Developers challenging affordable obligations A number of developers are challenging their obligations to contribute to the building of affordable housing, with the Planning Inspectorate currently considering 10 appeals lodged by house builders claiming their roles in affordable housing schemes are not viable. Redrow Homes recently challenged Torridge District Council after it stipulated that 60 out of 151 new homes it was planning in the area should be affordable. The inspector found in favour of Redrow, making it the second successful appeal of the three that have been heard so far. The figures will place more pressure on the government to step up its efforts on affordable housing, with the Coalition already being criticised for having built less than 43,000 affordable homes between 201-2013. The Independent, Page: 2, 11 Councils employ powers to battle estate agent boards Councils are increasingly using special legislative powers to prevent estate agents putting up “forests” of boards declaring sale status. A sensible balance needs to be struck between letting people advertise their home for sale and allowing forests of boards which disfigure the street scene. Councils have powers to tackle the proliferation of such boards where it is an acute local problem,” commented Brandon Lewis, local government minister. So far, ten councils have been granted special permission by ministers to ban all such boards from areas deemed “sensitive”. The Telegraph, Page: 9 Doubts over mortgage guarantees in Scotland Homes for Scotland has called on the Scottish government to extend its Help to Buy scheme until 2020, saying that such a move would inject confidence in the house building industry. Questions have been raised however as to whether or not the scheme would exist in an independent Scotland, with Rettie & Co suggesting that the most popular part of the programme has been the controversial mortgage guarantee scheme whereby the state effectively underwrites loans to borrowers with small deposits. The Herald, Page: 2 In favour of the high rise influx Owen Hatherley of the Guardian supports the case for building more tower blocks in the capital, comparing similar projects in Sheffield and Salford, as a large scale campaign to prevent such happenings begins to gather momentum. The Guardian HOUSING Social housing shouldn’t rely on government Kate Davies, chief executive of Notting Hill Housing Group, has welcomed the increased need to fund social housing through commercial property sales. If youre entirely dependent on government, that is a feeling of weakness, Ms Davies says of the fact that government subsidiaries have shrunk of late. Around 20% of Notting Hills housing portfolio is private rentals and shared ownership properties and it is now having to develop more high-quality property to be sold on the open market in order to fund its social housing. The Guardian, Page: 37 Battersea development speeds up Justin Philips of Buro Happold, the company developing Battersea Power Station into residential properties, says that the buildings chimneys will be demolished and rebuilt over the next two years in order to put an end to a vicious circle of deterioration. The rebuilding process had originally been intended to last five years, but such is the decaying state of the stacks that consent to quicken the process has been granted. The Independent, Page: 22 Social enterprise offers cheap rent Emma Howard describes her experiences as a property guardian living on a council estate. Ms Howard’s role was offered to her through the social enterprise Dot Dot Dot, which lets people live at low cost in buildings scheduled for redevelopment. In return for the privilege, guardians must also volunteer in the local community for at least 16 hours a month. The Guardian, Page: 36 Garden cities must include affordable housing Hugh Ellis of the Town and Country Planning Association has told the government that the majority of homes in the four new towns planned by the government must be affordable if they’re to be considered garden cities. The Guardian, Page: 10 RENTAL Boris bikes help rents to rise The abundance of ‘Boris bikes’ in London has caused the rental value of homes in property “backwaters” to soar in recent months. Research by Benham & Reeves shows that rents in Sands End, Walworth and Haggerston have risen by up to 25% since the cycle hire scheme was rolled out. Evening Standard, Page: 22 FIRMS Almancantar set for Marble Arch contract Almancantar has emerged as the favourite to land a £200m deal to build a new development at Marble Arch, billed as a “gateway” to Oxford Street. The project will involve the demolition of the 1960’s-designed Marble Arch Tower and the construction of two new buildings of 17 and 7 storeys, which will include offices, retail units and flats overlooking Hyde Park and Park Lane. Evening Standard, Page: 41 Skanska jobs imminent Skanska is set to create around 1,500 jobs in the UK after securing several government contracts in recent months. In total the Prime Minister has approved 200 construction projects worth £36bn to commence over the next year. The Scotsman, Page: 31 Daily Star, Page: 2 COMMERCIAL Deansgate property sold A building located on Deansgate in Manchester has been sold to Mayfair Capital Investment Management’s Property Income Trust of Charities to a private property company for £15.9m. Kings Street Commercial advised Mayfair Capital and CBRE advised the vendor throughout proceedings. Insider Media Silicon Roundabout rents soar Tech entrepreneurs have warned that the are being priced out of London’s Silicon Roundabout as new figures show rents in the area have virtually doubled in the past three years. A surge of speculative development has pushed rents up from an average of just £17.20 per square foot to £33.60 in 2013, according to figures compiled by Cushman & Wakefield Evening Standard, Page: 38 The Independent, Page: 54 Shaftesbury secures Canada Life loan Shaftesbury has secured a £134.75m loan from Canada Life Investments to run for the next fifteen years. Investors are advised to buy, bearing in mind Shaftesbury’s significant holdings, which include Chinatown, Carnaby Street and Seven Dials. The Times, Page: 43 PLANNING Protection for pubs Under new proposals from Westminster City Council pubs in the borough which are facing closure may get special protection against developers. A new planning status to be introduced by the Council would prevent them from being rapidly converted into flats or supermarkets, as they would have to be marketed for 12 months at a reasonable price before any development can go ahead. Evening Standard, Page: 13 INTERNATIONAL Britons leaving Spain New figures from Spain’s National Statistics Institute suggest that around 90,000 expatriate Britons moved out of the country last year. The difficulty of legalising property in Spain is identified as one factor; with Maura Hillen, the chairman of AUAN, a pressure group based in Almeria province that campaigns for the rights of British home owners caught up in a property scandal, saying: Many people no longer wish to stay in Spain because of the never-ending fight to legalise their properties.” The Daily Telegraph, Page: 1 Daily Express, Page: 2 The Times, Page: 13 US resales fall The National Association of Realtors reports that US homes resales in March fell to 4.6m units, their lowest level since July 2012. The Times: Page 35 ECONOMY Business lending slows, property lending rises Bank of England data shows that lending to companies of all sizes fell by £0.5bn in the three months to February, a drop of 2.1% compared with a year earlier. The number of mortgage approvals over the same period continued to increase however, raising fresh fears of a housing bubble and concerns over the state of the economic recovery. However, the banking trade association BBA said although net lending was down, a high proportion of loans were being approved. ScotiaBank reported: lending to the real estate sector has sharpened in recent months as borrower repayments have started to increase, aided by improvements in the performance of the market. The Guardian, Page: 26 Financial Times The Daily Telegraph, Page: 4 Parties watching for rate decision Conservative Party strategists believe that living standards will continue to rise over the next twelve months, meaning if people receive a letter next year telling them their mortgage rate is increasing they’ll be liable to take the news in their stride. Labour on the other hand believes that the BoE won’t risk a rate rise that would push up mortgage payments, bearing in mind the fragile state of the recovery and the vulnerability of most consumers. The Guardian, Page: 13 OTHER 3D printed homes, the future? A team of students across the globe have developed 3D printed homes designed for urban living. The tiny portable properties include essential household items, such as a bed, bathroom, kitchen and folding toilet. Designed to help young people on to the property ladder, the pod like structures can be taken almost anywhere in the world. 3M Future Lab, headed by Professor Peter Ebner, is looking to push the idea further with sufficient funding. The Daily Mail (web)
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 07:36:47 +0000
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