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5th January 2018
Demand for housing supported the construction industry in December, IHS Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) shows, although growth slowed. Residential property construction led the way with a score of 55.3, slightly down on the 56.6 recorded in November, while the commercial construction sector fell to 47.2, down from 48.4 in November, marking six consecutive months of falls. The overall reading for the PMI was 52.2, down from 53.1 in the previous month.
The Daily Telegraph (03/01/2018)
5th January 2018
A Knightsbridge “micro-penthouse”, believed to be the smallest such home in London, has gone on the market for £400,000. The apartment, designed by specialist space-saving architects Caiano Morgado, offers a mere 135 sq ft of living space and is located on the 10th storey of a block opposite Harrods on Brompton Road.
Evening Standard (03/01/2018)
22nd December 2017
A record number of first time buyers need at least £500,000 to get onto the housing ladder in London, new research reveals. So far this year 25..9% of the homes bought by debut buyers in London have been at or above the half a million pound mark, according to analysis of mortgage lending - compared with just 8% only five years ago
Evening Standard (15/12/2017)
25th December 2017
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has warned that house prices will see a slowdown in 2018, with growth to be hit by the gap between incomes and property prices, tax changes and interest rate rises. The report said that transactions next year are unlikely to breach the 1.2m sales seen in both 2017 and 2016, "with political and economic uncertainty proving a hindrance as well as the lack of stock, stretched affordability, tax changes and interest rate rises". In London, a net balance of 49% of surveyors expect prices to fall over the coming year.
The Times (19/12/2017)
22nd December 2017
Mortgage borrowers who managed to get a type of loan banned in the UK could be the last to benefit from such flexibility. Self-certified mortgages were attractive to those who found it hard to obtain finance from high street providers. When Selfcert.co.uk managed to obtain a lending licence in the Czech Republic, it received 4,000 applications and approved 280 loans. However founder Graeme Wingate says that despite the popularity of his service, the uncertainty over Brexit meant there were no plans to offer more loans.
The Times (15/12/2017)
22nd December 2017
The Independent profiles the non-for profit developers Naked House - created by a London-based start-up – which supplies homes that provide the bare minimum in order to pass mortgage regulations for homes around £200,000, in a bid to ease the housebuying crisis for generation rent. The idea is to buy a property without the bells and whistles of a regular home - kitchen fittings, lights or internal walls. Instead its left up to the owner to customise their house. Naked House, which has received the backing of the Mayor of London, already has a site in Enfield in development, with other planned sites set to be announced.
The Independent on Sunday (17/12/2017)