Docklands News

Office for National Statistics data showed on Wednesday that UK house prices fell 0.3% between October and November, their first monthly fall in more than one year. This brought the annual growth rate to 10.3% in November, down from 12.4% in the previous month. The average UK house price was £295,000, slightly down on October’s record high of £296,000. Average house prices increased 10.9% over the year to £315,000 in England, 10.7% to £220,000 in Wales, 5.5% to £191,000 in Scotland and 10.7% to £176,000 in Northern Ireland. Prices fell most sharply in regions where they had risen the most over the course of the pandemic. For example, average prices in northeast England fell by 2.6%. At £163,000, the northeast also continued to be the location of the lowest average house price in England. London remains by the most expensive place to buy a house, with the average home worth £542,000 in November. That is only 6.3% more than the average value a year before, the lowest rate of annual inflation of any region. 

City AM (18/01/2023)   Daily Mail (18/01/2023)   Financial Times (18/01/2023)   The Times (18/01/2023)  

High street lenders are slashing mortgage rates with HSBC reducing rates on 100 of its deals by up to 0.1 percentage points on Tuesday. Yorkshire Building Society cut its fixed-rate mortgages by up to 0.75 percentage points while Santander also slashed some of its fixed-rate mortgages by up to 0.59 percentage points. The bank also launched a new two-year deal at 4.84%, one of the cheapest on the market. Borrowing costs rose dramatically after the mini-Budget at the end of September, peaking towards the end of October, before gradually falling to today’s three-month low. The average two-year fixed rate now stands at 5.58%, down from its peak of 6.65%, while the average five-year rate has dropped to 5.39%, the lowest level since the start of October, when it was priced at 5.23%. 

The Daily Telegraph (17/01/2023)  

This Spring will see the launch of British Land's new development at Canada Water, located among 160 acres of woodlands and parks. The Founding includes one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with views across London and private balconies. Each of the homes include bespoke interiors designed by Conran and Partners. "The apartments are in a prime location within the wider scheme, minutes from Canada Water station, overlooking Canada Dock and positioned at the start of Canada Water’s new high street", said Emma Cariaga, head of residential and co-head of Canada Water at British Land. "These three elements represent the key appeal of Canada Water, an area that is surrounded by green space and water, yet moments from central London".

Property Investor Today (12/01/2023)  

Analysis reveals that property makes over 50% the wealth of estates in London paying inheritance tax (IHT) – around twice as much as most other regions - with an average value of over £820,000. Retirement specialist Just Group revealed that in 2019-20, the latest financial year of available data, the average estate value in the capital was over £1.4m, nearly £200,000 higher than the South East which was the region with the second highest average estate values. The proportion of housing wealth in IHT-paying estates dropped to 39% in the South East, at £604,000, 36%in the East of England (£524,000), 32% in the South West (£474,000) and 31% in the West Midlands (£398,000) but then falls to a quarter or less in all other regions. 

City AM (09/01/2023)  

Halifax has revealed that house prices across the UK fell for the fourth consecutive month in December. According to the latest figures, the average price of a home in the UK fell by 1.5% last month to £281,272. This leaves prices 2% higher than where they were this time 12 months ago and takes them back to where they were in February and March last year. Meanwhile, the annual rate of house price inflation fell for the sixth month in a row, having come in at 4.6% in November. It had hit 12.5% in June. Halifax said that all regions saw a slowdown in year-on-year house price inflation in December, while the northeast of England was the worst affected, with annual growth dropping to 6.5% from 10.5% in the previous month. The cost of an average home in London in December was £541,239, 2.9% up annually, compared to 5.0% last month. Kim Kinnaird, director of the Halifax mortgages division, said: “As we’ve seen over the past few months, uncertainties about the extent to which cost of living increases will impact household bills, alongside rising interest rates, is leading to an overall slowing of the market.” 

The Guardian (07/01/2023)   The Independent (07/01/2023)   The Times (07/01/2023)  

Halifax is to offer tracker mortgages for the first time in four years as demand increases among homebuyers. Halifax now has a two-year deal that charges the Bank of England's base rate (3.5%) plus 0.59 percentage points, so a starting rate of 4.09%. This means monthly repayments on a £250,000 mortgage over a 25-year term would be £1,332, although they could go up as soon as next month if the Bank rate increases. There is a £999 fee and borrowers need at least a 40% deposit to qualify. Meanwhile, those with a 10% deposit can get a two-year deal which tracks base rate plus 1.09 percentage points, giving a starting rate of 4.59%. Currently, the best tracker rate is from Barclays, which is 0.34 percentage points above base rate, giving a total now of 3.84%. On a £250,000 25-year mortgage this would mean monthly repayments of £1,298. 

The Sunday Times (08/01/2023)