Canning Town

Despite rising inflation and the end of both the furlough scheme and stamp duty holiday, UK house price growth continues to deny economic gravity as we head into the festive period. However, what goes up must surely come down – eventually.

The latest market analysis from Estate Agents show that a combination of rising interest rates and a much-needed increase in housing supply are the likely culprits to end the seemingly never-ending streak of stronger than usual house price growth.

 

Nationwide reported that the average UK price exceeded £250,000 in October for the first time. Indeed, new analysis shows the total value of the housing stock in England and Wales was £7.68 trillion in July 2021, which was an uplift of £720 billion from March 2020, when the total value was £6.96 trillion. The study, which puts a number on the total value of all private housing, factors in exchange prices as well as changes to house prices. A higher overall figure can reflect a larger number of households in a given local authority as well as higher-value properties.

 

The combined housing stock in the top ten local authorities by value also broke through the trillion-pound barrier over the course of the pandemic, rising to £1.007 trillion from £978 billion. However, there were not increases everywhere.

 

The highest total in July this year was £157.8 billion in the central London borough of Westminster, which was down by 10.1% from March 2020. The decline was the highest in England and Wales but is understandable given the area’s high proportion of flats and the fact fewer international buyers were able to travel to the UK.

 

However, it was one of only three local authorities in England and Wales that saw the value of its housing stock fall over the period, together with Lambeth (-2.2%) and Wandsworth (-1.1%).

There were other interesting changes in the top ten most valuable areas over the course of the pandemic. Cornwall leapfrogged Richmond-Upon-Thames into eighth place while Leeds replaced Ealing at number ten. Both changes can be explained by the growing demand for space and we have previously explored how Yorkshire, in particular, has benefitted from this trend.

 

The top three largest increases over the period were all in northwest England: Rossendale (24.2%), Wirral (21.6%) and Liverpool (21.6%).

 

Two things will curtail this strong level of growth. The first is rising interest rates. Last week, the Bank of England held the base rate at 0.1% but a rise is clearly coming.

 

However, it would be wrong to overstate the short-term impact on the UK housing market. Rates were 0.75% before Covid struck and any effect is likely to be limited while rates remain below this level. What’s different between now and early 2020 is the presence of inflationary pressures, which may cause demand to start fraying around the edges depending on how elastic the definition of “transitory” becomes. Longer-term, there will need to be a readjustment as rates normalise, a process that has been delayed by the pandemic.

 

Over 3.5 million first-time buyer mortgages have been issued since the base rate dropped to 0.5% in March 2009. That is a large group of homeowners who don’t know what it’s like when interest payments rise meaningfully.

The other thing to watch closely is supply, which will put downwards pressure on prices as it increases. The housing market is famously seasonal, so can we tell yet what is likely to happen next spring?

 

Source: www.propertyreporter.co.uk

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The stamp duty holiday deadline ended on 30 June but buyers have until 30 September to take advantage of the lower stamp duty holiday threshold of £250,000. Landlords will be able to save up to £2,500 although they still have to pay the 3% stamp duty surcharge for owning more than one property.

The stamp duty holiday for properties bought under £500,000 certainly did what the government intended it to do and boosted the housing market.
Some say it overstimulated the market and created a frenzy with record housing transactions, steep house price growth and gazumping. The mortgage market picked up on the back of this and both residential and buy-to-let lending have been relatively strong.
In the buy-to-let sector, lending is forecast to be £42bn this year, up from £38.1bn in 2020, according to the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA).
Although remortgaging makes up the lion’s share of that figure, IMLA anticipates that 2021 will be the best year for buy-to-let house purchase since 2016. It predicts £13 billion for buy-to-let house purchase lending this year, up from £10bn in 2020.
The stamp duty holiday deadline ended on 30 June but buyers have until 30 September to take advantage of the lower stamp duty holiday threshold of £250,000. Landlords will be able to save up to £2,500 although they still have to pay the 3% stamp duty surcharge for owning more than one property.
We know that buy-to-let investors have been taking the opportunity to expand their portfolio and save some money by having their tax bill lowered. And we also know that many are buying properties below £250,000.
It’s true that in some expensive parts of the country you can’t buy anything less than £250,000. But many properties around the UK cost less than that, particularly those bought by landlords. We have seen southern-based landlords diversifying geographically and buying further north or into Wales where property can be more affordable – as well as often generating higher yields.
Research from the estate agency Hamptons showed that 81% of homes sold to property investors in June were under the £250,000 stamp duty holiday threshold. It also said the number of landlords registering to buy was 24% higher in June compared with the same month in 2020.
Over the past year at Landbay, just over half of our clients have bought properties valued under £250,000 but before this the trend was slightly in favour of properties over £250,000. What we are seeing is a rise in the number of landlords favouring cheaper properties with the statistic for June and July in our mortgage book nearing 60%. This compares with an average of 53% over the 12 months to July 2021.
It will be interesting to see if there will be further investment in properties below the stamp duty holiday threshold in August and September. I don’t expect the market to be as busy as it was in the run-up to the first two stamp duty holiday deadlines of March and June; but having said that we are still seeing a strong pipeline.
Source: propertyreporter.co.uk
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First Time Buyers now pay less or no tax if all purchasers are First Time Buyers and the purchase price of the property is £500,000 or less.

