Only London’s Highest Earners Able To Rent Privately At Affordable Cost

 Only the top 25% of earners in London were able to privately rent a property in the city at an affordable rate last year, according to official figures on costs across England. Data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that for three-quarters of households, rents in the capital were set at a level equal to more than 30% of their income. The ONS said it considered an area to have affordable private rent if tenants spend no more than 30% of their income on it. Rents in some parts of the country dropped when the pandemic struck but in recent months costs have started to rise again. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/oct/06/london-rent-privately-affordable-ons-household-income

Ministers Must Commit To 30-Year Social Rent Increases To Tackle London’s Housing Crisis

The government must “immediately” introduce a 30-year commitment to increase social rents by 1% above the consumer price index (CPI) annually to help tackle London’s affordable housing crisis, a new report has argued. The report highlighted that the annual need for extra affordable housing in London is 7.6 times greater than supply, compared to 2.6 across the whole of England. Housing associations, particularly those in London, are grappling with major long-term costs as a result of the post-Grenfell building safety crisis and decarbonisation, forcing them to rethink their development plans. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/ministers-must-commit-to-30-year-social-rent-increases-to-tackle-londons-housing-crisis-argues-report-72130?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

London Only Region To Report Drop In Rent Prices Over Last Five Years

The capital is the only region in the UK where rents have fallen over the last five years as Londoners have left the city during the pandemic and fewer young professionals have moved for work. Asking rents in almost two thirds – 65 per cent – of London neighbourhoods are lower than they were five years ago, compared to just four per cent across the rest of Britain. London is the only region where asking rents have fallen compared to 2016 levels, down 2.6 per cent. Read more on the City AM website.

London only UK region to report drop in rent prices over last five years - CityAM : CityAM

Super-Rich Spent Almost £3bn Buying 'Third Or Fourth Trophy' London Homes During Pandemic

 Super-rich buyers spent almost £3bn on luxury properties in London last year that became their “third or fourth” homes and “trophy assets”. Political uncertainty in the US and Hong Kong, as well as a weak pound, were other key factors that enabled the mega-wealthy from both overseas and within the UK to splurge even as hundreds of thousands of Londoners risked being “plunged into poverty” as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The UK capital sold 201 “super-prime” residential homes – defined as costing more than US$10m (£7.3m) – in 2020, according to recent figures by the estate agent Knight Frank. Read more on the Huffington Post website.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/super-rich-luxury-london-homes-pandemic_uk_60782f61e4b0e554e81c44ef

Affordable Housing: Building Plans Cut By Two-Thirds For Second Programme

The number of homes built in London with funding from the Affordable Homes Programme is to drop by two thirds, mayor Sadiq Khan has announced. About 35,000 homes are planned by 2026, using £4bn of government funding - an average of £114,000 per house. The cost per house of the first programme, under which 116,000 homes were to be constructed, was £41,551. The Greater London Authority (GLA) Conservative group has accused the mayor of "failing Londoners". A spokesman for the mayor's office said Brexit and the cladding crisis had contributed to an increase in costs. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56222957 

London Rental Demand Plummets

All regions of London are experiencing significant drops in rental demand, research from flatshare site SpareRoom has found. West Central London has seen the biggest drop in demand at -43%, followed by East Central (-39%) and West London (-26%). Ipswich (86%), Warrington (84%) and Northampton (82%) are experiencing the biggest increases in rental demand year-on-year. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/london-rental-demand-plummets/ 

Remote Working Sees Demand And Rent Fall In The Capital

The latest research by estate agent, Keller Williams UK, has found that due to the sustained levels of remote working, London now leads the uplift in rental affordability. The firm analysed rental market data looking at the average rental cost and how it has changed between 2020 and 2019 and found that across England, Covid has caused a marginal reduction in rents, with the average cost per month falling by -0.8%. A decline that will be welcomed by tenants who have seen consistent increases in rental prices in previous years, and more recently, may have seen their ability to afford this rent decline due to the pandemic. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/remote-working-sees-demand-and-rent-fall-in-the-capital.html 

