The June price deceleration was reversed in July with annual house prices rising by 19.3% according to the Land Registry. This takes the average house price in the capital up to £457,072 which is almost double the South East average and just over 4.5 times the North
East figure.

Only two boroughs (Harrow: +9.3% and Hounslow: +9.4%) are now experiencing less than double digit annual price growth while 11 boroughs report growth in excess of 20% per annum. Waltham Forest (+29.3%) has overtaken Lambeth (+28.0%) as the borough
with the fastest rising house prices.

A study from Nationwide has analysed the impact of tube or train stations on house prices. A property located 1,000 metres from a station commands a 4.9% premium, whilst at 750 metres this increases to 7.6% and to 10.5% for a home 500 metres from a station. London houses closest to Circle line stations are the most expensive while those nearest the Metropolitan line are cheapest. Only 6% of properties in London are more than 1,500 metres away from a station.

Council of Mortgage Lenders data show that first-time buyer loans totalled 12,300 in Q2 in London – 4% up on the previous quarter,
and 17% up on Q2 2013. Home mover loans (9,000 in total) were also up – by 1% on Q1 and by 7% on Q2 2013. First-time buyers typically borrowed 3.9 times their gross income, more than the 3.83 recorded in the previous quarter and the UK average of 3.46. The average loan-to-value ratio in London remained at 75% compared to the national average of 80%.

The Mayor intends to create London’s first Long Term Infrastructure Investment Plan in order to ensure that the capital has the necessary infrastructure needed to cope with projected growth up to 2050. Total planned public infrastructure expenditure in the capital at the beginning of this year stood at £35.8 bn, of which £28.25 bn was allocated to transport projects.