House builders hail return of Help to Buy-style loans

Posted on September 28th, 2026 by admin

The new Your First Home scheme will allow eligible first-time buyers in England to purchase a new-build home with a deposit of just 2.5%, backed by a Government equity loan worth up to 20% of the property value.

Full details are due to be unveiled at the Budget on 28 October, including household income limits, regional property price caps and the timetable for launching the scheme.

The equity loan will carry an initial interest-free period, while developers joining the programme will be expected to contribute towards its costs.

Taylor Wimpey chief executive Jennie Daly said: “We welcome the Government taking action and recognising the significant challenges facing both first-time buyers and the housing industry.

“Helping families onto the housing ladder is vital, and a healthy housing market drives economic growth, supporting jobs, investment and communities across the country.

“Whilst developers have worked hard to support buyers and sustain delivery in challenging conditions, a targeted Government support scheme has an important role to play.”

The Home Builders Federation also called for the scheme to be rolled out quickly.

HBF chief executive Neil Jefferson said a well-designed programme had the potential to make a “real difference” to households struggling to buy and said it needed to work for builders of all sizes and across different parts of the country.

Construction Products Association economics director Noble Francis said the intervention came as house building remained well below historic levels.

He said: “The CPA had been calling for a new first-time buyer equity loan scheme for new-build housing, and so the Government’s announcement of ‘Your First Home’ is an important step to prevent house building from falling further in the near-term and then to boost housing supply in the medium-term.”

But Francis warned that viability remained a major constraint in lower-value housing markets and said the impact of the scheme would depend heavily on the price caps and income thresholds.

Your First Home marks a return to a model similar to the former Help to Buy equity loan programme.

That scheme supported 387,195 purchases in England between April 2013 and May 2023, including 328,346 by first-time buyers, with Government equity loans totalling £24.7bn.

£2bn London Vauxhall Square tower trio approved

Posted on September 10th, 2026 by admin

Plans have been approved to build a trio of residential skyscrapers at Vauxhall in south London, filling out the centre of Nine Elms cluster beside the Thames.

60 storeys plus planned skyscrapers highlighted

The tallest would rise to 69-storeys overshadowing the existing St Georges Wharf tower and will rank as the second tallest residential building in London.

Lambeth councillors have backed the vast Vauxhall Square scheme, paving the way for a total of seven buildings containing 1,097 homes, 1,164 co-living apartments and 699 student bedrooms.

The Pilbrow & Partners-designed mixed-tenure development will transform a 3.8-acre site close to Vauxhall station.

Buildings across seven plots will range from three to 69 storeys, with the tallest tower reaching around 230m and containing 500 homes for private sale.

If built, it would become the UK’s second-tallest residential building behind the 239m Landmark Pinnacle at Canary Wharf.

Two further towers will rise to 61 storeys. One will contain build-to-rent homes, including 120 discounted market rent properties, while the other will provide co-living and co-working space.

A 45-storey building will accommodate the 699 student bedrooms, with 35% of the student accommodation offered at affordable rents.

The development will also include a 250-room hotel, offices, shops, cafés, restaurants, bars, a cinema, community facilities and a potential healthcare centre.

More than 2m sq ft of living and amenity space is planned across the site.

Enabling and construction works are scheduled to take place over a five-year period, commencing in January 2027 and concluding in February 2032. with works proceeding on a plot-by-plot basis.

Vauxhall Square is being brought forward by Cedarstone Capital Partners and Cheyne Capital alongside GFH Financial Group, with Bmor and Trigon acting as development managers.

Cedarstone bought the stalled development site from Chinese developer R&F Properties in May 2024 before assembling a new team to rethink the scheme.

The latest masterplan replaces an earlier Allies and Morrison proposal approved in 2012, which included towers of up to 50 storeys but was never fully built out.

The project team includes development manager Bmor, and consultants Hoare Lea, Ramboll and Gardiner & Theobald.

Lambeth’s resolution to approve is subject to completion of a section 106 agreement and referral to the Mayor of London.

Landlord database: Rollout to start in December

Posted on September 9th, 2026 by admin

Rollout of the new landlord database will begin this December – with landlords to pay £65 per property per year to register.

It is compulsory for all private sector landlords to sign up to the new database, which is being introduced under phase two of the Renters’ Rights Act.

A full timetable has now been confirmed, with the 12-month regional roll out starting in the West Midlands on 15th December. You will be given a three-month window to comply with the new rules, with all landlords to registered by 14th November next year.

You can find out your registration deadline below:

Do I need to sign up?

Landlords of homes occupied under assured or regulated tenancies must sign up to what the Government describes as a ‘Register Your Property Service’, including all existing tenancies and any signed during the roll out period.

Empty homes being marketed to let do not need to be registered at this stage – although this will change in future when you will need to provide a registration number before you can advertise your property.

It is also worth noting that agents cannot register homes on the database on your behalf, you must do this yourself.

Landlords who fail to sign up could face civil penalties of up to £7,000 – rising to £40,000 for multiple or continued breaches.

It is expected you will need to join the database via the Government website.

Valuation Office to rule on rent increases

The Government also revealed new plans to give additional power to the Valuation Office (VOA), allowing it to rule on rent disputes. As a result rent increases will be determined by HMRC. The scheme is expected to take two years to be introduced, although it is not yet clear when this process will begin.

