Tag Archive for 'London'

London – Property Market News

Published
by
Property Know Team
on November 9, 2006
in London Property Market and Property Know
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london westminster

London – Property Market News

The Property Know Team Formerly the Rent A Home London Team; has randomly composed some interesting facts about London’s Property Market and Property News in general.

Did you know – that in FIVE (5) years from now, the average home will be £400, 000. Well that is for London only. Currently the average house price is £330, 000. Also the London Housing Federation are predicating that in five years time, you will need a salary averaging £80, 000 to get an “average” mortgage! For your information: The average house price is calculated from the average from the; average price of a detached house, a semi-detached house, a terraced house and finally flats/apartments.

Do you watch Location, Location on Channel 4? Well from their Best and Worst Places to live for 2006 – London’s boroughs/areas scored the highest for, unfortunately, the worst places to live! Hackney came first, and tower Hamlets came second and Islington came fifth! So think twice – if you are planning to move there!

To have an atheistically pleasing bathroom or a new kitchen or not? Well in the view of the Rent A Home Team – we have always thought that it would be more beneficial and cost effective to either expand your property, by creating more space or adding another room (loft conversions etc). They both roughly cost the same price, and we all know that the more rooms the more expensive the property. A One bedroom house or a Two Bedroom house? You tell us! So do not jump into renovations, and calling your local builder to fit a new kitchen or go on a spending spree in B&Q or Homebase. You might splash around £2000 - £4000, and chances are in proportion of what you spend is what the increase in value will be! On the other hand – if you add another room you will hit the jackpot!

Sources: http://www.housing.org.uk/regions/aboutus.asp?region=4 & http://news.bbc.co.uk

London’s Elektron Towers

Published
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Property Know Team
on November 5, 2006
in Property Know
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Remember the articles about the “Sky Towers in Canary Wharf” and about “London and the Olympics 2012” – if you don’t you should go and have a quick skim read through them because, this article directly follows on what has been mentioned and its impact to the London Property Market - especially with regards to Canary Wharf.

What we will be talking is the launch of the West “Elektron” Tower near Canary Wharf.

london-property-development

The Elektron Development site is situated on the north side of the river Thames directly opposite the Millennium Dome. The London Property Development headed by Barratt’s Homes will encompass 3 towering 25-story blocks. Currently all of the Phases of the first 2 Tower Blocks built are now sold out. Barratt’s have now announced the launch of the “West Tower” and yes that means it is the last one and the final phase!

1 Bedroom apartments are going from £219, 995 – and for the current London Property Market it is affordable compared to many other areas.

Transport wise the Elektron has easy access to the “East India” Docklands Light Railway Station, which is only 4 DLR stops away from Canary Wharf and 1 DLR stop away from the Jubillee London Underground Line.

london elektron

In our opinion (emphasis again, in our opinion) we believe with all the regeneration projects surround Canary Wharf and the East of London, it may be worth a visit to the Elektron and surrounding Property Developments. As first time buyers the properties are reasonably priced especially for its area; and for investors this may be that ideal property investment that you were looking for.

Good luck!

Images are taken from the Barratt’s Website www.barratthomes.co.uk

Spotting Potential in London

Published
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Property Know Team
on October 30, 2006
in London Property Market
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Don’t be too scared to buy in areas that may currently seem less desirable at the moment in time, especially in London. There are rough areas and places in London that are currently run down, but hopefully due to regeneration projects will slowly pick up in value. So keep an eye on the London Property Market properly and you maybe able to see these areas. At the Rent A Home London Team, we believe that Stratford and East London are up for a huge revamp that will effect the property prices! (Again, just to cover our backs – it is only our opinion!)

I mean lets take for example Notting Hill, now currently one of the most sought after places for the young and rich to live! I mean, it formerly used to be a down-at-heel ghetto, now a trendy upmarket one, Notting Hill is a vibrant and bohemian area. Properties include grand family villas and stuccoed terraces, lots of conversion flats, council properties, and sizeable enclaves of housing association properties.

