London rent crisis spirals as almost half of UK landlords tried to sell up in last year September 12, 2023 Almost half of UK landlords have tried to sell their property in the last 12 months, as owners look to rid themselves of mortgage pressures in a worrying blow for renters. In a survey which quizzed both landlords and estate agents – conducted by lettings platform Goodlord – some 77.5 per cent of respondents in [...]
Berkeley: Housebuilder warns of plummeting sales value amid property market volatility September 8, 2023 Berkeley has warned its value of private sales reservations has fallen 35 per cent on last year, reflecting the challenges facing the housing market. The housebuilder said the drop echoed the “elevated macroeconomic and political volatility”. It comes after house prices in August were revealed to be 4.6 per cent lower than the same month [...]
Housebuilding downturn deepens as rising interest rates weigh on demand September 6, 2023 The sector recorded a score of 40.8, comfortably below the 50 mark which separates growth from contraction.
Will the tail-end of summer mean more pain for the UK housing market? August 26, 2023 August, like much of the summer, has already proved a tricky month for the housing sector. Despite all major central banks slashing their rates in the wake of cooling inflation, buyer confidence still appears to be low. Last week’s Rightmove figures showed that the average price of a home fell by 1.9 per cent in [...]
Brits think almost half of England is ‘built on’ – but real figure is less than 10 per cent August 17, 2023 Brits think almost half of land in England is built on by towns, roads or rail lines – despite the real figure being under nine per cent, polling has revealed. Six in 10 people in England also say retaining the current green belt should come before meeting housing needs, researchers at Ipsos for the Economist [...]
Row over why London built just one affordable home a month August 15, 2023 A row has broken out over why London has built just one affordable home a month, amid warnings the capital’s housing crisis is fast catapulting into an emergency situation. Figures published today reveal just three affordable homes were started by City Hall during April, May and June 2023 – while stats for previous years extend [...]
Persimmon slashes number of homes built as rate rise rattles business August 10, 2023 Persimmon has cut the number of homes it’s building by more than a third as the housebuilder faces up to rapidly rising mortgage rates and a slowdown in consumer confidence. The construction company built a total of 4,249 homes in the first half of the year down from 6,652 homes compared to the same period [...]
Rents likely to continue rising sharply despite cost of living crisis August 10, 2023 Rents are likely to continue rising sharply despite the cost of living crisis, surveyors are warning. Property professionals’ expectations that rents will rise in the next few months are at the strongest levels seen so far this century, the findings from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) indicate. A net balance of 63 per [...]
Rishi Sunak and Sadiq Khan at loggerheads over London housebuilding July 27, 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has threatened to wade into mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s efforts on housebuilding in the capital. The politicians traded verbal blows today as the PM accused the mayor of failing to build enough homes for Londoners, while Khan branded his claims “desperate nonsense”. Speaking during a visit to a development in [...]
‘Docklands 2.0’: Michael Gove outlines vision for new higher density London July 24, 2023 Michael Gove has outlined the government’s vision to create a “Docklands 2.0” in a key speech on housing policy, calling for higher density urban development. The housing and levelling up secretary cited the “ambitious approach” of Margaret Thatcher and Michael Heseltine and warned housing “inefficiency” is costing Britain’s productivity. It comes as the prime minister [...]