020 7538 0102
The number of first-time buyers in Britain is at its highest for 12 years, despite the national average deposit being over £33,000. This is the third consecutive year that first-time buyer numbers have topped 150,000 in Britain, more than double the record low of 72,700 in the first half of 2009 following the financial crisis. First-time buyers now make up 51% of all mortgage applications, according to data from Halifax. Assistance from the “Bank of Mum and Dad” played a big part in helping buyers get a deposit together, with separate figures from the ONS showing more than a third of new buyers received financial help from parents either as a gift of money or a loan. Data also revealed that eight out of the 10 most affordable local authority districts for first-time buyers are in Scotland, while the 10 least affordable are in London. With the average starter home in the capital now costing almost £420,000, first-time buyers in London are now putting down deposits of £114,952, according to the Halifax, enough to buy outright a three-bedroom terrace house in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, or a two-bedroom cottage in the Midlands.
The Daily Telegraph (10/08/2018) The Times (10/08/2018) Evening Standard (15/08/2018)
BBC analysis suggests house-building across half of England is slower than it was before the financial crash. Almost a decade on from the 2008 crisis, some 52% of councils saw fewer homes built last year than in the year leading up to the crisis. The Government claims last year saw the largest percentage increase in new homes in nine years. Overall, some 217,000 new homes were built in 2016-17, two-thirds of the Government target of 300,000. Nine of the 10 local authorities that saw the fewest number of homes built compared to Government estimates of need fall within London.
BBC News (13/08/2018)
Three-thousand new homes are in the pipeline in Poplar, the gasworks and factories of the last century being replaced with smart residential developments fit for the next 100 years. Red Loft’s 160-home scheme at Leven Wharf, on the site of a defunct metalworks beside the River Lea offers a quarter-share in a one-bedroom flat for just £85,000, with the same share of a two-bed apartment available for £111,250. Elsewhere in the area, a new-build one-bedroom apartment at Bellway Homes’ Lansbury Square project can be had for £399,995. Although Poplar’s regeneration is well behind neighbouring areas such as Stratford, the near future will see the creation of Poplar Riverside, with walkways and footbridges, along with a new park two new schools, and redeveloped Chrisp Street Market.
Evening Standard (09/08/2018)
UK house prices were 1.4% higher in July than June, the Halifax has said, rising at the fastest annual pace since November. Prices in the three months to July rose by 3.3% from a year earlier, with the average cost of a house hitting a record £230,280. The rise pushed house price inflation back above wage growth, now at about 2.5% a year. However, the lender added it did not expect much pick-up in activity for the rest of 2018.
BBC News (07/08/2018) Financial Times (07/08/2018)
The increases to stamp duty on expensive homes and second properties introduced by former chancellor George Osborne have led to a slowdown in London’s prime market and a fall in tax revenues for the Treasury, the Times reports. HMRC figures show that £1.987bn was raised in the second quarter of this year from receipts in England and Wales, less than the £1.999bn recorded in the third quarter of 2015, before Mr Osborne introduced a 3% surcharge for second homebuyers and landlords. This followed a December 2014 increase in taxes for the most expensive properties, from 7% to 12%.
The Times (03/08/2018)
Secure Trust Bank has indicated a fall in demand for loans to housebuilders. With real estate finance accounting for 23% of its business, chief executive Paul Lynam said: "Housebuilders in particular are becoming a little bit more cautious".
Daily Mail (08/08/2018)