Since 1st July 2021, the current Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) threshold has gone down to £250,000. Although the bigger savings before this date have now been reduced, there is still an opportunity to save up to £2,500 on SDLT before it returns to its regular threshold rate of £125,000 from 1st October 2021.

What has gone unnoticed by most commentators is the change that affects First Time Buyers, which also came into effect from 1st July. Since that date, First Time Buyers now pay less or no tax if all purchasers are First Time Buyers and the purchase price of the property is £500,000 or less.

First Time Buyers are exempt from SDLT for the first £300,000, but since 1st July, they now pay a reduced rate of 5% on purchase prices above £300,000 and up to, and including, £500,000. So, if you’re a First Time Buyer, but were unfortunate to miss out on the 30th June deadline, there are still longer-term savings to be made, as these will continue for First Time Buyers after the SDLT returns to its £125,000 threshold from 1st October 2021 for all other buyers.

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For affordability and an easy commute to Canary Wharf, the only way is E16.

Canning Town platform Photo source: Geograph.co.uk http://bit.ly/2ljhSX8

East London’s post-industrial landscape is rapidly disappearing in favour of quirky cultural venues, artfully rustic cafes and glassy residential towers. While the investment potential in Hackney and Tower Hamlets has been well-documented, other locations that are just as accessible have managed to slip under the radar.

One of these is Canning Town, a part of town with a rich dockers’ history, that has just been re-zoned along with Stratford into Zone 2. Sitting on the Jubilee line and the DLR, commuters can be in Canary Wharf in 10mins and, once the Elizabeth Line is up and running at nearby Custom House, 17mins from Bond Street.

The first sign of investment interest arrived with the ExCeL London exhibition centre in 2000, but the financial crash slowed down further development – until the recent residential boom.

Now, 10,000 new homes are planned from a variety of developers and housing associations, many for sale on affordability schemes like Help to Buy and Shared Ownership, along with a £600m revamp of the town centre and a hotel along with new pedestrian and cycling routes.

The real jewel in the crown, though, is nearby London City Island sitting just across the border in Tower Hamlets, whose anchor tenant will be the English National Ballet bringing a much-needed cultural boost to the area in 2018.

Compared to other areas with similar commuting times prices are a steal, too, which is why young professionals priced out of surrounding boroughs are looking for value in Canning Town.

Nick Parr, partner at Knight Frank City & East, agrees, but thinks its investment appeal can only be fully realised when put in context with surrounding areas. “It’s a great place to be, two stops down from Canary Wharf and half the price, two stops from Stratford and The Royal Docks are taking off.

Data from Johns & Co bears this out; the estate agent reports that “a lot of interest” is coming from corporate tenants aged between 25 and 35 working in the City or Canary Wharf and, recently, buy-to-let investors.

“It’s proving a hotspot for investors, not least because property price growth is anticipated to rise by up to 30 per cent in the next five years,” says managing director John Morley. “Yields north of five per cent are now hard to come by in many parts of central London, but this is still possible in E16 with yields currently at five to six per cent.”