Renters Fleeing Inner London In 'Race For Space'

Renters are swapping inner London transport hubs for homes further afield as the need to commute has become less important than a desire for space, data on searches on property website Rightmove suggests. Analysis of 60m searches in August showed steep falls in the number of searches for rental homes in commuter hubs such as Earl’s Court in west London, and New Cross in the south, while areas in outer London and beyond registered big increases. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/sep/15/renters-fleeing-inner-london-in-race-for-space-data-suggests

Renters Heading Back To The Capital

Figures suggest a marked increase in young professionals heading back into the capital for permanent residence over the past week. Despite many predictions suggesting that professionals are heading out of London and offices may no longer be a requirement for many companies in the capital, data shows the opposite - a steady increase in the past two weeks of renters heading back post-lockdown-easing – suggesting a positive outlook for London’s rental market should it continue. Comparing the weeks of 25th to 31st May, and 1st to 7th June, there has been a 101% increase in young professionals renting permanent co-living accommodation in London. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/landlords/renters-heading-back-to-the-capital-as-lockdown-measures-begin-to-ease.html

Most Homebuyers Take Maximum Help To Buy Loan In London

Three-quarters of home buyers in the capital taking advantage of government loan used maximum amount allowed. Three-quarters of homebuyers in London using the government’s Help to Buy loan scheme borrowed the largest amount possible during the last three years. Data from MHCLG showed that of the 15,623 homes bought in the capital since the beginning of February 2016, when the government boosted the upper limit of the Help to Buy loan for purchasers in the capital to 40%, 11,783 – 75% – were made with a maximum loan. And across England, the 52,268 Help to Buy deals in the year to June 2019 represented a 6% increase. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/most-homebuyers-take-maximum-help-to-buy-loan-in-london/5103005.article

Help To Buy Used In 20% Of London’s New-Build Sales

Help to Buy loans have been used on more than 20% of new-build sales across the capital since 2013, analysis reveals. But the research, carried out by Proportunity, found that more needed to be done by the next government to boost homeownership in the capital, since the scheme has helped more people in outer London than those in the inner boroughs. Proportunity looked at the proportion of new-builds in each borough that were sold with a Help to Buy loan between the scheme’s introduction in April 2013 and the first quarter of 2019, when the data was last available. Barking and Dagenham topped the rankings, with 61.7% of new-build homes sold using the scheme. Read more on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/help-to-buy-used-in-20-of-londons-new-build-sales/5102935.article

Shared Ownership Cheaper Than Renting In London

People who are renting in London could save more than £40,000 in two years by purchasing a property using shared ownership. Analysis by Leeds Building Society looked at the cost of buying a 25% share of a £600,000 one bedroom flat in Islington using a £7,500 deposit. It found renting a similar property on the open rental market, at a cost of £3,900 per calendar month, would cost £41,004 more over two years. What’s more, this calculation does not take into account any property price rises. If house prices in the area were to increase, owners could see the value of their 25% share rise accordingly. Read more on the What Mortgage website.

https://www.whatmortgage.co.uk/news/first-time-buyers/shared-ownership-cheaper-renting-london/

£19.2m Announced To Boost Homelessness Services In The Capital

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has announced the investment of £19.2m to boost homeless services across the capital – almost double the previously announced budget. According to reports, last year saw almost 8,855 people sleeping rough on the streets of London – more than double the number in 2010/11. This is said to be due to a number of factors including a lack of genuinely affordable housing for Londoners, welfare reform, cuts to health and social services, and the government failing to tackle the root causes of homelessness. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/19-2m-announced-to-boost-homelessness-services-in-the-capital/

Government Urged To Review Green Belt Rules ‘To Address Housing Crisis’

