Tag Archives: news
More affordable houses to be built at key London regeneration site
The Mayor of London has approved plans for the first major housing development at the Old Oak regeneration site in West London, after intervening to boost the number of affordable homes in the scheme. The Oaklands development will see 605 new homes built, together with a nursery, health centre and commercial space. A target of 50% affordable housing has been agreed for the development, following an intervention by the Mayor Sadiq Khan to boost the number of affordable homes through investment and a profit-sharing mechanism. Old Oak and Park Royal has the potential to deliver 25,500 new homes and 65,000 jobs over the next 30 to 40 years, as well as becoming the key transport interchange for Crossrail and HS2. ‘The development marks a significant step in realising the huge potential of this part of the capital. I am pleased that we have been able to increase the proportion of genuinely affordable homes as part of our ongoing efforts to fix the capital's housing crisis,’ said Khan. ‘The scale and ambition for this development shows London is very much open for business. Despite the uncertainty caused by the UK's vote to leave the European Union, it remains clear that developers and investors see long term potential in our city,’ he added. According to Neil Hadden, chief executive at Genesis Housing Association, the redevelopment at Oaklands in one of Hammersmith and Fulham's most important regeneration sites. ‘We will now be able to provide hundreds more affordable homes for Londoners on a once derelict site. Partnerships such as the one we have with Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) enable us to invest, not only in building new homes, but in developing new communities. We will now be able to provide hundreds more affordable homes for Londoners on a once derelict site,’ he added. QPR co-chairman Tony Fernandes said the firm is committed to bringing forward other development sites in Old Oak as soon as possible to create the homes that London desperately needs. Of the 242 affordable homes, half will be for social and affordable rent, with the other half being for shared ownership. The application was approved by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, the organisation that has planning control over the Old Oak regeneration site, on July 13, 2016. The project will also include a new link road into Old Oak which could unlock further development north of the Grand Union Canal. The initial application from Queens Park Rangers Football Club and their development partner Genesis Housing Association proposed 200 affordable homes or 33% of the total. The scheme has now attracted GLA Affordable Housing Grant Funding to raise the number of affordable homes to 242, some 40% of the total with a review mechanism to ensure that any surplus profit as the scheme is implemented will be used to provide more affordable units up to 50%. Continue reading
Demand continues to fall in prime central London property market
Although the wider UK property market is yet to suffer any detrimental impact from Brexit, London’s prime market is seeing demand continue to fall, the latest index suggests. In the £1 million plus sector in London demand has fallen by 10%, the lowest level on record and a further drop since demand cooled following April’s changes to stamp duty for buy to let and second homes purchases. The data from the prime central London property index from hybrid estate agent eMoov shows that the five areas where demand is at its lowest are Mayfair at 3%, St Johns Wood, Knightsbridge and Belgravia all at 4% and Fitzrovia at 5%. The index, which records the change in supply and demand for property above £1 million by monitoring the total number of properties sold in comparison to those on sale, shows that some 75% of London’s most prestigious locations have seen demand remain static or drop since the second quarter of the year. Indeed, the only places to have seen a positive uplift in demand for property over the last three months are Holland Park at 44%, Marylebone at 38%, Notting Hill at 17% and Primrose Hill at 9%. Notting Hill is also fourth hottest where demand levels are concerned, currently at 14%. With Belsize Park enjoying the highest demand across the prime central London sector at 18%, followed by Islington at 17%, Chiswick at 15% and Holland Park at 13%. According to Russell Quirk, eMoov chief executive officer this slowdown was always likely to happen as these areas of London rely heavily on high end foreign investment and second home visitors to survive. ‘Whilst the rest of the UK market seems to be ticking along with little impact as of yet, the immediate weakening of the sterling and negative response from the rest of the EU seems to have had an instantaneous knock-on effect on the prime central London market,’ he said. Continue reading
Auckland house market shows unmistakable signs of slowing
For the first time in five years the housing market in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest urban area, is showing signs that prices are stabilising, and may even be slowing. The average price in July was $867,681, a fall of 4.5% from the previous month and 2% below the average price for the previous three months, according to the latest data from Barfoot & Thompson. The trend is not as evident in the median price, which at $840,000 was the same as in June, and 2.1% higher than the median price for the previous three months. ‘There has been a definite change in the market in the last month. The winter months, school holidays and a slowing in the number of new listings all contributed to the slowdown in July, but buyer determination to pay whatever is necessary to achieve a property was tempered,’ said Wendy Alexander, chief executive officer of Barfoot & Thompson. ‘Buyers remain prepared to pay a fair price, and under the hammer sales at auctions of 70% were still high, but sales activity is slower than it was at the same time last year. In the three months May to July this year we sold 3,508 properties. In the same period last year we sold 3780, a 7.8% difference,’ she explained. She pointed out that the year on year increase in prices is still occurring, but at a much slower rate than in the past four years. The average price has increased by 5.3% over the past seven months compared to 2015’s full year average price increase of 14%. Meanwhile, the median price increase over the past seven months has been 6% compared to 17.4% for 2015. ‘Whether price increases will continue in the remaining months of the year is unclear. Normally, prices rise as we enter the spring/summer months, but the Reserve Bank’s new regulations affecting investors will start to have an impact from August,’ said Alexander. The data also shows that in July Barfoot & Thompson sold 1,034 properties, down 11.5% on the number in June and down 25.5% on those for the same month last year. New listings at 1,426 were down 19.4% on those in June and down 19.6% for those in July last year. At end of the month the firm had 3,012 properties on its books, some 2.6% higher than in June and 7.5% higher than in July last year. During July the firm sold 383 properties, or 37% of all sales, for more than $1 million and sold 94 properties, or 9.1% of sales, for under $500,000. Continue reading
