Tag Archives: crisis
South West London likely to see 165,000 new homes with 36,000 by 2020
Nearly 60% of new housing supply in south west London will be concentrated in Wandsworth, Lambeth and Hammersmith and Fulham local authority areas, according to new research. An estimated 165,000 new homes could be delivered in south west London with 36,000 being delivered to the market in the next five years, the report from Savills Research says, with these three borough providing 60% of this supply. The new housing will be in clusters at Nine Elms, White City, Earls Court and Wandsworth Town. The borough of Wandsworth is anticipated to supply the market with the largest quantum of units at almost 8,000 over five years. Taking south west London as a whole, 45% of the five year supply pipeline is anticipated to be priced above £1,000 per square foot, 43% is between £450 per square foot and £1,000 per square foot, with the remaining 12% priced under £450 per square foot. Much of the anticipated development will be built along the river, with the highest values in the study area found along the river at the South Bank, Nine Elms and Fulham. The report breaks the possibilities into sectors. In White City the five year new housing pipeline amounts to 2,300 private units with three schemes greater than 1,000. The average new build values are expected to be £900 per square foot to £1,200 per square foot. The area is likely to be popular due to significant investment from institutions such as the BBC and Imperial College London, the report explains and the scale of development is underpinned by the fact that White City is an Opportunity Area consisting of 110 hectares, with potential for 4,500 new homes. No schemes have been brought to the market yet but BBC Television Centre is due to launch in 2015/2016. In Putney the five year sales pipeline amounts to 470 units ranging from small to medium sized developments of 20 to 155 homes. The average new build values are predicted to be £800 per square foot to £1,050 per square foot. Demand is likely from a wide pool of people including investors, young professionals and second home owners which have already has helped drive development along the Upper Richmond Road. Many new developments are replacing post-war office blocks by developers such as Crest Nicholson, London Realty and Art Estates. London Square’s development has helped mitigate loss of commercial space by also providing adaptable office premises, the report points out. In Vauxhall Town the five year pipeline amounts to 1,750 units with average new build values of £900 per square foot to £1,250 per square foot, ranging from 40 to 700 units. The report says that significant investment into infrastructure is helping drive development including the transformation of Vauxhall gyratory. The Northern Line extension will help to reduce traffic through Vauxhall station. In Ealing Town the five year pipeline amounts to 200 private units with an average values of £700 per square foot to £1,000 per… Continue reading
Expansion of London cycle scheme could boost house prices, it is suggested
The continued expansion of London’s cycle hire scheme will benefit home sellers living near bike docking stations and attract potential buyers to living in previously less well connected areas, it is claimed. The ‘Boris Bike’ programme, named after the Mayor Boris Johnson who introduced the scheme, already offers Londoners the use of 11,500 bikes across more than 700 docking stations and with new sponsorship is set to expand even further. Transport for London has identified a further 1,000 potential docking stations that could be ready for use by early 2016. According to estate agent Marsh & Parsons, in much the same way that proximity to a tube station has long increased the attractiveness and saleability of properties in the capital, as well as the actual cash value, it has seen a rise in buyers enquiring about local bike docking points and expects this interest to continue to increase as the scheme achieves greater prominence. ‘South London has long had a core of cycling commuters. To date, this trend has primarily been people using their own bikes, so secure storage has long been a high priority for such individuals when house hunting,’ said Tom Crabtree, the firm’s Clapham office sales manager. ‘But with the cycle hire scheme continuing to grow and public awareness of the programme improving, proximity to a bike docking station is starting to feature on the wish lists of buyers. As with the tube network, where the vast majority of stations are north of the river, South London hasn’t been afforded anywhere near the same number of docking stations as the other side of the Thames,’ he explained. ‘But hopefully the expansion plans will restore some of this imbalance and help open up some relatively inaccessible areas south of the river which would benefit residents, aspiring homeowners and potential sellers who would have a more attractive asset on their hands,’ he added. There were more than 10 million separate journeys made in 2014 using the bike scheme according to Transport for London, a 25% increase from 2013. London’s love affair with cycling as a means of commuting is also confirmed by the Office of National Statistics which reported that the number of residents in the capital cycling to work had more than doubled from 2001 to 2011. As well as being located at popular tourist attractions and close to other transport hubs such as tube and train stations, bike scheme docking stations are primarily installed on residential streets and Marsh & Parsons’ research found that the most prestigious street in the capital to feature one is Grosvenor Crescent in Belgravia, where the average current property is worth £22,435,017. ‘London has long had a world class public transport system and the introduction of the cycle hire scheme five years ago has added to the attraction of areas such as Battersea and Fulham which, despite being £1… Continue reading
Growing disconnect between perception and reality for UK first time buyers, report suggests
The number of people buying their own home in the UK for the first time increased in 2014 but there is a growing disconnect between reality and perception of the market, new research suggests. According to the latest generation report from the Halifax improving economic conditions together with high profile government schemes such as Help to Buy, saw the highest amount of first time buyers purchase their first home for seven years. From a peak in 2006 of 402,800 first time buyers, numbers fell as low as 192,300 in 2008 before climbing back to 311,500 in 2014. Despite this the annual generation report found relatively little improvement in how potential first time buyers view their chances of getting on the housing ladder. The research also shows that 79% of 20 to 45 year olds believe banks don't want to lend to first time buyers, and 21% believe it is virtually impossible for first time buyers to obtain a mortgage. The Halifax says that there is clearly some work to do to dispel the myth that banks are averse to lending to first time buyers. And the proportion of people saving for a deposit has dropped 6% with some 43% currently saving to buy a property compared to 57% who are not. The lender says that this strengthens the view that more people may be giving up on owning their own home and are instead accepting renting as a viable way of living in a nice home, in an area they want to live in and in the right size of property. The Halifax also highlights the emergence of a new demographic split between those who want to get on the housing ladder and those who say they don’t at 13% in 2011 compared to 16% in 2015. The presumption that the UK is obsessed with home ownership may need revaluating and a lower level of home ownership may become the new normal, it adds. The research also shows that 53% think the Help to Buy scheme has had a positive impact, but 39% don’t know or are undecided and the three most cited barriers to home ownership among those who do not own a property are the size of the deposit for 57%, high property prices for 56% and low income for 53%. London has the lowest proportion of home owners aged 20 to 45 or 39% and the highest number of people in this age range who worry they will never own a home at 82% while non home owners are currently prepared to save for average of 5.35 years in order to save for a deposit whereas homeowners saved for an average of 3.6 years. The average amount that non home owners can afford to save each week is now £33.35 and 39% of 20 of 45 year olds are saving to buy two bed properties, split between flats and houses at 18% and 22% respectively. ‘This year’s report has… Continue reading