Area highlights

If you’re a keen comic book fan or just like roaming wistfully around travel shows, you’ll like being a short walk away from the ExCeL London Centre. Regular business travellers will also enjoy being so close to London City Airport, which is only 10 minutes away on the DLR and it’s so small, it’s like waiting to board a plane from someone’s living room. If you’re looking to meet new people, seek out the Canning Town Caravanserai, a flexible space used for art installations, story-telling, food markets and skills workshops. You’re never far from water, with the River Lea, the Thames and the Royal Docks nearby, and you can take the Emirates Skyline over to the 02 Arena. Good restaurants nearby include reasonably-priced Italian Pepenero, contemporary brasserie Docklands Bar and Grill and Fatboy’s Diner the other side of Bow Creek, a 1950s-style diner next to arts space Trinity Buoy Wharf.

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Before the reign of Queen Victoria, Canning Town had no real significance and it did not even get its name until the Victorian period. It is probably named after Charles Canning. He was a famous and popular character at the time as he had successfully managed the Indian Mutiny in his role as Viceroy of India. Once the area started to be developed, it turned into a busy industrial and commercial hub.

During the 1930s, housing conditions in Canning Town were so bad that the local council started a program to clear the slums and to provide better social conditions for local residents. Many properties were torn down, and new houses, nurseries, medical clinics and even a lido opened in the area.

The Second World War also badly affected the area and led to further redevelopment after the war. Much of the East End was a prime target for German bombers and it is estimated that over 85% of local housing stock was destroyed.

Canning Town was also the scene of one of the worst bombing events in the war, although a government cover up at the time hid the full extent of the incident. In September 1940, local residents were sheltering in the basement of South Hallsville School during an air raid. They were staying in the school because they had been evacuated from their homes.

The school suffered from a direct hit burying all of the sheltering locals under piles of rubble. Reports at the time indicated that around 70 people died in the incident, but it is now believed that close to 600 people died on the site making this the worst civilian casualty rate in a bombing raid during the war.

Due to the massive loss of housing caused during the blitz, social housing took the form of new council estates, including a number of high-rise tower blocks, which were popular at the time.

One high-rise block became well-known in the 1960s for all the wrong reasons when a gas explosion caused an entire corner of the block to collapse. Ronan Point and its surrounding high-rises were demolished to make way for safer, and smaller, houses and the lessons learned from this accident changed the way that high-rises were built.

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“The mortgage market is in continuous move and it can affect you as well. ”

If you’re one of those shopping for a house soon and you are considering a mortgage, you should carefully analyse a couple of factors before making a decision. The location, the time you are going to spend in your new home (if it is temporary or, hopefully, for the rest of your life), the purpose of the investment (for your own living or if it is a buy to let), and other life circumstances should be considered when choosing a type of mortgage.

However, even with all these cleared up, there is still one more factor that might influence your decision. The mortgage market is in continuous move and it can affect you as well.

The analysis after the first quarter of 2017 proves that some types of mortgages are increasing, while other products for loans are remaining unchanged. For example, the number of contracted mortgages rose in the first three months. These are bank products offered for self-employed people, people with complex incomes or other underserved segments of the buyers’ market. Looking closely upon the offer of bank products, you may see that banks will speculate this moment and will come with new and improved offers. You will just have to pick the most advantageous for you.

The mortgage market also seems to be improving since the number of completed applications  for first time buyers is rising. 67% of first time mortgage applications were completed in the first quarter of 2017, up substantially from 48% in the same period of 2016. Intermediaries have eased up the applications because of the struggle to obtain a mortgage that was intensely publicised last year.

And one of the most important news that the mortgage market received at the beginning of this month is that the lending rates reached their lowest point. The figures from the Bank of England showed that this year’s borrowers received the lowest mortgage rates ever.

These effects are sometimes connected and influence one another, but paying enough attention to the movements of the market might pay off eventually.

Sources:

http://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/brokers-see-demand-specialist-mortgages-less-buy-let-forecast/

http://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/uk-mortgage-applications-intermediaries-successful-year-ago/

http://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/mortgage-lending-rates-uk-reaching-lowest-rates-ever/

 

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Buying a home for the first time is one of the biggest decisions you will make.

You will need to choose what mortgage company is best for you and what kind of deposit you will need to have. There are quite a few choices out there now though that can help you.

