020 7538 0102
4th August 2017
Research from Halifax shows that five London locations have seen the price of property per sq m go beyond the £5,000 mark for the first time. Barnet, Kingston upon Thames, Lewisham, Waltham Forest and Harrow have joined 15 boroughs where average values already exceeded the figure. The report shows that over the last two decades, nine out of ten areas where the per sq m value has accelerated the fastest are in the capital, with prices in Newham, Southwark and Lewisham and Waltham Forest up by more than 600%. Kensington and Chelsea has the highest price per sq m of any place in Britain at £11,192, making it the only part of the country where the average is above £10,000.
City AM (31/07/2017)
4th August 2017
Nationwide has reported that house prices increased by 0.3% in July, the second month running there has been a rise, with a shortage of properties keeping prices high. The increase saw the price of the average UK home hit £211,671, a record for Nationwide's index. The annual pace of growth hit 2.9% in July, dipping from June’s 3.1%.
The Guardian (01/08/2017)
28th July 2017
Red Door Ventures, the developer owned by Newham Council, has been granted permission to convert East Ham Old Fire Station into a mixed-use development of seven flats and a restaurant. Work on the Grade II listed building will begin in November, and is expected to be completed by next summer. The engine room will be converted into an eatery, while the upper floors will be turned into five one-bed and two two-bed flats, all for private rent.
Newham Recorder (21/07/2017)
28th July 2017
House prices in London and other big cities could remain stagnant, Virgin Money has warned, noting its caution over issuing new loans in the capital for fear that borrowers overstretch. Virgin said: “The UK housing market is expected to remain resilient. However, in the near-term there may be some areas of weakness to be navigated. We remain vigilant about the potential for certain regions to see house-price weakness”. In the six months to June 30, gross mortgage lending came in at £4.3bn for the bank, taking its share of the market to 3.5%.
Financial Times (25/07/2017)
28th July 2017
The number of homes bought and sold has fallen to the lowest since October last year, according to HMRC. On a seasonally adjusted basis, there were just 96,910 residential sales last month, down 3.3% from May and the first time this year that the number of house sales has fallen below 100,000 a month. HMRC said that although transactions were up 1% compared with last June, this was partly because sales last year were dampened by stamp duty land tax changes introduced in the budget.
The Times (22/07/2017)
28th July 2017
The government is to consult on proposals to crack down on leaseholds on new-build homes and a dramatic reduction in ground rents. The trend for new-build houses being sold as leasehold has accelerated in recent years, with leaseholders often finding themselves caught out by clauses allowing for dramatic increases in ground rent. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said its proposals aimed to make future leases fairer by reducing ground rents to zero so they "relate to real costs incurred".
The Daily Telegraph (24/07/2017)