The Market
Mortgage lending ‘defies seasonal trends’ to rise in December
2018's total gross mortgage lending was nearly 4% higher than the previous year
Architects hit by housing slowdown
Architects' forecasted workloads in the private housing fell dramatically in December, says the RIBA
London’s trophy home market rallies as world’s wealthy shop for bargains
Savills recorded a 43% surge in the number of £15m+ deals across PCL last year;
Why resi developers should be considering the specialist retirement sector
Success in other niches has shown how a differentiated development can succeed even at times when the general housing market is poor, says Nigel Sibley
Brokenshire unveils plan to fix housing redress
Private landlords will be forced to sign up to a redress scheme as part of an overhaul of the 'broken' complaints system announced by the Communities Secretary
Market woes hit PCL property fund
London Central Portfolio Property Fund sees net asset value fall by nearly 20% as political uncertainty and tax changes eventually take their toll;
Development land value growth stalls
Land values fall in the South East for the first time in two years, reports Savills, as planning approvals jump
London’s City Hall is developing a ‘blueprint’ for rent controls in the capital
'The arguments for rent control are overwhelming,' declares Mayor Sadiq Khan, 'and Londoners overwhelmingly want it to happen'
Half of Londoners know the specific street or house they want before starting a property search – Zoopla
One in three British househunters know the street or even the specific house they want to move to before starting a property search, says Zoopla; that rises to one in two in the capital
Bridging loans became much more widespread, and a fair bit cheaper, in 2018
New data and a broker survey indicate growing demand for short-term property finance
Bleak end to the year for the UK’s resi auction market
Lots offered, sold and total raised were all well down on the same period in 2017, reports EIG, as the market remains 'on tenterhooks'
UK transactions dipped in December but show yearly rise
HMRC reports seasonally adjusted resi transaction count for December at 102,330, down slightly on the previous month but up 3.6% on December 2017