Blame Brexit: International investors shun prime London property May 23, 2016 The proportion of international buyers and sellers in London property fell in the first quarter of 2016, according to research released today, despite a fall in sterling making UK property relatively attractive. The effect was strongest in central London, but there has also been reduced activity in overseas nationals across the whole of London. The research [...]
Chancellor George Osborne warns again Brexit will hit house prices May 21, 2016 Chancellor George Osborne again warned Brexit will hit house prices, as an immediate economic shock hits financial markets. Speaking at the G7 finance ministers’ meeting in Japan, he said: "There would be a hit to the value of people’s homes by at least 10 per cent and up to 18 per cent … first-time buyers are hit because mortgage rates [...]
New homes on sale in London this weekend: from Maple & Co’s old furniture factory to apartments near the Hurlingham Club May 19, 2016 The Maple Building, Kentish Town From £525,000 The old Maple & Co furniture factory in Kentish Town has been transformed into 57 one, two and three bedroom apartments and penthouses. The six storey building, which dates back to the 19th century, has been restored by The Linton Group and retains its red brick facade alongside contemporary [...]
Focus on Notting Hill property: Prices may have fallen, but is it all down to stamp duty reform? May 19, 2016 Notting Hill hasn’t been having the best of weeks, if truth be told. On Tuesday, a report from estate agent Stirling Ackroyd revealed that average house prices had fallen in several prime central London locations. In W11, they’ve gone down by 10 per cent from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of [...]
Buy to let stampede not enough to stop mortgage lending from rising in April May 19, 2016 The housing market shows no sign of letting up as mortgage lending came to a post-crisis high for the month of April, despite the buy to let stampede in March. Gross mortgage lending – the amount dished out by lenders to people buying new homes – came in at £18.5bn in April, up 16 per cent over the year [...]
EU referendum: Brexit risks compromising plans to build hundreds of thousands of new homes May 19, 2016 If Britain votes to leave the EU it risks sparking a chronic construction skills deficit, compromising plans to build hundreds of thousands of new homes. According to new research, a Leave vote could lead to a cut in the construction workforce, which would in turn jeopardise plans to expand the UK's housing stock that would otherwise ease [...]
Parliament’s BHS inquiries: Everything you need to know May 18, 2016 Two parliamentary committees will come together for a second time next week as part of an ongoing investigation into the collapse of BHS. The Work and Pensions select committee and the Business Innovation and Skills select committee held a joint hearing last week, grilling the chief executives of the Pension Protection Fund and The Pensions Regulator over the [...]
UK house sales and purchases set to jump by a fifth by 2020 – but will still be below 2007 levels May 18, 2016 UK housing transactions are set to jump by a fifth by 2020, but this will still be eight per cent lower than pre-financial crisis levels, according to a new report today. Conveyancing services provider My Home Move predicts that the number of annual property transactions will rise from the 1.23 million recorded last year to [...]
Property prices are continuing to soar – and it’s not just because of stamp duty May 17, 2016 There's yet more evidence that the government's stamp duty changes forced house prices up in March – but experts are warning that a chronic undersupply of housing will continue to push prices up overall. UK house prices increased by nine per cent in the year to March 2016, up from 7.6 per cent in the year to [...]
Surprise: Asking prices have jumped to new record highs of £308,151 across England and Wales May 16, 2016 In what seems now to be an ongoing trend, asking prices in England and Wales jumped to a new record high of £308,151 on average in May. The "eye-watering" increase is a rise of £1,118 on the previous month, property website Rightmove said in figures released today. The price uplift has come despite a flurry to [...]