Docklands News

HM Revenue and Customs figures shows that house sales have got off to the weakest start to the year since 2015, with an estimated 96,650 house sales taking place in January 2023, 3% lower than in December 2022. According to HMRC, some 1,029,580 house sales have taken place in the financial year to date, between April 2022 and January this year. Analysis shows this is lower than the 1,154,360 house sales which took place over the same period a year earlier but higher than the 872,200 sales taking place between April 2020 and January 2021, in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Daily Telegraph (21/02/2023)   The Independent (21/02/2023)  

New research by Schroders reveals that houses are far more unaffordable for women than men in every single region of Britain as a result of the gender pay gap. A new report found women will have to wait longer to save for a deposit and be able to borrow less through a mortgage than men on average. Schroders found that the average house costs 14.1 times the average woman's salary in London, while men face house prices that are 12 times their income. Sara Reis, of the Women's Budget Group, a non-profit organisation, said although homes are most unaffordable in London in cash terms, women face the biggest difference in housing affordability to men in the East of England. 

The Daily Telegraph (17/02/2023)  

A new report by the Centre for Cities claims that planning laws that force every project to be assessed on a case-by-case basis have stopped 4m homes from being built in Britain. The think tank said the UK's planning regime, adopted in 1947, had created an unpredictable system that has stifled house building since the post-war period. Researchers found that Britain has fallen behind the rest of Europe when it comes to house building rates over the last six decades. Analysis shows that in 1955, the UK had 5% more homes per person than the European average, but by 2015 it was 8% below the mean. The charity said that if building in the UK had kept up with the average rate across Europe, there would be 4.3m more homes today.

The Daily Telegraph (21/02/2023)  

Policy Exchange says that building 100,000 homes each year could add £17.7bn to the economy. The think-tank warned the shortage of new homes and over-inflated house prices are diverting investment from other areas of the economy, harming productivity and reducing consumer demand by eating into household income. It also recommended the Government give businesses a clear idea of what sort of development will secure planning permission. Report author Dr James Vitali said: "The potential rewards for unlocking the housing market, however, are huge: a more mobile labour force, more productive cities, more investment in productive businesses, a reduced benefit bill and renewed faith in the galvanising ideal of home ownership."  Former housing minister Brandon Lewis, who backed the research, said: "Solving the crisis holds out the dual prospect of placing rocket boosters under our economy and selling a new generation on the 'British dream' of home ownership." 

Daily Express (22/02/2023)  

London mayor Sadiq Khan has been criticised for being behind on building targets for affordable homes, despite new construction projects increasing on last year. City Hall says 900 more affordable homes were completed in the financial year to December 2022 than in the same period last year, a rise of 50%. But the Conservatives say the mayor would need to “significantly” up his start rate and begin work on over 18,000 homes this month alone, in order to meet government housing targets. Almost £5bn in funding was given to the Greater London Authority (GLA) in 2016 to build 116,000 affordable homes by March 2023, but just over 50,271 have been built so far. It comes as the government is behind on its own national targets, with just 157,000 of the intended 180,000 built during the latest 2021 tranche of the bargain property programme. 

City AM (14/02/2023)  

Property values increased by 9.8% in the 12 months to December 2022, compared with the 10.6% annual growth recorded the previous month. The average UK house price in December 2022 was £294,000, £26,000 higher than 12 months earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). On a month-on-month basis, the average UK house price edged down in December 2022, from £296,000 in November 2022. Average house prices increased over the 12 months to £315,000 (10.3% annual growth) in England, £222,000 in Wales (10.3%), £187,000 in Scotland (5.7%) and £175,000 in Northern Ireland (10.2%). Regionally, the East Midlands recorded the highest annual percentage increase in house prices in December, at 12.3%, while London recorded the lowest, at 6.7%. London's average house prices remain the most expensive of any region in the UK, with an average price of £543,000 in December 2022. The report warned that annual percentage changes in house prices have been affected by the stamp duty holiday which ended in 2021, leading to some volatility in the figures. 

Daily Mail (15/02/2023)   The Daily Telegraph (15/02/2023)   The Independent (15/02/2023)   The Times (15/02/2023)