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, 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, 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.”
Landsec has secured planning for a reboot of its stalled £1bn O2 Centre new homes regeneration scheme in North London.
The original 1,800-home strip-site scheme stalled as rising construction costs and new building safety requirements hit viability.Camden Council has now approved Landsec’s revised plan for the 14-acre Finchley Road site, allowing the developer to increase the height of several buildings and reduce affordable housing to restart development.The wider masterplan will still deliver up to 1,800 homes alongside shops, workspace, leisure facilities and extensive new public realm.
Under the revised proposals, affordable housing across the masterplan falls from 35% to 20%, in line with new Government and Mayor of London emergency measures aimed at unlocking stalled housing schemes.
Phase one, which gained detailed planning in the hybrid application, will deliver 651 homes, with extra floors added to several blocks and some buildings rising to around 17 storeys.
The redesign also incorporates changes needed to meet updated building safety requirements and increases the amount of publicly accessible green space.
More than half of the site will be given over to public space, including landscaped areas and improved walking and cycling connections between Finchley Road and West Hampstead.
Landsec is also committed to a £10m contribution towards step-free access at West Hampstead Underground station.
GRID Architects and Heatherwick Studio have worked on the revised designs. The professional team includes AtkinsRealis as cost consultant, with Pell Frischmann as civils and structural consultant and Buro Happold providing MEP consultancy.
Mike Hood, CEO of Landsec, said: “Camden Council gave us a clear mandate in 2023 to transform this isolated, underused land into a mixed-use neighbourhood with new homes, public space and community facilities.
“The economic reality has shifted since then and that’s why we’re updating the first phase of the masterplan.
“Our changes, which respond to emergency measures from the Government and Mayor of London, would enable delivery and protect the many public benefits that the scheme can deliver. Our vision for a greener, healthier and better connected neighbourhood remains the same.”
The three-phase development is expected to take 10 to 15 years to deliver with the O2 shopping and leisure centre demolished in the final phase.
Plans for a 54-storey mixed-tenure residential tower at Canary Wharf have been given the planning green light, clearing the way for the redevelopment of the 77 Marsh Wall office site into 820 homes.
New residential tower (centre) will replace 17-storey office block
Developer Areli and British Airways Pension Trustees secured approval from Tower Hamlets for the scheme, which will see the site’s existing 17-storey office block, built in the early 1990s, demolished.
This will be replaced with what the developer describes as the UK’s largest integrated multi-tenure residential scheme.
Designed by Patel Taylor, the project will combine build to rent homes, serviced apartments, co-living accommodation, intermediate housing and social rented homes within a single development, creating one of London’s broadest housing offers.
Consultants on the 190m tall tower project, which will be a concrete frame structure, include quantity surveyor Gardiner & Theobald and engineer Aecom, which is providing structural and building services design.
The scheme will also provide more than 3,100 sq m of publicly accessible open space in a three-storey podium building, including new Dockside Garden and Community Garden areas, almost 200 sq m of community space and 430 sq m of retail floorspace.
Residents will have access to co-working space, a cinema, gym, swimming pool, shared kitchens, lounges and landscaped terraces.
Areli estimates the development will support around 2,200 construction jobs each year during the build programme before creating 151 full-time equivalent operational jobs once complete.
Three-storey podium at 77 Marsh Wall
Founder and chief executive Rob Tincknell, who established Areli in 2018 after leading the Battersea Power Station regeneration, said: “We’re extremely pleased to have secured consent for 77 Marsh Wall, which allows us to move ahead with delivering a scheme that brings together a genuinely broad range of homes that make this development the largest of its kind in the UK, alongside a fully integrated on-site affordable housing offer.”
He added that the approval was Areli’s fourth major residential planning consent in the past 12 months, taking the developer’s consented pipeline to almost 3,000 homes.
Construction timing and the main contractor procurement programme have yet to be announced.
Developer Hallmark Property Group has unveiled plans for a cluster of three towers rising to 47 storeys on the former London Sphere site at Stratford Junction, replacing the long-stalled entertainment proposal with a major mixed-use cultural quarter.
Stratford Junction plan designed by architect Squire & Partners
Designed by Squire & Partners, the scheme would regenerate the 2.05ha rail-surrounded site between Stratford Station and Stratford International that has remained vacant since serving as coach parking during the 2012 Olympic Games.
The development would combine around 2,100 shared living homes with 1,600 hotel rooms, two performance venues, immersive entertainment spaces and new public squares across three buildings ranging from 31 to 47 storeys.
Hallmark said the project is intended to create a new cultural destination for east London, anchored by 20,000 sq m of immersive attractions, galleries and exhibition space.
Plans also include a food hall, restaurants and bars, public art installations, and a landmark events piazza linked by new pedestrian routes through the site.
Two flexible live venues would accommodate audiences of between 1,200 and 4,300 people.
The developer will launch a fresh round of public consultation later this month before preparing a planning application for submission to Newham Council this autumn.
