Tag Archives: budget
London to get another 11 new housing zones
The Mayor of London has announced 11 new Housing Zones that will provide 24,554 new homes and create new neighbourhoods across the capital. An additional £200 million has been designated to the final 11 zones, which stretch from Havering to Kingston and Enfield and bring the total number planned in London to 31 which will see 77,000 new homes built. The aim is to boost housing supply, stimulate building and produce the new low cost homes London needs to meet its growing population. Some 34% of the 77,000 new homes will be affordable, alongside transformational regeneration of key town centres, train station hubs and housing estates. The Mayor made the announcement as he officially opened a new affordable housing development in the heart of London's West End. Trenchard House, spanning across Broadwick and Hopkins Street, is a former derelict Metropolitan Police hostel, on Greater London Authority acquired land released by the Mayor. The site has undergone a £54 million redevelopment to build 78 new homes, including 65 affordable one to three bedroom apartments. The affordable apartments are intermediate rent with some offered at 75% discount to market rates. Exact rents are based on resident's incomes, and many of them work night shifts in the theatres and bars surrounding Soho and will now be within walking distance of their jobs. The site, which had lain vacant for almost 13 years, is one of the 414 hectares of land transferred to the Mayor with every surplus site owned by City Hall now released for development. The intermediate homes are part of the 100,000 affordable homes the Mayor is on track to deliver by the end of his term. ‘Meeting the unprecedented demand for housing after 30 years of historic failure to build new homes is a critical issue affecting the capital. That is why I have led an enormous programme of regeneration with my 31 housing zones that will transform communities across London, creating nearly 80,000 new homes, plus new transport hubs and schools,’ said Johnson. ‘This new housing development in the heart of the West End is delivering a life line to hard working local people who were priced out of Soho and desperate to reside nearby their places of work. These apartments are just some of the 100,000 new affordable homes being delivered over my two mayoral terms,’ he explained. ‘This site forms part of more than 400 hectares of developable land the GLA inherited and which I have now released every inch of, to ensure as many homes as possible are built throughout London,’ he added. As part of the Mayor's commitment to double house building, London's Housing Zones will unlock regeneration on hundreds of hectares of brownfield land across the capital. The special status has been awarded to areas identified and packaged up by local authorities. It removes all unnecessary planning restrictions, combined with the funds to maximise development, and fast track homes and supporting infrastructure. Continue reading
UK buyers willing to pay more for an eco home, research suggests
A large number of would be home buyers in the UK want to purchase an environmentally friendly home, with the majority willing to pay more to do so. Some 63% want to go green and 82% would be more for a home that allows them to fulfil an ambition of greener living, according to research from leading UK house builder Redrow. The survey found that participants ranked lower energy bills as more important than a garden, parking space, amenities, external appeal/design of home, and fittings and appliances, when choosing a home and more than a quarter were willing to pay at least a 6% premium for a home with sustainable features. The research has challenged the long held claim that consumer demand for greener living is limited and 78% agreed the purchase of a sustainable home was likely to have a positive environmental impact and more than two thirds believed that 'significant others' in their lives would approve of the decision to opt for a greener home. ‘Our findings challenge the long claimed, but previously under researched, belief that there is limited customer demand for sustainable homes,’ said Redrow Homes' sustainability manager Nicola Johansen. ‘As a responsible business, reducing the carbon footprint of our developments is a priority. However, we also recognise it's important to listen to our customers so we can build the homes they really want to live in and help them to make a lifestyle change for the better. This research helps us to fully appreciate what purchasers are looking for from their home and their home builder,’ she added. With 60% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that they would be more likely to buy a new home from a company building sustainable homes, the evidence suggests that constructing more environmentally friendly properties, and promoting their credentials, could be a wise business choice for developers. The study also highlighted some areas where home builders can help their customers by providing more information about the eco credentials of properties that are already on the market. While the majority of home buyers, 65%, were confident an 'eco-home' would save them money and 65% that it would be a more comfortable home, a quarter indicated they thought it would be difficult or very difficult to buy such a home and almost half of respondents weren't confident of how sustainability features work. ‘This helps us build on our knowledge of what our customers are looking for from their home so we can provide them with the relevant information to inform their purchasing decisions,’ said Johansen. Redrow builds a wide variety of homes and designs take on issues such as being more airtight, making them 54% better at reducing heat loss than a typical 1970s' home. The firm says it’s homes also deliver improved energy efficiency through low energy lighting, appliances that are 'A rated' or above and energy efficient boilers to keep carbon emissions low. Redrow also offers customers solar panels as optional extras,… Continue reading
Private sector tenants in London pay over 100% of asking rent
The average home in the UK is let for 99.9% of the asking rent, the highest such value since 2007, just before the global economic downturn, new research shows. Overall the average UK rent is up 3.2% to £926 per month but the rate of growth is down from February 2015, the latest Countrywide monthly lettings index shows. The report has identified a fall in tenants’ negotiating power when renting a new home. It has found that 12% of lets were agreed at more than the initial asking price over the last year, with the average tenant paying 99.9%. But this figure is highest in London where the average let was agreed at 100.9% of the asking price while it was lowest in Wales at 98.7%. One in five of those renting in London pay more than asked for to secure a home of their choice, far more than those outside of the Capital. This works out at an extra £94 a month over and above the asking rent against a UK average of £44 which, over the course of a typical 17 month tenancy, this equates to an extra £1,578 in rent for the average Londoner. London has seen the largest growth in rents anywhere in the country since 2007, with rents 34% above their pre-recession record compared to12% across the UK as a whole. Despite these increases, the proportion of lets agreed at more than the asking price has risen in every year since 2008 demonstrating the continuing balance of power towards landlords. In 2008 just 3.5% of deals were agreed at above the asking price while 23.5% of tenants were able to negotiate money off the asking rent. By 2016 the proportion of tenants able to renegotiate prices down has plummeted to 8%. As was the case in 2015, rents are growing at the fastest rate across the South of the UK. The South East saw growth of 5.8%, the South West up 4.8% and Greater London up 4.2%, all above the UK average. While the Midlands saw growth of just 1.1% and the North 3.8% with the report data also showing that there has been a slowdown in the top end as central London rents fell 8.4% year on year. ‘The combined effect of growing numbers of people renting and a lack of supply has seen tenants’ ability to negotiate diminish. Tenants are having to compete more often and with more people in order to rent the home they want, meaning they need to offer more money in order to push ahead of the crowd,’ said Johnny Morris, research director at Countrywide. Continue reading
