London residents’ council tax bill hits almost £5bn a year January 25, 2022 London homeowners and renters have had to pay almost £5bn in council tax bills a year, according to new research. According to one of the capital’s estate agents, Benham and Reeves, said Londoners had paid £1.2bn more per year compared to five years ago. The average resident in the city pays £1,374 in council tax [...]
Cladding suppliers shares tumble after Gove threat on remediation costs January 24, 2022 Building material manufacturers and property developers’ shares plummet on Monday morning as the government toughens up on firms unwilling to pay to fix unsafe homes. Housing secretary Michael Gove threatened a UK trading ban on manufacturers of combustible cladding and insulation in a letter to the Construction Products Association. In the letter, Gove said more [...]
Timber titans: City of London bosses mull wooden skyscrapers in sustainability push January 23, 2022 City of London planning bosses are reportedly mulling wooden skyscrapers, as developers look to shrink their carbon footprint by moving away from steel and concrete. The so-called ‘plyscrapers’ are popular in Norway, Sweden, Singapore and Japan, and can reach several hundred feet high. The move could invite a host of new architecture to the Square [...]
Exclusive: More than 9m Britons hope to acquire their first home or buy a new property this year January 22, 2022 One in five UK adults plan to buy a property in 2022, according to a new study that was exclusively shared with City A.M. this morning. new research from Market Financial Solutions (MFS) has revealed. The bridging lender commissioned an independent survey among more than 2,000 UK adults. It found that 18% intend to purchase property this [...]
December home transactions show ‘strong end to frenzied year’ as markets expected to slow January 21, 2022 According to HMRC data, the provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of UK residential transactions in December 2021 was 100,110. This marks a 20 per cent dip on December 2020 but a 7.6 per cent spike on the prior month. Last year also saw a record level of home transactions of almost 1.5m, the highest since 2007, [...]
Getting on the property ladder: Here are the most affordable places in Britain for first-time home buyers January 21, 2022 In London, Bromley is the most affordable borough for first-time buyers, while Kensington is unaffordable for those trying to get onto the property ladder. Nationwide, Scotland remains the cheapest place to snap up a property. First-time buyers face spending at least six times their annual wages to get on the property ladder in nearly half [...]
Stratford and Nine Elms enjoy rental market bounceback amid stock lows January 21, 2022 London areas to have enjoyed an especially strong post-pandemic comeback include Battersea/Nine Elms and Canary Wharf. Alongside Kensington, Stratford and the City of London, these areas have marked 7.5% average growth in rental prices. Growth from pre-pandemic levels has ranged from 5.8 per cent to 8.8 per cent, according to research from JLL. The research [...]
Grenfell campaigners outraged over Westfield owner’s plans for ‘death trap’ apartment block January 20, 2022 A developer has faced fury after plans for an apartment block twice the height of Grenfell with just one fire escape staircase. The 35-storey building has been proposed by the owner of the Westfield shopping centres, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), and will be part of a complex of 1,760 new homes, the Guardian first reported. The apartment [...]
Battle of the City skyscrapers heats up as shiny new 22 Bishopsgate lures law firm McDermott away from Heron Tower January 20, 2022 City law firm McDemott Will & Emery is moving out of the Salesforce Tower, commonly known by its former name as the Heron Tower, to move to the 46th floor of the brand new 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper. The Salesforce Tower, minutes from Liverpool Street, housed the Chicago-based law firm for more than a decade. However, [...]
£12m in remortgages and drawdowns every single day: Homeowners release record £4.4bn in property wealth January 19, 2022 Older homeowners released a record £4.4 billion in property wealth last year at a rate of more than £12 million a day as customers helped family and secured their own finances by repaying debt or remortgaging existing borrowing, according to new data. Around one in five equity release plans (19 per cent) taken out in [...]