The post-Brexit slowdown in London’s property market is creating an unexpected benefit for first-time buyers, says the Telegraph.
Until this year, Help to Buy, the Government’s flagship loan scheme to help first timers on to the housing ladder, made its biggest impact outside the capital, where an astonishing one in three new-build homes were being sold to people making use of it.
In London, however, only one in 10 new-build properties was bought under the scheme. This was partly because so many new builds in London cost more than £600,000 — the scheme’s upper price limit. But it was also because, until recently, developers found it easy selling flats to rich overseas buyers, cash-rich investors and affluent UK buyers.
These buyers had little need for Help to Buy. Indeed, some seemed to believe that involvement with a government subsidy scheme might tarnish the appeal of high-end developments.
Now times are tougher and as a result an unprecedented number of new schemes in some great locations are going on sale under Help to Buy London, a scheme that allows first-timers to take a 40 per cent equity loan rather than the 20 per cent maximum allowed previously. This enables Londoners with relatively minimal savings to buy with a deposit of just five per cent.
Martin Fillery, director at estate agents Currell and an expert on affordable housing, believes the Government is putting pressure on developers to offer Help to Buy London more widely as it tries to increase the amount of affordable housing in the capital.
“If they have seen any sort of slow-down in their sales rates it is a great way to open things up to a different audience.”
With more homes to choose from, buyers interested in taking advantage of the scheme can opt for already-gentrified areas — or those with great potential to follow suit.
The article cites Peckham, Acton, Mile End, West Ham and Bermondsey as the top areas for first time buyers.
Meanwhile, Showhouse reveals that just one in five of London’s new homes are being delivered on smaller developments.
Small and medium sized developments (SMDs) account for two in three new build schemes in London’s pipeline, but will only provide one in five of the properties, according to research from Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward (KFH).
The research shows there is currently a total of 1,031 private new build developments (all more than 20 properties per development) either awaiting planning permission, with planning consent awaiting construction, or under construction. These schemes will provide a total of 214,875 properties – the equivalent of 17 years of housing delivery in London (based on the average number of private homes completed per year in London over the last five years).
However, the analysis shows that while SMDs account for the majority of schemes in the planning pipeline (66%), with 41,878 individual properties between them they will only provide a fraction of the overall number of properties in London’s pipeline (19%).
John East, Director of Land and New Homes at KFH, said, “The Government’s Housing White Paper makes clear that small and medium sized developments are vital for London to meet its housing need. Our analysis proves that more has to be done to support developers at the smaller end of the scale. Making more land available for these developments and accelerating the construction of sites that already have planning permission is a start, but securing consent will remain a challenge where there are local sensitivities.”
While the overall picture for London shows SMDs providing just a fifth of units, the picture across the boroughs shows that five boroughs have SMDs providing the majority of units in the local pipeline.