Forty years ago Notting Hill was a notorious ghetto populated by poor immigrants and driven by racial strife. But a steady process of gentrification has transformed the area - residents from the old days would say for the worse - into one of the trendiest and most fashionable in the capital.

Prices have risen sharply in response to an influx of luvvies, media folk, politicians, and wealthy City types who flock to its stylish restaurants and up-to-the-minute watering holes. But despite this the area remains socially diverse and multiracial and still retains its vibrant street life and bohemian atmosphere. The bustling, pleasantly scruffy Portobello market attracts thousands every weekend in search of an elusive bargain, while the annual carnival, once a flashpoint for racial conflict, is now a well established celebration of multicultural Britain. A gastronome’s delight, Notting Hill is home to Books for Cooks and an extensive selection of restaurants offering cuisine from every corner of the globe.

Properties include grand family villas and stuccoed terraces, lots of conversion flats, council properties, and sizeable enclaves of housing association property. Nearest tubes Ladbroke Grove, Latimer Road (Hammersmith); Notting Hill Gate (Circle, District, Central); Westbourne Park (Hammersmith).

There are probably many of us who dream to own a property in that area of London, but can currently only dream of that for now! So remember do not be too discouraged when looking at areas that may currently seem less “desirable”, sometimes you have to look more into the long term scale of things. Rather going for short term returns, think more of a long term game - take it like a marathon.

So all the best! Keep your eyes out for those properties in London!

Wood Wharf - another Canary Wharf?

Published
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Property Know Team
on October 27, 2006
in London Property Market
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Following up from the previous post on the developments that will hopefully be booming forth from Canary Wharf comes Wood Wharf. Situated right next to Canary Wharf, it seems to be part of the expansion plan that the British Waterways Company have to the East of London. The plan is to turn the 20 acre Wood Wharf into an additional North Eastern Corner of the Isle of Dogs.

Just like Canary Wharf, Wood Wharf was historically used for the shipping and storage of cargo, for Wood Wharf’s case it was Timber.

So what do the British Waterways Company want to do with Wood Wharf?

Since they have the freehold of Wood Wharf, they can pretty much or less do what they want! But as wise budding property investors they are planning it to be another extension to Canary Wharf. A complete re-haul of the place and turning it a big regeneration project. Unlike some Property Companies, they are looking more towards a long term strategy and are weighing up the pro’s and con’s of developing certain properties.

Their main goals are to provide:
• New Employment Opportunities
• New Secure Places to live
• Enhance and preserve the water space in the surrounding area
• Create new community facilities and retail/leisure services

What have they come up with?

British Waterways Company are calling in “The Master Plan”. With the aim of creating; 3.4m square feet of commercial floor space, 1,500 new homes, open public space and a new canal bisecting the site.

So keep your eyes open for Wood Wharf. This is all planned to be completed by 2011, a year before the Olympics come to London.

Property Life Outside Central London

Published
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Property Know Team
on October 19, 2006
in London Property Market
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Yes, believe it or not there is property life beyond Central London. Outside “Zone 1” of the Public Transport Zone in London, a great deal of what is considered London Property Market Growth is starting to slowly bloom. Places such as Dartford, Croydon, and Blue Water which are only 20-30 minutes away from Central London are starting to go with the flow and have started to have build their own “exclusive” Property Developments. This means slight lower prices due to its location, however a compromise for a train journey away from Central might be just worth it. If you see the plans for Dartford;

The Bridge, Dartford

One of the county’s most innovative developments, The Bridge, is now underway following a Development Agreement between Dartford Borough Council and ProLogis Developments Ltd. The project will see the old Joyce Green Hospital and Littlebrook Lakes site at north Dartford transformed into a new and vibrant community. The Bridge will encompass 1,500 high quality homes, a science park with innovation centre, business park and a ‘primary school of the future’ at the heart of the new residential area.

