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Property For Sale In Central London

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Property For Sale In Central London

The Bank of England has announced that mortgage approvals increased following the launch of the £80 billion Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) by the BoE and the Treasury in August designed to increase the availability of cheaper loans and mortgages for businesses and households. 

Fresh data from the Bank of England shows that the volume of loans approved for property purchases increased by 2,103 to 50,024 in September, while the number of loans approved for remortgaging rose by 1,860 to 28,343.

Many experts estimate that property sales could rise on the back of government efforts to help make mortgages more readily available following a rise in the number of mortgage approvals issued.


So far over 20 banking groups, including the five largest lenders in the UK, have signed up to the Funding for Lending Scheme, while funding costs have fallen by around one percentage point.

"Market conditions are definitely improving at present," said Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau. "The Funding for Lending scheme is now starting to make an impact and should be of benefit to building societies as the months go on as they have remained committed to increasing their lending this year."

The latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors UK housing market survey shows that expectations for future sales reached their highest level since May 2010. During September, a net balance of 26 per cent more respondents predicted transactions to grow during Q4 2012.

Peter Bolton King, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors' global residential director, said: "Surveyors are optimistic that the run in to Christmas could see an increase in activity in many areas of the country."

The anticipated rise in housing activity could potentially help to drive up property prices across parts of the country, particularly in prime central London and its outskirts despite the fact that property prices have already soared in the past year or so. 




In the London Borough of City of Westminster, for example, prices increased by close to 20 per cent in the year to August due to a general shortage of properties for sale in Little Venice - forms part of Maida Vale - as well as Hyde Park, St Johns Wood, Mayfair, among other parts of the borough.

"Property prices in the City of Westminster rose by an astonishing 18.3 per cent in the year to August, according to the latest figures from the government Land Registry," said Andrew Ellinas, director of leading estate agents Sandfords. "The increase is the highest in the UK by a very long way."


The jump in property values means that any house or flat for sale in Little Venice, St Johns Wood, Hyde Park, Mayfair, or any other part of the borough for that matter is now significantly higher compared to this time last year.

With very few new homes being delivered in prime central London, it is highly unlikely that the increase in property values will slow anytime soon – not for as long as the capital continues to be seen as a safe haven to buy property.

"The major shortage of houses and apartments for sale in Fitzrovia, St Johns Wood, Hyde Park, Mayfair, Maida Vale, among other parts of the City of Westminster in relation to high demand are driving property prices upwards," said Adam Feather of Robert Anthony estate agency.