Docklands News

Canary Wharf Group has reached a 15-year deal with Brookfield, one of the world's biggest providers of renewable energy, to meet almost three-quarters of its electricity demand from wind power. The agreement will allow Canary Wharf to source its clean electricity directly from a renewable energy project, for the first time since 2012. Brookfield will provide the clean energy by growing its renewables portfolio with the development of a new onshore wind farm in Scotland, which is due to begin generating electricity from 2026. Overall, the agreement will meet at least 70% of CWG’s electricity consumption needs, while also providing the potential to power all residents, office occupiers and retailers across the 150 acres of Canary Wharf entirely by renewable energy. The wind farm is part of Brookfield’s pipeline of renewable projects and is expected to be commissioned by 2026.

City AM (09/05/2023)   The Guardian (08/05/2023)  

Annual house price inflation has slowed to its weakest level in more than a decade, according to figures from Halifax. The average house price in Britain is now 0.1% higher than a year ago, having fallen by 0.3% to £286,896 in April. The price drop recorded last month followed three successive months of increases. Annual house price inflation, which peaked at 12.5% last year, is now at the lowest rate since December 2012, when the average UK house was worth less than £167,000. Despite the fall, Halifax said the housing market was now “more stable” than it had been for some time. The lender said the gradual easing of mortgage rates in recent months had given “important certainty to would-be buyers". Kim Kinnaird, Halifax’s director of mortgages, said: “House price movements over recent months have largely mirrored the short-term volatility seen in borrowing costs".

The Times (09/05/2023)  

The UK saw the steepest fall in housebuilding since May 2020 in April 2022 as a result of a combination of factors, including high mortgage rates, falling buyer demand and the Government's decision to scrap certain targets. Housebuilding fell for the fifth consecutive month to 43 on the S&P/CIPS UK construction purchasing managers' index, which marks a contraction below 50. The Government's planning policies are expected to see house building in England drop from 233,000 to 156,000 a year, less than half of a target of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. 

The Daily Telegraph (06/05/2023)   The Times (06/05/2023)  

The number of mortgages approved for home purchases rose by 18% between February and March 2023, from 44,100 to 52,000, according to Bank of England figures. However, March's total is still below the average of 62,700 approvals a month in 2022, and mortgage lending remains well below pre-pandemic levels. The number of mortgages approved for home purchases rose by 18% between February and March 2023, from 44,100 to 52,000, according to Bank of England figures. However, March's total is still below the average of 62,700 approvals a month in 2022, and mortgage lending remains well below pre-pandemic levels. 

Daily Mail (06/05/2023)   Financial Times (06/05/2023)   The Independent (06/05/2023)  

According to new research from TwentyCi, the high-end central London housing market is set to see property prices rise faster than values in the outer boroughs for the first time in almost a decade. Demand for luxury inner London property is recovering as demand ebbs away from the more affordable periphery of the capital that has dominated the market since 2014. The number of home sales agreed in inner London in Q1 2022 is up 5.8% on 2019, while the number of sales agreed in outer London has fallen by 9.1%. The return of Middle Eastern buyers this summer has been seen as a true turning point, with JLL forecasting prices in prime central London to rise by 2.5% by the end of 2023, while values are expected to fall by 4% across Greater London and 6% across the UK. 

Evening Standard (03/05/2023)  

House prices rose by 0.5% in April after seven months of decline, according to Nationwide building society. The modest increase took the average price of a home to £260,441 last month, up from £257,122 in March, but still 4% below their August peak. Compared with April last year, prices were down 2.7%, after a 3.1% annual decline in March. Robert Gardner, the Nationwide chief economist, said the latest figures suggested there were “tentative signs of a recovery”. He said that according to Bank of England data, the number of mortgages approved for house purchase in February was almost 40% below the level a year earlier, and about a third lower than pre-pandemic levels. However, in recent months industry data on mortgage applications point to signs of a pickup. He added: “This chimes with recent shifts in consumer sentiment. While confidence remains subdued by historic standards, people's views of their own financial position over the next 12 months, and general economic conditions in the year ahead, have both improved markedly in recent months". 

Financial Times (02/05/2023)   The Daily Telegraph (02/05/2023)   The Times (02/05/2023)