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 [...]
Average UK house price was £271,000 in November as 2021 prices ‘defy gravity’ January 19, 2022 UK average house prices increased 10.0 per cent over the year to November 2021, up from 9.8% in October 2021, official figures have revealed. According to the Office for National Statistics house price index, the average UK house price was £271,000 in November. This was £25,000 higher than the same time the year prior. Jamie [...]
Government will take almost 400 years to complete cladding remediations at current pace of fund January 18, 2022 The government is anticipated to take almost 400 years to fix buildings affected by unsafe cladding, should works continue at their current pace. A dozen unsafe buildings – who have been registered with the government’s £5bn building safety fund – have seen remediation works completed. Out of 3,191 buildings with non-composite material cladding initially registered [...]
Second homeowners who flipped holiday home set to pocket £191m despite upcoming crackdown January 17, 2022 About £191m of new pandemic grants from the Government is coming to second homeowners’ pockets, for those who flipped their holiday homes into letting businesses. The revelations come despite a new crackdown, announced at the end of last week. Councils across England have started distributing £635m in grants to businesses affected by the Government’s Plan [...]
Exclusive: Most commercial landlords are struggling to find tenants for their office buildings January 16, 2022 More than three fifths of the UK’s commercial landlords are struggling to attract tenants to traditional offices as businesses’ workspace demands have changed rapidly during the pandemic, according to new research that was exclusively shared with City A.M. today. In fact, more than six in ten commercial landlords are currently struggling to attract prospective tenants [...]