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The number of mortgage approvals in Britain has reached its highest level since December 2016, according to financial services body UK Finance, with 43,342 mortgages for house purchases approved by the main high street lenders last month in seasonally-adjusted terms. This represented a rise from 42,775 in June and over 10% higher than a year earlier.
City AM (27/08/2019)
The spiralling cost of private education has meant that families are now taking advantage of a sluggish property market and a surprise fall in the extra amount you have to pay for house near a good grammar or comprehensive school. Research by Santander has found that the average good school premium had fallen from 15% to 5% in the past 12 months. As a result, buying a property near a top state school is an average of £32,100 cheaper than it was a year ago.
The Daily Telegraph (23/08/2019)
Carol Lewis in the Times considers Sajid Javid’s options in regard to property tax after the Chancellor told the paper he is “a low-tax guy” who also called for "bold measures" to stimulate the housing market. She notes that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has met the Association of Accounting Technicians to discuss the idea of sellers, rather than buyers, paying stamp duty - but highlights criticism of such a measure. She also says scrapping stamp duty for downsizers could be an option, as could relief for first-time buyers or pushing ahead with the Prime Minister’s suggestion of raising the stamp-duty threshold to £500,000 and reducing the highest rate of tax from 12% to 7%.
The Times (23/08/2019)
London has attracted a growing number of first-time buyers, despite a decline in other parts of the country. The capital recorded 9,960 first-time buyers' mortgages completed in the second quarter, up 1.2% on a year ago, UK Finance figures show. Economists said that the sharper drop in property prices in London may help to explain why first-time buyer interest had grown in the city. Analysts noted that affordability was still stretched and that overall lending to first-time buyers in the capital was still well below the national average.
The Times (20/08/2019)
Following a six-year planning battle, Tower Hamlets Council in London has ruled against a development of flats by a subsidiary of Galliard Homes on the grounds that it would “harm the long-term provision of a nightclub that serves the LGBT+ community”. The decision means the 34-year-old Backstreet Bar will be spared from closure.
The Guardian (16/08/2019)
The traditional summer property slowdown is weighing particularly heavy this year. HMRC figures reveal a marked reduction in the number of property transactions over the summer months, with a fall of 8.5% in residential transactions between June and July 2019, and a 12.4% decrease since July 2018. Residential property transactions totalled 86,630 in July - 8,000 fewer than the previous year - according to the report, which studied transactions worth over £40,000 in Scotland, England and Wales.
The Times (22/08/2019)