Subject to consent, a temporary meanwhile use is expected to open on the site later this year.
A £113m loan has been agreed to finance the transformation of 450,000 square feet of vacant London office space into 1,085 student beds in the Royal Docks.
Firma Partners has provided funding to DPK Group for the conversion of the Royal Albert Dock office complex in East London into a Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) scheme with a GDV of £300m.
The loan will finance refurbishment of 20 buildings at the riverfront Docklands site which were originally constructed by Brookfield Multiplex for Chinese developer ABP which collapsed in 2022 leaving the scheme vacant.
The conversion will predominantly be internal fit-out works with no structural changes required and is expected to be completed over an 18-month construction programme with practical completion targeted for Q3 2027.
Victor Librae, Chief Executive of Firma Partners, said: “Royal Albert Dock is an extremely compelling opportunity that combines a genuine undersupply of student accommodation, a very strong institutional operator and a strategically located waterfront asset with incredible regeneration potential.
“The conversion of vacant, high-quality office space into modern PBSA is exactly the kind of complex, value-unlocking repositioning project Firma was set up to support. We are delighted to partner with DPK Group on such a placemaking scheme that will make a meaningful contribution to London’s quality student housing supply.”
David Maxwell, founder of DPK Group, added: “Royal Albert Dock is a unique asset with exceptional connectivity and strong potential as a student-led campus environment. Firma Partners understood the complexity and opportunity of this unique project and provided a tailored financing strategy that supports realistic delivery.”
Lendlease and The Crown Estate have completed their long-awaited £24bn regeneration joint venture, paving the way for construction to begin on a pipeline of major housing and commercial developments in London and Birmingham.
Work will now start on the first housing projects at the vast Silvertown regeneration scheme by London Royal Docks
The new vehicle, branded the Impact Partnership Joint Venture, will initially take control of the Euston, Silvertown and Stratford Cross regeneration schemes, with a dedicated development management company established to oversee delivery.
Together the first three projects will provide around 9,000 homes and more than 7m sq ft of commercial, science and innovation space.
Work will move quickly, with construction due to start in September on 326 affordable homes at the 60-acre Silvertown development in East London.
At the Euston station redevelopment, a planning application is targeted for spring 2027.
The partners also confirmed Birmingham Smithfield and Thamesmead Waterfront are expected to join the venture later this summer, expanding the pipeline to around 27,500 homes and almost 10m sq ft of commercial floorspace.
Infrastructure work at Smithfield is due to start later this year, with temporary markets beginning early next year ahead of the first residential block starting in 2027.
Lendlease managing director, development UK and Italy, Andrea Ruckstuhl said: “The commencement of the Impact Partnership Joint Venture Fund and creation of a new Development Management platform marks a major milestone for our UK business.
“Together with The Crown Estate, we’ve established a long-term vehicle to unlock some of the UK’s most important regeneration opportunities with a shared commitment to creating places that deliver lasting value for investors and communities.”
The Crown Estate chief executive Dan Labbad said the partnership would accelerate delivery of complex regeneration schemes while creating a platform capable of bringing forward future housing and commercial developments across the country.
London’s Camden Council has granted planning permission for a £1bn regeneration scheme that will create one of the UK’s biggest film and television production hubs alongside hundreds of new homes in north London.
Designs for the proposed Camden Film Quarter
The Camden Film Quarter project at Regis Road in Kentish Town will deliver 11 purpose-built sound stages, more than 100,000 sq ft of creative workspace and 485 homes, half of them affordable.
Developer Yoo Capital said the scheme would create a fully integrated screen industry campus, bringing together production facilities, education providers, creative businesses and housing within a single masterplan.
Studio operator Oxygen Studios will run the sound stages, while housing partner Places for People will deliver 243 affordable homes.
The scheme has been designed by SPPARC and is planned around a creative industries cluster that will also house the National Film and Television School and London Screen Academy, providing facilities for more than 500 learners.
Architect Broadway Malyan (housing), Oxygen Studios (studio operations), Montagu Evans (planning, historic environment and townscape), Spacehub (landscape architecture), Momentum Transport Consultancy (transport), Atelier Ten (sustainability) and a wider team of specialist consultants.
Developers claim the project will support around 3,960 direct operational jobs and generate 5,155 net additional jobs overall.
Alongside the film studios and housing, plans include 1.1 hectares of public open space, 301 new trees, a new recycling centre and the restoration of the Grade II-listed Kentish Town Police Station.
Yoo Capital co-founder and managing partner Lloyd Lee said: “Camden Film Quarter is much more than a film studio development. It is a complete creative ecosystem that brings together production, education, employment, homes, culture and public space within a single integrated vision.”
The approval represents a major boost for London’s studio sector as demand continues to grow for large-scale production facilities following sustained investment from global streaming and film companies.
The project also forms a key part of Camden’s wider regeneration plans for the Regis Road Growth Area, transforming a largely industrial site into a mixed-use neighbourhood.
