020 7538 0102
14th November 2014
Tower Hamlets’ Strategic Planning Committee has given its approval to three residential towers at South Quay, near Canary Wharf, meaning 1,644 new homes will soon be coming to the area. Councillors gave the green light to the 220m-high South Quay Plaza scheme, which will create 888 apartments across two towers, one of 68 floors and the other of 36. They also backed the Arrowhead Quay development – two towers of 55 and 50 storeys, containing 756 homes. However, plans for Quay House, a 233m-high tower, were rejected on the grounds that the site is in danger of overdevelopment.
The Wharf (07/11/14)
14th November 2014
Considering criticism of apartments in Battersea Power Station which went up for sale last month, the Express suggests that investors should look to east London if they want a more authentic environment in which to invest in property. The regeneration of Greenwich is discussed for those looking to escape fears that Battersea will become a “rich man’s enclave”.
Sunday Express (09/11/14)
14th November 2014
A study published by Aviva has found that 3m households living in rented accommodation believe they will never own their own home. However, 15% are saving for a deposit on a house, with one in five aspirational homeowners having been saving for over 10 years. A total of 28% say they are happy renting, and wouldn’t want to own a home
The Independent (10/11/14)
14th November 2014
A new report suggests that next year the collective value of buy-to-let properties could exceed £1tn in the UK, with a rise of £109.5bn being registered in the last year alone.. Since 2009, the market’s value has risen by £302bn, to now stand at £930.7bn. The report, from lender Kent Reliance, added "Rapid London house price growth has a much bigger effect on the private rented sector than it does in the wider housing market”.
Financial Times (08/11/14)
7th November 2014
London house prices are set to rise by almost a third over the next five years, according to a report from JLL. The report says: “There are still many very good reasons to buy and invest in London.” For the capital as a whole, JLL predict that prices will be 29.4% higher by 2019 — with the outer boroughs seeing growth of more than 30%. Adam Challis, JLL’s head of residential research, said potential buyers of more expensive properties were holding back until after the election. Elsewhere, JLL reports that the "bank of mum and dad" has replaced easy credit and high loan to value mortgages following the 2008 crash, giving people the ability to get on the property ladder. The report suggests that, in combination with the UK's housing supply crisis, this level of equity in the system is "keeping house prices high".
7th November 2014
The Telegraph's Anna White reports on the luxury London property market and comments that as increasing numbers of cranes dot exclusive districts, there are fears that the global economic situation could threaten London’s appeal. The property industry insists that there is an existing queue of high net- worth individuals ready to snap up new developments in Mayfair and other prime areas off-plan. However, Deutsche Bank says that the London property market could “unravel”. One of its biggest concerns is the knock-on effect of the U.S. stopping its quantitative easing programme last week. Simon French, chief UK economist at Panmure Gordon, cites issues closer to home. “We are seeing high-end residential come off the boil as talk of clamping down on immigration, and a mansion tax, is sending warning signals that the UK is changing as a place to do business,” he says. Meanwhile, Scott Corfe, chief economist at the CEBR, is also bearish about the luxury London market and its ambitious pipeline of developments. “We expect demand to fall back at the top end of the [London housing] market,” he says.