Generation Rent: This campaign group wants to convert the Houses of Parliament into flats and move MPs to Hull March 2, 2015 MPs like to go on about the wonders of austerity, but do they really mean it? A campaign group has challenged the nation's lawmakers to put their money where their mouths are – by selling up the Houses of Parliament. According to Generation Rent, which campaigns for better rental homes, the taxpayer would save nearly [...]
Olympic Park development: Balfour Beatty just agreed to build two new neighbourhoods in East London March 2, 2015 Builder Balfour Beatty has signed a deal to construct 1,500 homes at East Wick and Sweetwater, the next two neighbourhoods to come out of the Olympic Village. The project, at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will deliver 450 affordable homes, 530 for private sale and 500 to be rented out under a similar model to the [...]
UK house prices: 20pc discount offered to first-time house buyers in England February 28, 2015 From today, first-time house-buyers under the age of 40 can register for a 20 per cent discount on certain properties in England. The offer is taking place under a new government scheme called “starter homes”, which aims to make more affordable housing for young people on disused brownfield sites. “With average house prices for [...]
UK and London house prices: More proof of a property market slowdown in latest Land Registry figures February 27, 2015 House prices continued to rise at a slower rate than last year – another sign the property market is losing some steam. In January, house prices were up 1.3 per cent on December, however, year-on-year growth of 6.7 per cent for the first month of 2015 signalled a slowdown compared to December when annual growth was [...]
Get rich quick: Why buying a luxury home near Crossrail could earn you lots of money February 26, 2015 No one who commutes into work on the Tube can have failed to have noticed the disruption that the construction of Crossrail is causing. With Tottenham Court Road station closed until December to build its new central London hub, you could be forgiven for thinking “is it all worth it?” Well, if you’ve got one [...]
London Barometer: What’s happening to the capital’s house prices? February 26, 2015 There is clearly now much more activity in emerging prime areas than prime central London, with ongoing political uncertainties and the recent Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) changes alluded to in our last Barometer now having a marked effect. More sellers coming to the market would seem to imply that high SDLT has been a [...]
And Baby makes three: Shard to get another building buddy to become “trilogy” by 2018 February 26, 2015 All the best things come in threes and skyscrapers are no different. A third building is being planned to join the Shard and Baby Shard to create a “trilogy” of towers designed by award-winning architect Renzo Piano. Sellar Property Group, which is responsible for the two existing buildilngs, is in talks with contractors over [...]
Change right-to-buy to stop rural communities becoming out of reach for young families, urges Chartered Institute of Housing February 24, 2015 We've all got used to the fact that young people and those on lower-to-middle incomes are being priced out of the city. Now it seems they are being priced out of the country too. The Chartered Institute of Housing has warned that continuing the right-to-buy scheme as it currently stands is making it increasingly difficult [...]
Housing crisis: Greenbelt golf courses cover an area twice the size of Kensington and Chelsea February 24, 2015 There isn't enough room in London to sustain its growing population, with an estimated 50,000 new homes needed each year just to keep up. In 2014, just 20,000 new homes were built in the greater London area – which is far from being on track to meet chancellor George Osborne latest target of [...]
Neil Kinnock: Mansion tax is just the cost of lunch for the “prosperous” February 18, 2015 Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has dismissed fears that the so-called mansion tax would hurt the pockets of middle class Londoners, saying it was little more than they spend on lunch. The controversial policy being put forward by the shadow government would see a levy imposed on homes worth more than £2m. The [...]