GREAT Portland Estates has sold a prime West End site between Piccadilly and St James’s Park to a German pension fund managed by US property investor Pramerica for £54.5m.

Chief executive Toby Courtauld said yesterday that the group had originally planned to refurbish the building in 2015 to exploit the lack of new space in the West End.

However, it decided to sell 20 St James’s Street after receiving strong interest in the 1930s building, which it acquired in 2010 for £42.5m. “As a consequence of a strong off-market approach, it made financial sense for us to sell the property now and invest the proceeds into other schemes in our exceptional development programme”, Courtauld said.

The 55,490 sq ft property is partially let to seven tenants including media group Ocean Outdoor and retail cigar merchant James Fox, producing a net rent of £1.2m a year.

The deal reflects a net initial yield of 2.1 per cent.

Source: CityAM

HOUSE prices in the capital will continue to soar next year, rising by up to seven per cent, estate agent Marsh and Parsons predicted yesterday.

The agency has 18 buyers on its books for every prime London property, well up on the 13.5 a year ago and a level which will keep the market rising.

The improving economy and falling unemployment combined with government support for mortgages will keep the market going further, the forecast said.

However, next year’s growth of between five and seven per cent is down from the 10.5 per cent rise in prices seen this year.

Most of 2014’s rise in prices will come in the first half of the year, the agency forecasts, before slowing a touch.

“London’s housing market saw a substantial uplift in 2013, and we expect a similarly strong start in 2014 to drive an annual rise in prices – but these won’t be as spectacular as last year,” said Marsh and Parsons’ Peter Rollings.

“With ongoing support from Government initiatives, the rate of growth will remain sustainable. Following improvements in unemployment levels, we’re likely to see modest increases in interest rates next year.”

As well as a lack of building, one key factor stopping houses coming to market is their own owners’ fear the fast market will make it difficult for them to move to a new home.

Meanwhile the Bank of England said the stock of residential loans – largely mortgages – increased by £6.5bn in the third quarter compared with the same period of 2013 to £1.23 trillion.

New mortgage loans hit £49.5bn in the quarter, up 25 per cent on the year.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney last month ended the Funding for Lending Scheme support for mortgages, removing the cheap funding for bank lending.

He said the funding problems in the sector which prompted the scheme’s launch in 2012 are now solved.

Source: CityAM

HOMEOWNERS selling a property in which they previously lived will be given until April 2015 to complete the sale before they must pay capital gains tax on the property, the Treasury confirmed yesterday.

The news comes after George Osborne announced in the Autumn Statement last week that the tax-free period for people letting their former home will be slashed from three years to just 18 months.

The Treasury clarified yesterday that people will have until April 2014 to exchange contracts but until April 2015 to complete, a move it said will “make the tax system fairer”.

PwC tax partner Alison Hill said: “Disabled people and those moving into care homes will be relieved that they still have three years’ capital gains exemption on second homes… Others won’t be as fortunate and people affected may include those getting divorced or who are having trouble selling their old home.”

Source: CityAM

THE NUMBER of first time buyers has surged by three quarters over the past year, as a surge of activity in the housing market pushes prices even higher, especially in London.

Estate agents Haart reveal today that, the number of first time buyer registrations has risen 78.4 per cent in November 2013, compared to the same month last year.

In London, the figure is even more dramatic, with an 87.5 per cent boost in the number of people getting their foot on the property ladder for the first time.

Both Haart and property site Zoopla say that average house prices in the UK have risen by over £10,000 during this year, soaring way ahead of growth in typical wages.

According to Zoopla, in the capital an average house now costs are £46,398 more than in November 2012, passing above £500,000 earlier this year.

However, research by the site shows some dramatic variations regionally: based on its own figures, the website suggests that the average price of a property in Yorkshire and the Humber has dipped slightly in the past year, down by 0.37 per cent.

However, every other region in the UK saw some growth in prices over the past year.

Paul Smith, chief executive of Haart, commented: “High demand in relation to supply remains problematic with new buyer registrations up 39.9 per cent annually but new property supply up only 4.7 per cent. Let’s see if the chancellors; commitment to pump £1bn into infrastructure to unlock construction projects comes off and alleviates the crippling shortage of property supply.”

Zoopla’s head, Lawrence Hall, added that there could be even stronger house price growth during the next year, with government schemes like Help to Buy coming into full swing and general confidence rising.

Source: City AM

SINGAPORE-based property group Oxley Holdings has snapped up Royal Wharf, the largest mixed-use site sold in London since Battersea power station.

Oxley now intends to build 4,000 residential properties on the 40-acre space, along with a number of attached facilities.

The development is less than three miles east of Canary Wharf, one of London’s finance hubs, and will soon benefit from a Crossrail station less than a mile away. London City Airport is also a stone’s throw from the area.

According to Knight Frank, hundreds of the residential units which Oxley intend to develop already have planning permission, suggesting that large parts of the site will be established quickly.

Oxley’s chief executive, Ching Chiat Kwong, said: “Oxley will create a vibrant district and the opportunity cannot be missed by Londoners.”

The site was bought from Ballymore for around £200m, after it decided to sell the land in May this year.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, commented: “My team and I met with Oxley Holdings on our trade mission to China last month and I am thrilled at this demonstration of their confidence in our great city.”

“This type of deal is exactly why I spent six days meeting businessmen and officials in China banging the drum for the capital, and it is further evidence of the colossal appetite of developers from the far East and elsewhere to invest in London,” Johnson added.

Battersea power station was also purchased by investors from east Asia, with a Malaysian consortium buying the landmark with the similar purpose of building hundreds of homes.

The purchase is part of the ongoing redevelopment of the areas which once encompassed the Royal Docks, which were closed to commercial traffic over thirty years ago.

Source: CityAM

Steeped in history, Canary Wharf was once part of the world’s largest port. Now the capital’s second most vibrant business district – after the ancient City of London – it is still a gleaming hub of international trade and commerce.

The banks, law firms and media organisations that have joined its ranks have brought a host of sophisticated bars and restaurants to the area and property prices have grown by 10 per cent in the last five years.

Lauren Ireland, head of Savills Canary Wharf, says, “Canary Wharf appeals to young professionals looking for smaller flats to CEOs using penthouses as pied-a-terres.

“In the past year, there has been a noticeable increase in domestic buyers, primarily in the re-sale market.

“We also get a high number of buyers from South East Asia who tend to like the contemporary high rise apartments with high levels of specification and on-site facilities.”

Transport links such as the Jubilee Line, the Docklands Light Railway, the KPMG Thames Clipper service and Riverboat services also mean Canary Wharf has some of the most diverse ways to get around the city.

“The majority are still young, single, 22-30, with their first jobs in the area,” says Andrew Groocock, from Knight Frank, Canary Wharf.

“About 12 years ago, Canary Wharf on the weekends was a ghost town. Now, there are fantastic bars and pubs and a number of very good restaurants.

“You can get any kind of food in the world.

“There’s a bit of a nightlife which has bridged the way for development. It’s all those sorts of things that really encourage people to come in and make it a nice environment.”

According to property website Rightmove.co.uk, only one detached house was sold in the area last year compared to 830 flats – almost all of them one or two bedrooms in high rises – proving that nothing can stem a tide of young professionals.

Source: CityAM