Architect Broadway Malyan has designed the housing elements
A timetable for procurement and construction has yet to be confirmed, although the planning approval clears the way for detailed delivery plans to be finalised.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has launched a ‘Singapore-style’ housing development arm for the capital with a £100m investment in the Silvertown Partnership.
Public money from the Greater London Authority will be pumped into the scheme to deliver 7,000 new homes in the Royal Docks.
The move sees City Hall becoming an active developer – intervening in London’s land market to “maximise affordable housing delivery and accelerate the speed of building”.
The initiative is being supported by nearly £2bn from government in grants and low-interest loans at 0.1% to unlock developments.
The model draws on the way many new homes are built in Singapore which has seen strong government involvement in housing for decades, with the state responsible for building around 80% of homes and owning the vast majority of land.
Khan, said: “This is a new era for housebuilding in London, with City Hall investing directly in new homes, unblocking stalled sites and speeding up development.
“Housebuilding continues to be impacted by a perfect storm of high interest rates, the rising cost of construction materials, the impact of the pandemic and Brexit and Building Safety Regulator delays.”
Ed Mayes, Executive Director of Development for the Silvertown Partnership, added: “This investment provides the certainty needed to unlock a complex site that has remained dormant for decades, allowing us to accelerate new homes, including affordable housing, alongside a vibrant new town centre for the Royal Docks.
“Over the past five years, the sector has faced exceptional pressures. In this context, coordinated public sector investment is a meaningful intervention that enables delivery where the market alone cannot.
“With this support in place, Silvertown can continue to make progress and realise its potential as a thriving new neighbourhood for east London.”
A revised masterplan for the project was signed off by Newham Council in December to deliver 7,000 homes, 1,800 of which will be affordable.
The first phase of development is delivering 1,032 homes, with more than half of those affordable, and The Guinness Partnership welcomed the first residents on site earlier this year.
The 60 acre site is owned by GLA Land and Property and work is already underway to deliver a total of 7m square feet of residential, commercial and public space. The site also includes the east London landmark, Millennium Mills, best known in recent years for its appearance in film and TV shows.
A new pedestrian and cycle bridge across Royal Victoria Dock is also progressing, supported with funding by the London Borough of Newham. The bridge will improve connections to Custom House and the Elizabeth Line.
The Silvertown Partnership has already benefited from £233m in infrastructure loan funding from Homes England to unlock the site’s potential.
The Mayor of London has stepped in to unblock the stalled redevelopment of the Great North Leisure Park in Finchley, giving the green light to a 1,485-home mixed-use scheme delayed for more than a year.
Developer Arada London submitted £1.5bn regeneration plans for the 11-acre site in January 2025 but said the project faced “unnecessary and costly delays” before City Hall backed the regeneration proposals.
The approval clears the way for one of Barnet’s biggest regeneration schemes, replacing the ageing car-led leisure park with a high-density housing-led neighbourhood centred around a major two-storey leisure centre, landscaped public spaces and sports facilities.
The homes will be delivered across 20 buildings reaching up to 25 storeys, alongside a new council-owned leisure centre
Arada London is part of UAE-based Arada Group, which entered the UK market late last year following the acquisition of developer Regal London.
Founded in 2017, the group has rapidly expanded across the Middle East and Australia with a focus on large-scale mixed-use regeneration projects.
The existing leisure centre will remain open until the replacement facility is completed.
The wider regeneration will also deliver more than 4,000 sq m of public realm works beside Glebelands playing fields just off the North Circular and over 2.5 acres of landscaping, green roofs and ecological corridors. The scheme is targeting a biodiversity net gain of more than 150%.
Steve Harrington, planning director at Arada London, said: “London continues to fall significantly short of its housing targets, with schemes such as Great North Leisure Park capable of contributing in a meaningful way to the capital’s housing needs.”
Arada London is now expected to move into detailed delivery planning and contractor procurement ahead of a phased construction start, with the replacement leisure centre likely to be prioritised early in the programme.
Developer Ballymore’s 1,700-home London Docklands riverside development spanning 5.26ha in Silvertown has been approved by Newham Council.
Knights Road riverside scheme in Silvertown
The Allies and Morrison-designed Knights Road scheme will deliver 334 affordable homes alongside around 4,000 sq m of workspace, plus retail and community uses.
Ballymore’s hybrid application includes detailed consent for a first phase of 640 homes in three blocks ranging from six to 18 storeys, with 2,300 sq m of flexible commercial space.
Outline plans cover the wider build-out of the remaining homes across the site, which sits south of London City Airport between North Woolwich Road, the Thames, Lyle Park and neighbouring industrial land.
Because of the size of the scheme, the application will now be referred to the mayor of London for final sign-off.
Ballymore is aiming to continue detailed design work before starting the first phase on site in early 2028.
Lyle Park area of scheme
The development will also fund major improvements to Lyle Park, the 4.5-acre riverside space gifted to the community by Abram Lyle of Tate & Lyle 100 years ago. Flood defences along the riverside will also be upgraded.
