Tag Archives: london
London mayor reveals plans for 26,500 new homes along the Thames
A blueprint for creating thousands of new homes along the River Thames has been published by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The draft London Riverside Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF) sets out the planning, regeneration and design guidance that will lead to the creation of 26,500 new homes and up to 16,000 jobs across the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and Havering, and a small part of Newham. The Mayor has identified 38 Opportunity Areas across the capital. Opportunity Areas are London's major source of brownfield land with significant capacity for new housing, commercial and other development linked to existing or potential improvements to public transport accessibility. By establishing Opportunity Areas, and working closely with London boroughs and partner agencies, the Mayor will be best able to deliver significant social and economic regeneration. The London Riverside Opportunity Area stretches from the Royal Docks to Rainham Marshes, a total distance of 12 kilometres. The document, which is now open for consultation, sets out the Mayor's strategic priorities and long term vision for the area over the next 20 years, how the area should evolve into a sustainable and successful part of the city and how it relates to the wider south east of the UK. In order to transform the London Riverside into a thriving new part of London, the planning framework discusses the importance of improved transport connections. This includes the potential extension of the Gospel Oak London Overground line, a new railway station at Beam Park, improvements to the A13 and new river crossings. ‘The capital is now home to a record number of people and we are working tirelessly to ensure we have the homes, jobs and transport infrastructure to support the city's unprecedented growth. London Riverside can deliver genuinely affordable high quality housing for Londoners in a fantastic Thameside setting,’ said Sir Edward Lister, Deputy Mayor for Planning. Much of the land in the London Riverside is already in the Mayor's ownership and the framework also recommends speeding up the development of publicly owned land assets to deliver the jobs and homes the city needs. Continue reading
UK home lending approvals up almost 10%
House lending approvals in the UK have seen the fastest month on month increase in over five and a half years, up 9.1%. There were 65,778 house purchase approvals in January but on an annual basis they fell 12.9%, according to the latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv, one the UK’s largest chartered surveyors. This makes January 2015 the fifth consecutive month in which the number of loans has fallen on an annual basis. ‘Lenders have a desire to return to growth and the January lending uptick is testament to this, as borrowers key in to mortgages while interest rates remain at historic lows. However, undoubtedly, some potential borrowers remain thoughtful about the approaching election and are playing a waiting game,’ said Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors. ‘Whilst the Mortgage Market Review and LTI caps are preventing what has previously been perceived as higher risk lending, equally we have Help to Buy supporting and encouraging first time buyers. With the announcement that the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee is going to be given new abilities to place caps on LTV ratios, it looks like the purchase mortgage market could be closely managed and scrutinised in the run-up to the General Election,’ he added. The data also shows that loans to higher LTV borrowers grew 20.1% between December and January. The first month of 2015 saw 10,064 loans to borrowers with deposits worth 15% or less of their property’s total value, compared to 8,378 in December. While this month on month growth is partly due to the increase in the total number of approvals, higher LTV borrowers also occupied a larger proportion of borrowers in January. Some 15.3% of borrowers were higher LTV, compared to 13.9% December. On an annual basis, the proportion of higher LTV borrowers is 1.7% higher than January 2013, when they made up 13.6% of all house purchase loans. The latest First Time Buyer Opinion Barometer from Your Move and Reeds Rains found that the number of first-time buyer property completions fell to 24,800 in December from 25,900 in November, a 4.2% drop. January’s month on month increase in mortgage approvals could, however, boost numbers of first time buyers further. ‘Help to Buy is doing its work, plugging the savings gap left by low interest rates, enabling first-time buyers to get on the property ladder despite only being able to save small deposits. Lenders are locked in a price war, offering ever lower repayment rates to try and bring in borrowers,’ explained Sexton. But first time buyers can be challenged by the introduction of new regulation. No matter how you slice and dice it, caps add another layer of complexity for people fresh to the house-purchase market. With the Bank of England’s new powers to reign in LTVs, first time buyers are a group that could be more affected than others,’ he pointed out. ‘While regulatory supervision… Continue reading
Prime central London rental market set for a boost in 2015
Rental prices in the prime central London property market are set to grow 2.5% this year with the overall sector remaining robust despite uncertainty in the sales market, it is claimed. The latest data from Strutt & Parker and its retained economic advisors Volterra, show that there were 2,093 lets agreed in the sector in the final quarter of 2014, which although 18% below the five year quarterly average, is far above the level of lets seen in the 2007 peak. ‘In 2015, we hope to see a boost of activity levels and slow but steady growth in prime London lettings. The rental market is calling out for an injection of fresh stock which has started to come to the market, in particular refurbished lateral apartments,’ said Zoë Rose, head of London lettings at Strutt & Parker. ‘As investors continue to convert their assets into properties, we anticipate supply easing, with more properties coming to the rental market and the early signs are that this is already happening. We believe that this trend will continue all year as prime property owners place greater focus towards the rental option,’ she explained. She pointed that rentals were often seen as the last choice, simply a back-up option, which is why there was such a shortage of prime rental stock that came to the market last year. The next few months will determine whether this change is set to continue, with the bonus of giving the niche tenant greater choice in this elite rental sector of the market. She added that there were 12,000 rental transactions in prime central London in 2014, up from just over 10,000 five years ago. ‘So the market is in good shape when you look at historic figures. The number of people out there that enjoy the flexibility of renting at the high end definitely seems to be growing,’ she said. In the sales market, headwinds look set to continue into the first half of 2015, according to the firm. Whilst UK assets remain an attractive position at present, and this looks set to continue as the UK economy continues to grow, uncertainty over taxation change due to the looming election are placing considerable uncertainty on this market. ‘The prime central London sales market is feeling the full impact of buyer caution ahead of the Election, with the strongest activity at the very top end of the market above £5 million and at the other end below £2 million, where the financial impact of a potential mansion tax is less relevant, or indeed irrelevant,’ said Andrew Scott, head of London residential at Strutt & Parker. Continue reading
