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London announces more council owned land for new home building
London is leading the way in the UK in terms of releasing land for new housing development and encouraging institutional investment in the city’s residential property market. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London has pledged to release all City Hall-owned land for development by the end of his Mayoral term in 2016 and almost all these sites are now up for development. They include the regeneration of four former hospital sites and industrial land at Greenwich Peninsula and Barking Riverside. Around 50,000 homes will be delivered on City Hall's land interests. In the latest announcement a total of 3,500 new homes, a school and a park will transform a disused Parcelforce depot in east London on a 10 hectare site in Stephenson Street, Newham. It will also include nearly 30,000 square feet of retail space. The development will provide homes to buy and rent, including a significant proportion of shared ownership and purpose built private rented homes. More than 1,200 of the 3,500 homes will be affordable. It is part of the Johnson's wider push to strengthen institutional investment in the residential market in London, with City Hall initiatives aimed at boosting both shared ownership and purpose built private rent. ‘This huge chunk of disused land will be put to the best possible use, creating a whole new neighbourhood including 3,500 much needed new homes, a new school and a park. This ambitious development will help to further the continuing transformation of east London as part of our Olympic legacy,’ said Johnson. Chairman of the Berkeley Group Tony Pidgley, said that the Stephenson Street development will be a new village for London. ‘It will have all the qualities that a successful community needs: shops, workspaces and a school, links between neighbours, a beautiful park where people can play and great transport connections. Above all, this site will create homes for people regardless of their age, background or income. It will be a place for everyone,’ he added. A key part of the Mayor's Housing Strategy is to encourage institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies, to invest in housebuilding. This includes efforts to support extended leases and more stability for tenants as well as top quality, well designed, new developments. Some 132,000 properties have now signed up to his London Rental Standard, which sets out basic duties for landlords to ensure a higher-quality experience for the city's tenants. These plans sit alongside efforts to boost home ownership for low and middle income households, with the Mayor exceeding his manifesto commitment by helping 52,000 Londoners into low cost home ownership through his First Steps scheme with plans to help a quarter of a million Londoners over the next decade. The latest development is subject to planning approvals. Following a planning application in 2016, a site start is targeted for early 2017 which would see the first homes delivered in the summer of 2018. Stephenson Street was acquired by the Mayor through… Continue reading
Residential property prices in London up over 10% year on year
House prices in England and Wales increased by 0.4% month on month and 5.6% year on year in October, taking the average value to £186,350, according to the latest data, but much higher in London. On a regional basis London experienced the greatest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months with a rise of 10.6%, well above other parts of the country, the figures from the Land Registry show. The North East saw the greatest monthly growth with an increase of 1.9% while Yorkshire and the Humber saw the lowest annual price growth at 1.4% and the most significant monthly price fall with a decline of 1.8%. Sales and repossessions during August 2015, the most up to date figures available, show that the number of completed house sales in England and Wales decreased by 15% to 74,596 compared with 87,895 in August 2014. Repossessions in England and Wales decreased by 54% to 376 compared with 826 in August 2014 and the region with the greatest fall in the number of repossession sales was Yorkshire and the Humber. The data also shows that the number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million decreased by 13% to 1,280 from 1,473 a year earlier. Adrian Gill, director of Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agents, pointed out that the average price of a home in London is now above half a million and already rising in value much faster than elsewhere across the country. ‘In addition, the reverberations from last year’s stamp duty surprise are still echoing around the market, and million pound property sales have suffered significantly,’ he added. Regarding future price increases, he also pointed out that only time will tell whether the extra 3% stamp duty levy on buy to let and second home buyers will affect the market. ‘In the meantime, there will be a scramble for second home purchases before the April deadline, which will only amp up the existing competition between landlords and first time buyers in the housing market,’ he said. ‘While intending to help more households get that crucial foothold onto the ladder, the Chancellor may find himself responsible for pushing up prices in the short term, and pricing out many prospective homeowners, despite the other initiatives in place. Any hit against the supply of rental homes will hurt tenants’ finances, and delay their realisations of home ownership,’ Gill added. Rob Weaver, director of investments at property crowdfunding platform Property Partner, believes that although the prime central London market seems to be faltering partially due to affordability and last year’s stamp duty changes, the outer boroughs are powering ahead, driven by regeneration in places like Thamesmead and Newham, and of course, the Crossrail effect. ‘This is clear evidence that the UK housing market is incredibly diverse across the regions, highlighting a north-south divide with Yorkshire and The Humber seeing a relatively tiny annual increase. However, the issue of supply still… Continue reading
New planning reforms in UK welcomed, but lack of resources not addressed
The British Property Federation has welcomed the majority of the changes announced in the autumn financial statement by the UK Chancellor but expressed disappointment that there was no mention of a review of planning fees. ‘While there are some really sensible suggestions in today’s announcement, the planning system still has one big problem, the lack of resources in local authority planning departments,’ said Melanie Leech, chief executive of the BPF. ‘Both the private and public sector have identified this as one of the biggest obstacles for development, and with the private sector willing to discuss how it might be able to plug the funding gap, it is frustrating that Government has not engaged on this matter,’ she added. Included in the statement was amendments to planning policy to ensure the release of unused and previously undeveloped commercial, retail and industrial land for Starter Homes, and support for the regeneration of previously developed, brownfield sites in the greenbelt, by allowing them to be developed in the same way as brownfield sites elsewhere, providing it delivers Starter Homes. It will be subject to local consultation, such as through neighbourhood plans and Leech described it as a ‘very sensible step’ and one that will put a stop to endless battles in the planning regime as well as bringing forward the Government’s intended 200,000 Starter Homes. ‘The sites that will be eligible for this will not be lush green fields, but rather disused scrap yards and car parks which happen to sit within the Green Belt, and which are calling out to be more productively used,’ she pointed out. There will also be the establishment of a new delivery test on local authorities, to ensure delivery against the number of homes set out in Local Plans. The BPF believes that Local Plans are the key to sustainable development. Leech said it will ensure that local authorities really do concentrate on growth for their area and that their local plans are focused on delivery and the practicalities of housing the population. ‘The lack of resources afflicting local authority planning departments is an issue, and if authorities can keep their local plans kept short and sharp, they will help themselves,’ she added. The changes will also see the release of public sector land with capacity for 160,000 homes representing a more than 50% increase on the government’s record in the last parliament ‘The homes that are brought forward on these sites must be serviced with sufficient infrastructure and will ideally have homes for sale and for rent, to ensure that they contribute to mixed, vibrant communities,’ said Leech. The government will bring forward proposals for a more standardised approach to viability assessments, and extend the ability to appeal against unviable section 106 agreements to 2018. It is well known that a lot of disagreement between local authorities and developers arise due to viability assessments so the move towards a standardised viability model should go a long way to… Continue reading