London Square lands homes role on major Waterloo scheme

Posted on September 8th, 2026 by admin

London Square has been picked to deliver 133 homes at the major Royal Street redevelopment in Waterloo.

Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation has appointed the firm as its development partner on the 5.5-acre scheme, with half of the homes to be affordable.

Work on the residential element is expected to start in spring 2027, subject to final regulatory approvals.

Royal Street already has planning permission for a major mixed-use redevelopment opposite St Thomas’ Hospital, including around 1.2m sq ft of office and laboratory-enabled space alongside homes, shops and public realm.

The six-plot scheme forms a key part of the SC1 London health and life sciences innovation district, which is targeting more than £3bn of investment and up to 6,200 jobs.

Elephant and Castle- Plans lodged for one of Europe’s tallest student towers

Posted on September 8th, 2026 by admin

Student accommodation developer Scape has submitted plans for an 851-bed tower near Elephant & Castle in south London.

Architect Morris + Company has designed the 45-storey building for the site at 231-235 Southwark Bridge Road, which would become one of Europe’s tallest purpose-built student accommodation towers.

The scheme will replace existing buildings with the landmark tower while retaining and restoring two locally listed townhouses.

A disused single-storey taxi office will also be flattened to make way for a new pocket park, while active ground-floor uses and wider public realm improvements are planned around the site.

Scape said the two historic townhouses would be carefully restored and brought back into public use.

The developer is also proposing to contribute more than £30m towards affordable housing elsewhere in Southwark.

The tower has been designed to sit within the emerging cluster of high-rise development around Elephant & Castle and major transport links.

It neighbours the proposed Borough Triangle redevelopment, where plans include four towers ranging from 10 to 44 storeys and 892 homes.

The constrained site also sits close to railway lines and the Ministry of Sound nightclub, requiring the design team to tackle noise and other challenges.

Construction is targeted to start in mid-2027 with completion by the end of 2030.

Market bounce stalls as mortgage approvals fall

Posted on September 2nd, 2026 by admin

Hopes of a mini recovery in the housing market appear to have been dashed after the latest mortgage approval data showed a slump in the total.

Mortgages agreed decreased to 56,100 in July, down 2,100 from 58,200 the previous month, according to the Bank of England.

The June figure had seen a monthly rise from 56,565, prompting some hopes that the market was picking up.

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £4.3billion in July, from £7.7billion in June, below the previous six-month average of £5.3billion.

Approvals for remortgaging increased to 34,500 in July, from 34,100 in June.

The effective interest rate on newly drawn mortgages increased to 4.45% in July, from 4.35% the previous month. The rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages was 3.97% in July, up slightly from 3.96%.

Industry reaction

Anthony Codling, Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets

Anthony Codling, Managing Director of Equity Research at RBC Capital Markets, says: “Mortgage approvals for house purchase fell to 56,053 in July, down 3.7% month-on month and down 15.0% year-on-year.

“It sits 7.3% below the five-year average and 13% below the ten-year average, marking a disappointing retreat from the firmer run-rate we’d grown accustomed to through much of 2024 and early 2025.

“This is a pebble in the shoe for housebuilders who had been cautiously optimistic that demand momentum would hold through the summer. The July figure suggests buyers are pulling back, not what the sector needs as it heads into the all-important autumn selling season.

“However, this weak data may spur the Government on to stimulate the housing market in next month’s budget.”

Jason Tebb - OTM - image — Jason Tebb, President, OnTheMarket

Jason Tebb, President at OnTheMarket, says: “Approvals for house purchases, a more useful measure of market activity than prices as they indicate future borrowing, fell in July and remain below the previous six-month average as ongoing political and economic uncertainty impacts buyer and seller decision-making.

“With the effective interest rate on newly drawn mortgages increasing to 4.45% in July from 4.35% in June, the impact of higher borrowing costs is also making itself felt. The Bank of England’s decision to hold base rate steady at recent meetings will help steady concerns if this approach continues into the autumn.”

There urgently needs to be stimulus for the housing market.”

Gareth Lewis, MT Finance — Gareth Lewis, CEO, MT Finance

Gareth Lewis, Deputy Chief Executive of MT Finance, says: “Earlier this year, approval numbers were picking up quite nicely, before dipping in May and now falling again. We are seeing the ramifications of the unstable interest rate environment and the impact this has on transactions.

“There urgently needs to be stimulus for the housing market, with the new prime minister required to do something to encourage transactions and activity, which will benefit the wider economy. Volatile funding rates are the real issue; while everything pointed towards a lower interest rate environment this year, the impact of war in the Middle East has since changed this outlook.”

Nathan Emerson, Chief Executive, Propertymark

Nathan Emerson, Chief Executive of Propertymark, says: “Recent months have seen lower levels of mortgage approvals and lending, reflecting continued pressure on household finances and caution around moving home.

“With the Autumn Budget due next month, many people may be holding back on major housing decisions until there is greater economic clarity, particularly groups such as first-time buyers, for example.

“Across the year, we have seen ambition across all nations regarding the delivery of new sustainable homes, alongside the infrastructure needed to support new developments. As the year draws to a close, it would be encouraging to see mortgage approvals and net lending find a firmer footing. However, this is likely to remain closely aligned with the wider global economy.”