The government must carry out an urgent review of the rules around green belt land to help address London’s acute housing crisis, a new report has argued. With the capital needing 65,000 new homes a year to cope with demand, business group London First, together with consultancy Community Research, convened a jury of 12 Londoners to discuss the green belt. Both sides of the debate about building on such land gave evidence and a resulting vote found 11 members of the jury agreeing that some form of review of the rules governing the green belt was needed to address what it called “a terrible crisis for housing in London”. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/government-urged-to-review-green-belt-land-rules-to-address-londons-housing-crisis/5101676.article

London Housing Shortage

The number of houses being built is rising at a slower rate in London than any other region despite the capital having the most acute homes shortage, according to analysis. It showed 40,735 energy Performance Certificates (EPC) — a legal requirement for a new home — were granted in London in the 12 months to June. This was a six per cent rise on the 38,394 issued in 2015, the year before Sadiq Khan was elected Mayor on a manifesto promise to tackle the capital’s housing crisis. Read more on the Homes & Property website.

https://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property-news/london-housing-shortage-home-building-is-rising-at-a-slower-rate-in-london-than-any-other-region-a132876.html

House Price Growth Stagnates: Brexit Brakes Or Summer Slowdown?

The latest data and analysis from UK HPI has revealed that average house prices across the UK increased by 0.9% in the twelve months to June, unchanged from May's figure. The East Midlands was the English region with the highest annual house price growth, with prices increasing by 3.2% in the year to June. The lowest annual growth was in London, where prices fell by 2.7% over the year. Average house prices in London have now been falling over the year each month since March 2018, a period of 16 months. This compares to 15 months of prices falling over the year in London during 2008 and 2009, the period of the economic downturn. Read more on Property Reporter.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/house-price-growth-stagnates-brexit-brakes-or-summer-slowdown.html

Is London Help To Buy Becoming Extinct?

The number of Help to Buy properties for sale in Greater London has crashed by 64.3% since 2017, according to new research, but which areas are the worst affected? In February 2019 only 1,619 Help to Buy properties were listed for sale across the whole of London, down from 4,535 at the end of 2017, according to research by modular homes provider Project Etopia. The research, based on listings on Rightmove and Zoopla, showed that in February 2019 almost half (15) of London’s 32 boroughs didn’t have any Help to Buy houses for sale at all. Read more on the Which? website.

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/03/is-london-help-to-buy-becoming-extinct/

'Micro-Homes Could Solve' London's Housing Crisis

Living in micro-homes could "expand choice" for young professionals and help tackle London's housing crisis, a report has suggested. A neoliberal think tank is calling for the Greater London Authority (GLA) to scrap its rules on minimum floor space. The Adam Smith Institute said homes in the capital with less than 37 sq m of floor space could be an "affordable opportunity" for young people. But the GLA said "cramming people in" was not the answer to the problem. Micro-homes are defined by the British Property Federation as living spaces between 20 and 40 sq m, that are either self-contained or share some amenities. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46938445

Housebuilding Starts By Private Builders In London Fall 15 Per Cent

The number of new homes started by private housebuilders in London fell 15 per cent last year to the lowest level since 2013, figures reveal. Developers began building 23,130 homes in the capital in 2018, compared with 27,356 in 2017 and 33,774 in the recent peak year of 2015, according to data from analysts Molior London. The report says: “London has never recently been further away from building the number of homes it needs”, with a shortfall in 2016-17 of more than 24,500. Read more on the Homes & Property website.

https://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property-news/massive-new-homes-slump-housebuilding-starts-by-private-builders-in-london-fall-15-per-cent-a127321.html

Has The Brexit Vote Saved London Tenants £1,800 pa In Rent?

Tenants in London have saved as much as £1,800 in rent as a result of the Brexit referendum in 2016, according to an analysis of more than 100,000 rental properties listed on the Zoopla property website. Rent price growth in London is almost 3% lower than the projected rate of growth since the EU referendum announcement, leaving tenants with more money at the end of the month. Outside of London, rents have been firmer, with the Midlands recording the highest rates of increase, the company’s Landbay rental index shows. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jan/14/has-the-brexit-vote-saved-london-tenants-1800-pa-in-rent