George Wimpey plc will be developing the first phase of 1,100 homes over the next seven years, which will be set among the existing environment of mature trees and water ways. ProLogis, the world’s largest distribution company, will be at the helm for the office, industrial and distribution development.

The 264 acre project will also be a vital link in the new Fastrack transport system, which will connect Dartford and Gravesend town centres with Bluewater, Darent Valley Hospital and Crossways Business Park. A new bridge is to be constructed over the M25 to provide a Fastrack route between Dartford Station, Temple Hill and The Bridge to Crossways.

The Area for Regeneration
kent-dartford-the-bridge

A nice River Side Estate coming in. It has the similarities of the Properties Developments surrounding ExCel near Canary Wharf. So don’t just limit yourself to Central London because you can easily get great returns on Properties outside Central London. Especially if you are a first time buyer it may be in your interest to look outside Central London.

All the best!

Source: http://www.kentpropertymarket.co.uk/regeneration/thameside.htm

London and the Olympics 2012 - Part One

Published
by
Property Know Team
on October 15, 2006
in London Property Market
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London 2012 Old Olympics Logo

As the majority of us know, London has won the bid for the Olympics 2012 to come and be played in London. This is a great achievement for London especially in the eyes of many British to beat the French to it – made it even better!

London now has to prepare for the Olympics and the expected estimated figure of 8 million event tickets to be sold for the summer of 2012. The amount of people to be around in London is going to be absurd, especially with the current transport infrastructure. There is going to be a vast amount of money “pumped” into the Olympics by London (& the UK Government) and The International Olympics Committee (IOC) to help generate London into a state of an art Olympic accommodated city. Funding will be required to build new stadiums, to accommodate the vast amount of visitors and also to improve the current transport infrastructure of London.

These are rough forecasts of the costs and revenue for the London Olympics:

Costs:
* £560 million for new venues, including £250 million for the Olympic Stadium.
* £65 million for the Olympic village.
* £1.5 billion to run the Games.
* £200 million on security.

Revenue:
* £1.5 billion from a special Olympic National Lottery game.
* £625 million from a council tax surcharge of £20 per year for London households.
* £960 million from IOC television and marketing deals.
* £450 million from sponsorship and official suppliers.
* £780 million from ticket sales.
* £250 million from the London Development Agency.
* £554 million from licensing.

Further expenditure, notably that on infrastructure, will be counted as outside of the Olympic budget.

Figures taken from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Summer_Olympics)

The main areas chosen for the Olympics to take place are in Stratford and Lower Lea Valley in London. These two areas are governed by Newham, and will be undergoing extensive cosmetic regeneration!

What does this have to do with Rent A Home London?

Simply because in our eyes this means a property value increase! Property developers have and will also spot this opportunity and have and will start to inject vast amounts of capital for further property developments in the East & South Eastern parts of Central London.

There has been an increase in Property Developments around the Royal Albert Hall near the “Excel” Exhibition & Conference Centre in London Docklands.

Why here? The Excel Exhibition & Conference Centre, is a confirmed host for the London Olympics – and it is planned to host boxing, judo, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling events.

The Excel Exhibition & Conference Centre London ExCeL-olympics-london

Property Developers are in the industry and know what will cause their properties to be sought after, thus having an impact on demand and eventually increasing their prices.

Excel London Olympics

Following the trend here? We hope you are!

Well that is all for now – but we will be posting more up about the London Olympics and its relationship to the Property Market!

Some good up to date information about the London Olympics provided by the BBC - Olympics Section

Will the Property Bubble burst?

Published
by
Property Know Team
on October 10, 2006
in London Property Market and Property Know
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For the past century there has been a great deal of speculation on whether the property bubble will burst in the UK, but mainly will the magic bubble burst in London. For the past several years house prices has gradually increased. Every year there would be a big “Woo Haa” over whether the market was too saturated and if the house prices were over inflated.

