Docklands News

Falling inflation has led to hopes that the Bank of England will keep interest rates steady, prompting the six largest mortgage lenders in Britain to reduce their mortgage rates to less than 5%. Barclays is the latest lender to cut its home loan prices, offering a two-year fixed rate loan at 4.8% for residential house buyers with a 40% deposit. Other lenders, including Halifax and HSBC, have also reduced their rates. Experts predict that mortgage rates could drop to around 4% by the end of the year. The average two-year fixed rate deal is now 6.19% and the average five-year deal is 5.79%, according to the data firm Moneyfacts, down from nearly 7% in July. 

The Daily Telegraph   Daily Mail  

Galliard Homes, with joint venture partner City Developments Limited, has completed the acquisition of the 13.8-acre Morden Wharf development in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, from LandsecU+I and the Morden College charity. The mixed-use scheme includes 12 blocks of up to 36 storeys, housing around 1,500 new residential units, offering stunning views over such landmarks as the Thames, Canary Wharf, and the Old Royal Naval College. Along with a 3.90-acre riverside park, and a pier providing access to the new Uber Boat by Thames Clippers service, the plans include 186,000 sq ft of commercial floor space, which can accommodate logistics, industrial, and flexible creative workspace units. 

Bdaily (13/11/2023)   The Greenwich Wire (14/11/2023)  

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that UK house prices fell 0.1% in the year to September, marking the first annual decline in 11 years. The average sale value, including cash buyers, fell to £291,385, with this down from £292,882 in August. The annual drop was steepest in Wales, where house prices in September were down 2.7%, while England saw prices dip 0.5%. Scotland, however, saw prices climb 2,5% year-on-year, while prices in Northern Ireland rose 2.1%. Prices in London fell by 1.1% over the year and 0.3% over the month, to an average of £537,000. In north-east England, the region with the lowest prices, there was a 1.6% annual rise, to £163,000. Separately, Halifax has found that Ealing has seen the strongest house price growth in the capital over the past year. The west London borough saw prices rise 7.5% to £531,137. The only other London boroughs to see growth over the past year were Westminster and the City, where they grew 7.4% to £767,350, Haringey (up 1.7% to £530,584), and Southwark (up 0.3% to £481,589).

Daily Mail (15/11/2023)   Evening Standard (14/11/2023)   The Guardian (15/11/2023)   The Times (15/11/2023)  

The Mirror reports on analysis showing that London's housing stock has grown by 8% since mayor Sadiq Khan took office in 2016, compared to 6% growth for the rest of England. If the rest of the country had matched London's rate of growth, the paper notes, "it would have meant a 300,000 increase across the country - equal to the Government’s housing target for an entire year". Affordable housing providers have urged the Government to adopt recent recommendations from London's Housing Delivery Taskforce, including increased investment in council home-building and clarifying confusion over fire safety rules that is stalling development. 

The Mirror (11/11/2023)  

The pandemic has caused a shift in homeowner preferences, with open-plan living being abandoned in favor of "single function" spaces. Homeowners are reinstating walls, adding partitions, and building extensions to create private spaces that are sheltered from distractions. Research suggests that dividing up a property can increase its value, with a dedicated home office adding 4% to the home's value, according to insurer Direct Line's analysis of UK property listings. Interior designers and architects have observed a demand for private spaces due to the cohabitation and long-term adoption of working from home. The shift towards "single function" spaces reflects the evolving needs of families and the desire for privacy and focus in a post-pandemic world. 

The Daily Telegraph (13/11/2023)  

Knight Dragon says it will begin work on the construction of two Greenwich Peninsula tower blocks with no "affordable" accommodation in 2024, after plans for the buildings were rubber-stamped by Greenwich Council earlier this week. Vacant land between the Millennium Way roundabout, outside the O2, and the River Thames, will play host to two blocks of 36 and 20 storeys, along with commercial units and a three-storey cycle storage unit, forming the first phase of the Meridian Quays neighbourhood, which will eventually host 17,500 new homes.

The Greenwich Wire (08/11/2023)