Top London home prices falling fastest - PLUS all the Property news you need to read today
Posted by The Oracle Group on 18th July 2019 -
INDUSTRY
Top London home prices falling fastest
Detached homes in London fell in value by more than £50,000 in a year, according to official figures, driving the slowdown in UK house price growth. Typically, this type of property cost £903,088 in May last year, but fell by 6.1% to £847,998 by this May, Land Registry figures show. The prices of other property types in the capital also fell, but by less. Annual property price rises overall in the UK slowed to 1.2% in May, from 1.5% the previous month. The fact they are still rising at all is thanks to price increases in homes outside London.
MORTGAGES
Clearing an existing mortgage top reason for equity release
Clearing an existing mortgage was identified by Canada Life as the number one reason for taking out equity release in the first half of 2019. More than two in five (44%) customers used equity release to pay off residual mortgage debt and a growing number of people are using it to build a financial buffer. “While a large proportion of customers are looking to safeguard their financial future by paying down debts and increasing the value of their home, others are using equity release to improve their lifestyles, paying for home improvements and enhancing their quality of life now,” commented Alice Watson, head of marketing and communications at Canada Life Home Finance.
RENTAL
Nearly a third of tenants struggling with rent
New data from the English Housing Survey has revealed that almost a third of tenants are struggling to pay their rent. The survey found that 29% of tenants in the private sector surveyed in 2017/18 said they found it “fairly difficult” or “very difficult” to pay their rent, whilst the remaining 71% found it “fairly” or “very easy” to cover their housing costs. “High rents are making life miserable for private renters,” said EHS director Dan Wilson Craw. “Even for those who can cover the rent, escaping the sector by moving into home ownership is a long way off – nearly two-thirds cannot save and just one in 10 have more than £16,000 in the bank.” The survey also found that over half (54%) of owner-occupied homes in England are under-occupied, meaning they have two or more spare rooms.
FIRMS
Galliford confident amid successful restructuring
Galliford Try has announced that the restructuring of its construction arm has been completed and pre-tax profits for the year are set to be in line with expectations.
MP slams Persimmon over "shoddy" houses
Conservative MP Robert Halfon has criticised Persimmon over its “shoddy” houses during Prime Ministers Questions. Mr Halfon said he recently met constituents who moved into Help to Buy homes built by York-based Persimmon. He said the houses are shoddy and his constituents view Persimmon as “crooks, cowboys and con artists”. Persimmon said they have arranged to meet with Mr Halfon alongside affected residents.
Lendy was already ‘strained’ when it won watchdog’s full approval
Peer-to-peer property lending platform Lendy was already struggling by the time the Financial Conduct Authority gave it the "thumbs up" in July 2018, according to a report by RSM.
COMMERCIAL
BT sells HQ
BT has agreed the sale of its London headquarters. The telecoms giant said it has sold the BT Centre to Orion Capital Managers for £209.6m. The deal for the 300,000 square feet building overlooking St Paul’s includes an initial leaseback agreement of 30 months. BT said it will use this time to move its headquarters to a new location in the capital.
SOCIAL
£9m extra funding for Rapid Rehousing schemes
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart has announced that an additional £9m in funding will be provided to local authorities for Rapid Rehousing schemes to tackle homelessness. Funding for Rapid Rehousing schemes will increase from £15m to £24m over three years.
CONSTRUCTION
Builders can’t wait for Brexit
Activity in the construction sector rose in the second quarter of the year, despite concerns that political uncertainty was holding back investment. RICS noted that the market was losing patience with the lack of clarity over Brexit and that clients were beginning to push ahead with projects, albeit tentatively.
PLANNING
Perth and Kinross masterplan ready to roll
Perth and Kinross councillors are expected to adopt a multi-million-pound almost 1,000-page new Local Development Plan for the future in the coming weeks. One of the most remarked-upon parts of the masterplan is the £140m Perth West development, which boasts designs for thousands of new homes and acres of employment land on the edge of the Fair City.
Developer wins right to build windowless studios
Developer ISE Investments has won the right to build windowless studio flats which have been deemed a “serious” health risk by council planning inspectors. The approved refurbishment of a light industrial building on an estate near Watford town centre will see seven of 15 “bedsit/studio accommodations” built with no natural light.
GRENFELL
Ministers dragging their heels over Grenfell response
The government has been accused of doing too little to remove dangerous cladding from buildings in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, risking people’s lives. "The government must pick up the pace of reform before it is too late and we have another tragedy on the scale of Grenfell Tower," the House of Commons housing, communities and local government committee said yesterday.
RESIDENTIAL
London mayoral hopeful touts new housing organisation
Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey has proposed a new dedicated “taxpayer-owned housebuilder” to boost the capital's housing provision. Establishing a minimum of 20 mayoral development corporations - similar to those already in place to oversee development in the Olympic Park and at Old Oak Common - would focus on developing sites already in public ownership, he said, while reducing Sadiq Khan’s target for 50% of homes in developments to be affordable to 35% would result in "more affordable homes being built overall."
INTERNATIONAL
US housebuilding declines for a second month
Housebuilding in America has declined for the second consecutive month in June as the housing market continued to stagnate. Figures from the US Department of Commerce show a fall of 0.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.253 million last month.
ECONOMY
OBR warns of no-deal recession
The Office for Budget Responsibility is expected to warn today that a no-deal Brexit will push the UK into a recession next year and lead to an economy 3% smaller than if it leaves with a deal. The OBR’s analysis is based on a relatively “soft” scenario that was modelled by the International Monetary Fund in April, the Times reports. Meanwhile, the Chancellor has hit back at Jacob Rees Mogg after he dismissed Treasury forecasts as “silly” saying it was “terrifying” to think he could soon become part of government. But Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, joined in the criticism of Philp Hammond saying his claim that a no-deal would cost £90bn was a prediction for 2035 and assumed there would be no government intervention.
OTHER
Twickenham 'better value' than its riverside neighbours
Frances Clacy, research analyst at Savills, says Twickenham offers much better value than nearby pricier towns like Richmond and Putney. Barry McCarthy, director at Dexters Twickenham, says second-steppers are increasingly looking to the south west London enclave as a location which offers more space than inner London - particularly as four-bed houses start at a punchy £750,000.
£7m West London home remains unsold after 7 years
A five-bedroom terraced house on Kensington Square, Kensington was put on the market in 2012 and has yet to find a buyer - more than seven years on. The home is on sale for £6.85m - nearly 14 times more than the average home in London.
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