The concept of inflation (rising house prices) derived from the fact that people had started buying London property market at a fast pace compared to properties being built. Thus using the Supply and Demand chart; Demand would become greater than Supply creating an in equilibrium in the market, further resulting in increasing property prices (“inflated” prices) compared to the real value of the actual property. A great deal of buyers were scared of the fact that if they didn’t buy now the prices would increase threefold and by then they would not be able to enter the market.

The Rent A Home London Teams personal view on this “bubble bursting”?

Well, land is land, the Earth is the Earth. With our currently technology we have no possible way of creating more land. So land (supply) will always stay the same, but demand is another story. The more people there are, the higher the need for houses. And with the ever increasing booming population, we are doomed! Just kidding – but the only way demand is going to go is upwards, especially with the exponentially growing population. Supply, may increase with man made landfills or man made islands but it will not be able to keep up with the worlds population. In short, demand will always out weigh supply. Consequently increasing the price of property because as we know if something is in higher demand people will want it more and be more willing to pay for that “something”, in this case land!

With regards to London, in our opinion – (just to cover our backs) emphasis on in our opinion, price will not go down or “burst” – it may stabilise. Right now in the news commentators are stating that workers in the UK are unable to afford a house until they have worked for X amount of years. Yes, and we will agree with that – BUT it is London, the capital of England. So the demand is not just restricted to UK, it is world wide. Outside the UK, there are a large group of wealthy individuals who want and are willing to purchase in property in the sought after capital of England, London. The foreign investment will create a demand even when local demand is weak or decreasing.

Buy, Rent & Invest wisely!

Sky Towers in Canary Wharf

Published
by
Property Know Team
on September 27, 2006
in London Property Market
. 0 Comments

Canary Wharf is the Financial District of London, just as Paris has “La Defence”, London has its Canary Wharf - it is admired by its large sky rise corporate buildings that tower over London’s traditional Victorian houses.

During the 1800s Canary Wharf was a hustling and bustling dock yard, a great deal of Sea Trade that use to come through from the Canary Islands. However when the Sea Trade economics died out and the boom of the Stock Markets and Technology Sectors, Canary Wharf was turned into a dire ghost town of empty run down warehouses.

In the past century or so, Canary Wharf has now become a land mark for London. Many visitors compare Canary Wharf to a mini New York, or to the likes to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. It is unlike most of London, where you have the small windy narrow streets with the cramped old picturesque houses. Some would define it as the “Urban Jungle” of London and of the United Kingdom.

Companies such as Citi Group, KPMG, Morgan & Stanley and many others are proud to have their UK Head Quarters based in Canary Wharf. There are currently more plans to expand and potentially double the size of the area.

It is no surprise that Canary Wharf has been a large attraction to property investors. It has the clientele required and often sought after by many, and it has the glamour of a vibrant urban city. The high rise buildings, the Thames River lit up by the moon light – what more could you ask for City Life.

There has been and still are a flock of Property Developers flooding into Canary Wharf to get a foot step into the ever popular area. So have a look around, to see what is available out there - there are many high profiled Property Developments out in Canary Wharf. One of the surprising finds is that in the heart of Canary Wharf, there are still properties available. Mainly provided by the “Discovery Docks”, they have recently completed the East Wing of Discovery Docks and the price of apartments are ranging from £350 000 to over £1 million.

Discory Docks of Canary Wharf, London

For more information visit: Discovery Docks in Canary Wharf

London: Quick Facts

Published
by
Property Know Team
on September 24, 2006
in London Property Market
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# London is the biggest city in Britain and in Europe.
# London occupies over 620 square miles
# London has a population of 7,172,036 (2001)
# About 12 per cent of Britain’s overall population live in London
# London has the highest population density in Britain, with 4,699 people per square kilometre,
# London is the seat of central government in Britain.
# The tallest building in London is the Canary Wharf Tower.
# London was the first city in the world to have an underground railway, known as the ‘Tube’.
# Some of the most important people from countries all over the world visit the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
# There are over 100 theatres in London, including 50 in the West End. London theatre accounts for 45% of all UK theatre admissions and over 70% of box-office revenues.

Source: GLA Economics