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Proposals released for 24,000 new homes in London’s historic Royal Docks
Surplus industrial land around the historic Royal Docks in London is to be released for new home building under proposals put forward for consultation by the city’s Mayor In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Royal Docks in East London were at the very heart of London's commercial success, acting as a hive of industry and attracting trade and people from all over the world. The Mayor’s vision is to restore the Royal Docks to its former glory and the area is currently enjoying an incredible transformation. Chinese developer ABP has secured planning permission for a large financial and business district at Royal Albert Dock with work starting later this year alongside two new hotels which are already underway. The Silvertown Partnership has already started restoring the iconic Millennium Mills at Silvertown Quays and will eventually deliver a new development including creative workspace, exciting new brand buildings and over 3,000 homes. The Docks are also set to benefit from major transport infrastructure projects such as Crossrail and new crossings over the Thames, such as the Silvertown Tunnel. Now, the Mayor is building on that success by launching a consultation on proposals to transform further parts of the Docks and adjoining Beckton Riverside to become a world class business destination as well as 24,000 new homes. ‘This part of London was once a global standard bearer for trade and industry and we are already bringing about a new era of prosperity with exciting schemes transforming Royal Albert Dock and Silvertown Quays,’ said Mayor Boris Johnson. ‘Now we want to take that success to a new level and transform further parts of the Royal Docks, capitalising on the potential of Crossrail and other transport infrastructure improvements to deliver more of the homes and jobs London so urgently needs,’ he added. A planning framework for the Royal Docks and Beckton Riverside focuses on releasing surplus industrial land and intensifying other sites, which City Hall believes will open up further developable land on the north banks, potentially leading to the delivery of 24,000 homes and 60,000 new jobs. The plans also explores the need for new and improved transport infrastructure to serve key development sites and improve the capacity of the existing network, including proposing new routes, a river walk and a network of open spaces. ‘With careful planning, the potential exists to build on the work we have already done at Royal Docks and deliver tens of thousands more homes and jobs. I hope this consultation brings forward exciting ideas about how we can further regenerate this historic part of the capital,’ said Sir Edward Lister, Deputy Mayor for planning. The Royal Docks and Beckton Riverside Opportunity Area Planning Framework forms a major part of the Mayor's vision for East London. In October last year he launched 'City in the East' which is a visionary framework detailing how major development should take place from London Bridge to the Isle of Dogs and Greenwich Peninsula, right through to… Continue reading
New home building increases in the US as demand outstrips supply
New home building in the United States increased by 5.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.178 million units in February, according to newly released data. The figures from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department show that single family production increased 7.2% to 822,000 units, its highest level since November 2007while multifamily starts remained virtually unchanged, inching up 0.8% to 356,000 units. ‘This month’s report is consistent with positive builder sentiment and other economic indicators showing that the housing market continues to recover at a gradual pace,’ said Ed Brady, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). ‘February’s single family gains indicate that this sector is strengthening in line with our forecast. As the US economy firms, job creation continues and mortgage interest rates remain low, we should see further growth in housing production moving forward,’ said NAHB chief economist David Crowe. Combined single and multifamily starts rose in three of the four regions in February, with the West, Midwest and South posting respective gains of 26.1%, 19.9% and 7..1% The Northeast registered a 51.3% loss. A decline in the volatile multifamily sector pushed overall permit issuance down 3.1% in February. Multifamily permits fell 8.4% to a rate of 436,000 while single family permits were up 0.4% to 731,000. Regionally, permits increased in the Northeast by 40.4%. The Midwest, West and South registered respective permit losses of 11.4%, 7.2% and 4.4%. Continue reading
Continued UK house price growth underpinning positive sentiment
Households across the UK believed that the value of their home rose in March with the imbalance between demand and supply underpinning house prices growth. Some 25.1% of the 1,500 households surveyed for the latest House Price Sentiment Index (HPSI) from Knight Frank and Markit Economics, across the UK said that the value of their home had risen over the last month, while 4% said that prices had fallen. This resulted in a HPSI reading of 60.5. This is the thirty-sixth consecutive month that the reading has been above 50. Households in every region perceived that the value of their home rose in March, however there were significant regional variations, reflecting wider trends in pricing across the UK market. Londoners perceived the biggest increase at 71.7, followed by those in the South East at 67.4 and East of England at 66.3. In Scotland and the North West the perceived rate of growth was slower at 53.3 and 54 respectively. The future HPSI, which measures what households think will happen to the value of their property over the next year, rose in March to 71.6, from 69.8 in February. March’s reading was the highest recorded by the index since August 2014. The rise in future sentiment was driven by households in southern England, with those in the South East at 81, the East of England at 80.3 and London at 78.9 were notably more confident than those in the North East at 61.4 and Scotland also at 61.4. ‘The fundamentals for the UK housing market remain steady, especially around mortgage costs which remain at record lows. The imbalance between demand and supply of housing is also underpinning house prices. The delivery of new homes remains some 30 to 40% below the levels needed to start to address the annual shortfall of housing in the UK,’ said Gráinne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank. ‘There have already been several large targeted government policies to try and boost development and ease the path of first time buyers and it is notable the future sentiment reading for 25 to 34 year olds is the highest it has been for 15 months,’ she pointed out. ‘As reflected in the index, the sound fundamentals of the market will combine to support overall prices in the coming year, but as the index also reveals, the market will continue to be multispeed across regions and price bands,’ she added. Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit, explained that the latest survey is a clear signal that UK house prices have stayed on an upward trajectory throughout the first quarter of 2016. ‘One of the factors supporting price sentiment seems to be the expectation that interest rates will remain ultra-low for longer, and this belief has become more widespread so far this year. Households’ current price sentiment is stronger now than at any time over the past 17 months, but the economic landscape is not lacking in potential headwinds for buyer confidence,’… Continue reading
