Docklands News

Ballymore and Oxley have announced the completion of the first apartments at Riverscape, their waterfront development in the Royal Docks. Described by the developers as "perfectly placed to offer an idyllic lifestyle, excellently connected to the capital”, Riverscape will host 749 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with views of Canary Wharf, the Thames, and the surrounding parkland. The first building of 10 to complete, The Leonard offers such luxury facilities as The Sky Lounge, a resident-only space for co-working, relaxing and entertaining, along with automatic membership of The Clubhouse, with its 25m-swimming pool, hydrotherapy pool, sauna, jacuzzi, and state-of-the-art gym. Residents will also enjoy a 24-hour concierge service, a dedicated estate management team, and a bespoke app for "lifestyle management". "Since our launch in September 2021, we have seen unprecedented interest and enquiries for Riverscape, with the scheme breaking records to become Ballymore’s fastest selling development", commented James Boyce, Ballymore's associate regional sales director. “We are delighted to be able to welcome our first residents to their new homes as they move in over the coming weeks".

Bdaily News (27/11/2023)  

The Times interviews Shobi Khan, chief executive of the Canary Wharf Group, who is aiming to attract more workers and residents to the estate by building a "green spine" through the centre of the estate, adding parks and gardens, along with boardwalks and floating pontoons to give better access to the waterside. He argues that "there's a lack of quality housing in London and we've tapped into that. We have got entry level and yes, we'll have luxury. The whole strategy is to provide different price points for people. Wherever they are on their socioeconomic career, there's a home for them here". Mr Khan also rejects questions about the future of offices in a post-COVID world, despite rising vacancy rates, and said: "I do think we are going to see a shift of more and more people coming back to the office". 

The Times (25/11/2023)  

Experts do not expect mortgage rates to fall below 4% before the end of this year. Ross Murphy, senior adviser at Capricorn Financial Consultancy, says the outlook for mortgage rates for the coming year is “optimistic", noting that with swap rates falling, the market is “increasingly seeing rates slide into the region of 4%-4.5% as a result”. Iwona Hovenko, a real estate analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, does not expect mortgage rates to fall below 4% this year but says it is a possibility in 2024, especially in the second half of the year. Chris Sykes, technical director at Private Finance, says the prospect of a deal offering a rate below 4% by the end of this year is “no more than a dream”. However, he says larger lenders might be able to price products as low as 3% - 3.5% by the end of 2024. Moneyfacts data shows that the average two-year deal is currently 6.08%, while a typical five-year deal is 5.68%. 

City AM (27/11/2023)  

Data from the Bank of England shows that mortgage approvals totalled 47,400 October, up from 43,700 the month before. Net approvals for remortgaging increased from 20,600 in September to 23,700 in October. The increase in new home loans came as the Bank held interest rates on the back of inflation falling to 4.6%, leading a number of lenders to offer cheaper mortgage deals. The data also showed that gross lending fell from £18.1bn in September to £16.2bn in October. The average two-year fixed mortgage rate is now 5.56%, down from 5.77% a year ago, while the average five-year fixed mortgage rate is now 5.14%, down from 5.52%. Imogen Pattison, assistant economist at Capital Economics, said the “trough in mortgage approvals is behind us” but warned that with mortgage rates unlikely to fall much below 5% until the second half of next year, “demand is likely to remain weak by normal standards".

City AM (29/11/2023)   Financial Times (29/11/2023)   The Daily Telegraph (29/11/2023)   The Independent (29/11/2023)   The Times (29/11/2023)  

Data shows that hundreds of thousands of London rental homes could be converted into Airbnb-style short-term lets, leading to a potential shortage in the long-term rental market. Research by Propalt reveals that over a fifth of short-term lets in London were previously occupied by longer-term tenants, and more than 10,000 homes are owned by landlords transitioning to holiday-style rentals. The trend is driven by the desire for higher returns and lower fees. Experts predict that this shift could result in a significant reduction in the availability of long-term lets. However, there is hope for a rebalance as landlords may tire of the additional obligations of short-term lets. 

London Evening Standard  

House prices are expected to decline by 4.5% next year, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The OBR's forecast suggests that prices will have fallen by 7.6% from their peak by the end of 2023 and it will take the price of an average UK home to a low of £266,000. The OBR's predictions have improved by 2.4 percentage points since March. However, the forecast indicates a fall of 4.7% in 2024 due to high mortgage rates. The OBR said transactions would fall by 6.9% in 2024, a 1.9 percentage point steeper decline than its March forecast, as mortgage rates remained stubbornly high and deterred buyers. Average mortgage rates are predicted to rise from 2% in 2021 to peak at 5% in 2027. That is 0.8 percentage points higher than the forecast in March and 2.2 percentage points above the average for the last decade. 

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