, single digit price falls,” said Richard Donnell, research and insight director at Zoopla.
Increase in homes built by govt schemes
Homes England has revealed that 45,692 new homes were built or being built through government-run programmes in the year to April, the highest figure for nine years. The figures show that 40,289 homes were completed over this time. Of the total number of housing starts, 30,563 or 67% were for affordable homes. “At a time where the average house costs around eight times the average income, these are positive signs that the delivery of homes, and particularly affordable homes, is on the up,” said Homes England chief executive Nick Walkley.
Property portals no longer have a ‘stranglehold’ on agents
Zoopla boss Charlie Bryant has said that portals have lost the “stranglehold” on agents that they had when OnTheMarket first appeared. “There is more opportunity now for agents to service their customers, including the use of Google and Facebook. Things are not the same.” Mr Bryant’s comments referred to OTM’s latest report, in which the challenger portal was shown to be burning through cash at such a rate that it may have reserves for only eight months – which would potentially see the portal sector revert to two major players – Zoopla and Rightmove.
MORTGAGES
Thousands of mortgage prisoners misinformed on rate rise
Thousands of mortgage prisoners whose loans were passed from Northern Rock to Tulip were wrongly informed that a payment increase earlier this year was due to a change in “base rate”, the firm’s bosses have admitted. Borrowers saw their mortgage rate increase from 5.04% to 5.19%, which they were told was due to “a recent change in the underlying base rate” rather than a change to the lender’s own SVR, prompting confusion as there had been no change to the Bank of England’s official rate at that time.
Mortgage fraud declines
Cases of mortgage fraud were down by 18% to 2,495 in 2018 compared to the previous year, Cifas figures have shown. The organisation reported that most instances of mortgage fraud were cases where borrowers had lied during the application process. Overall levels of fraud were up by 6% over the same period.
RENTAL
Berlin-style rental freeze could save UK tenants thousands
Following news that Berlin will freeze rents for five years, after complaints from residents that their once affordable city was pricing them out, Property Reporter’s Warren Lewis suggests that a similar approach could be beneficial to UK tenants. Mr Warren cites figures from UK room share platform, ideal flatmate, which suggest that the implementation of a five-year rental rate freeze would see London tenants save a total of £7,620 in rental costs. “A five-year rental rate freeze would see a five-figure saving for tenants in Barking and Dagenham, Hackney, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets, Redbridge, Kensington and Chelsea, the City of London, Havering, Lewisham, Southwark, Enfield and Ealing,” writes Mr Lewis.
FIRMS
PropTech partnership to promote referral fee services
The Moving Hub and Acquaint CRM have entered into a strategic partnership, which will allow new and existing users of Acquaint CRM will have access to The Moving Hub platform which allows, amongst other things, agents to recommend conveyancing services through their own branding. We believe this partnership between our systems will open up additional revenue streams for users, whilst better supporting service standards and client expectations” says Peter Joseph, The Moving Hub’s chief executive.
Mortgage Advice Bureau to acquire 80% of First Mortgage
Mortgage Advice Bureau is to acquire 80% of First Mortgage in a £16.5m deal due to close on 1 July. MAB said the acquisition presents it with significant growth opportunities by adding more advisers to the group, while First Mortgage’s focus on the new homes market in Scotland makes it particularly attractive.
Ashtead group builds up profits
Ashtead Group has reported another quarter of solid growth, with a 17% rise in annual profits to £1.1bn. Pre-tax profits were also higher, climbing 10% to £208.6m.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Heathrow upgrade split into four phases
Heathrow airport has announced a “masterplan” which will see it stagger the construction of its controversial £14bn expansion to manage costs and ban night flights once a third runway is complete to appease residents' concerns. In addition to the ban on scheduled night flights, Heathrow’s additional proposals to mitigate noise pollution include alternating the use of the three runways to provide predictable periods of noise relief and a £700m insulation scheme for those homes affected.
INTERNATIONAL
Berlin imposes rent freeze amid anger at rising prices
Berlin’s government has decided to freeze rents in the German capital for five years, part of an increasingly fierce political backlash against the rising cost of tenancies and property prices. The plan is expected to become law in January. It could apply to 1.4m properties, but not to social housing - regulated separately - or new builds.
Property-based CLO issuance soars past $8bn as yields tempt buyers
The US real estate market is seeing an explosion of loan packages, with new deals being offered at the fastest rate in a decade as investors seek higher returns.
ECONOMY
Pound falls amid rising no-deal threat
The pound is at its lowest in almost six months on heightened fears of a no-deal exit, points out Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com. "The calculus is simple – failure to take Britain out of the EU this year risks a General Election and wipe out at the polls at the hands of the Brexit Party, potentially handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to Number 10," he says. "The EU says it won’t renegotiate (it may have to), MPs won’t accept the existing deal, and Parliament has limited scope to stop this train. Sterling is increasingly reflecting the no-deal risk." The pound has stumbled quite badly against the dollar over the past three months, currently at $1.2531, down 0.02% on the day, and is now getting close to a year low. Professor Costas Milas, of the University of Liverpool's management school, thinks there is a good chance that the pound could rebound if Rory Stewart goes through to the next round of the Tory leadership race, due to his firm stance against a no-deal Brexit.
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