Here is a list of things you should look into:

  • How much can you borrow?

Before you jump in and start looking for your home, check your credit and speak to a mortgage adviser to find out how much you may be able to borrow and if you can afford the monthly payments. Don’t forget to put some money aside for legal fees to. Always ask your lender if they cover mortgages above a commercial property as some lender may not.

  • Decide what you’re looking for and where

Once you have either got a mortgage agreement in place or you know what you are able to borrow then you can start looking into what type of property you are looking for, how many bedrooms, is a garden important to you and how far is the transport. When looking at a area check what

  • Start house hunting

When looking for a property the first step is to look on your local estate agent’s website. You may look at quite a few places before you find the right property for you. When you see a property that you want to view, look around for any signs of dump, is the building structure sound, how old is the roof, how much storage space.

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A study described as the biggest of its type seeks to explain why vendors choose – or avoid – online agents.

The Home Moving Trends survey undertaken by Property Academy surveyed 14,530 vendors.

Those sellers who chose to use a traditional agent were asked whether they had considered an online alternative. Precisely 30 per cent considered using an onliner but eventually decided against; the other 70 per cent said they didn’t even consider using an onliner.

When asked for the primary reason why they went on to choose a traditional agent, 38 per cent said because the local knowledge was important; 35 per cent because they could have face-to-face meetings; 17 per cent because of the importance of a local presence in the shape of a High Street office; and 10 per cent because it was simply more convenient.

Of those who went on to use an online operator, 74 per cent were persuaded primarily by cheaper fees; 11 per cent had a personal recommendation; nine per cent went online because those agents were “more innovative” and six per cent chose the option because online agencies were easier to deal with.

Around one third of sellers did not visit their selling agent’s office at any point in the process.

In other aspects of the survey, 85 per cent of respondents said Brexit “has not impacted my decision to move” although two per cent decided not to move because of the decision and seven per cent felt property prices had decreased in their area as a result of the referendum vote.

Movers are also showing increasing confidence in new technologies such as Virtual Reality – 60 per cent said they would consider viewing online prior to a physical viewing in the future.

KeyAGENT has produced an infographic of the results below.

Victor Michael sold properties

Victor Michael sold properties

Victor Michael sold properties

Source: www.estateagenttoday.co.uk

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The first 100 residents move in to the first set of glamorous flats as the huge £9bn development starts to rise at the south London landmark.

A few celebrities and 1,400 Apple office workers will soon be living and working next to each other at Battersea Power Station.

This project to refurbish the Grade II Listed building cost a staggering £9bn which is more than it cost to build the stadiums as well as staging the 2012 London Olympics. This building is the centrepiece of many developments of offices and apartment towers on the south bank of the Thames.

The development has been under construction for four years and has now started to take shape and the first 100 residents have moved in to a lavish apartment. After 90 years, the power station’s riverfront, with a new piazza and parkland is now accessible to everyone.

The power plant will not be opening its doors to the public for shopping and leisure until the new tube station, called Battersea Power station, comes online which will be in 2020. This station will allow residents to get to the City within 15 minutes.

A glass lift will also be built to take visitors to a viewing platform on top of the power station’s landmark white chimneys, where they will have extensive views across the river from a height of more than 100m.

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Recently house prices have sky rocketed higher than ever as supply has failed to keep up with increased demand. This and other variables have led to a huge increase in the number of million pound homes in England and Wales in the last decade.

The latest research from Lloyds Private Banking has revealed that the number of million pound apartment sales has grown by 196% since 2006, up from 1,002 sales to 2,967 in 2016. Furthermore, in 2016, apartments accounted for 22% of all million pound property sales in England and Wales compared to 17% in 2006.

As you might expect, the vast majority of million pound plus apartments are found in London, with a huge 96% of sales made in the capital. The number of apartment sales in London has also increased considerably in the last decade rising by 196% since 2006, up from 973 to 2,853. This has coincided with a big increase in the number of luxury apartments and penthouses popping up across the capital and a rise in overseas investment from wealthy foreign buyers, as London has become one of the go-to property capitals of the world.

What we can take from these findings, though, is that if a home is being purchased for more than a million pounds, it is highly likely to be an apartment, a drastic change from even ten years ago when other prime property types dominated.

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