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20th January 2017
A small batch of shared ownership apartments in the 31-storey Dollar Bay tower at South Quay on the Isle of Dogs will go on sale on Thursday, January 26th, with prices starting at £136,250 for a quarter of a one-bedroom apartment and £206,250 for the same share in a two-bed. Designed by architects SimpsonHaugh and Partners, Dollar Bay is just 12 minutes’ walk away from Canary Wharf; apartments in the tower feature integrated appliances and private winter gardens. The Times looks at shared ownership, which involves buying a stake of between 25 and 75% of a property and paying rent on the remainder as an option for hard-pressed first-time buyers. Research from Which? shows that the average salary of a shared-ownership buyer in London is £45,000. It found affordability rapidly improves going into zone two, where the bulk of shared-ownership properties were located. Ten per cent of shared-ownership properties were affordable for those earning £27,900, the average person under 29 earns in London.
The Wharf (19/01/2017) The Times (14/01/2017)
20th January 2017
Analysis by Savills indicates homes priced lower than £300,000 are now an “endangered species” in London as demand increases values in the capital’s last affordable areas. Of the 40 such neighbourhoods left, 15 are in Barking and Dagenham, five in Bexley, four in Croydon, and three in Havering. The analysis also shows that for the first time, there were more wards with a price average of over £1m than there were with under £300,000. The £300,000 barrier is seen as significant as it represents the outer limit of affordability for a typical London household.
Evening Standard (18/01/2017)
20th January 2017
London has topped the first Alpha Cities Index, scoring 77 out of 100 in the global rankings designed to determine the most desirable city in which to purchase a high end property.
Financial Times (29/01/2017)
20th January 2017
House price inflation picked up to 6.7% in the year to the end of November, according to the ONS, which said the average price of a UK home in November was £218,000, up £2,000 on October’s average and £14,000 higher than November 2015. England’s average property is now valued at £234,000; regionally, East of England saw average prices climb 10.5% in the year to November, while those in London were up 8.1% and the South East of England saw a 7.2% increase.
The Daily Telegraph (17/01/2017)
20th January 2017
The Guardian looks at responses to Prime Minister Theresa May's speech setting out her plans for Brexit, citing comment from Rics head of policy Jeremy Blackburn, who said: “While clarity is undoubtedly welcome, one thing is clear, a loss of access to the EU's skilled workforce has the potential to slowly bring the UK's property and construction sector to a standstill."
The Guardian (17/01/2017)
13th January 2017
New research reported in the Evening Standard has identified the London neighbourhoods which have seen the most significant increase in asking prices in the past 10 years. Wapping leads the way, with an average asking price of £901,031, an 154.8% increase. The area’s resurgence is epitomised by the £1.5bn transformation of the 15-acre site that once hosted News International’s headquarters, into London Dock, which will eventually provide 1,800 new homes, along with a new arts and shopping quarter. The east London enclave is followed by Brockley (£528,016); Clapton (£639,861); St John's Wood (£1,473,962); Notting Hill (£1,689,501); New Cross (£488,981); South Lambeth (£901,035); South Tottenham (£494,528); Camden (£1,130,722); and Whitechapel (£642,420).
Evening Standard (11/01/2017)