Pocket was delighted that Sir Steve Bullock, Mayor of Lewisham and Lewisham Housing Chief Cllr Damien Egan kicked off the construction of 26 affordable Pocket homes yesterday for local people in Lewisham.
Category: Intermediate housing
How London Help to Buy might work for Pocket buyers
Announced in the government’s Spending Review yesterday, ‘London Help to Buy‘ is a punchy new addition to the Help to Buy family. And now that we’ve got our heads around how the Help to Buy equity loan works in principle, we can easily understand the London version. When coupled with the government’s commitment to create 200,000 starter homes, things should be easier for first time buyer in London, which is great news.
In simple terms, from early 2016 first time buyers in London will be able to borrow up to 40% of a new property’s value from the government, interest free for five years. This means that buyers will need to raise a smaller mortgage, which will open the market up to more people on lower incomes. Pocket hope this will help even more first time buyers to get a foot on the property ladder.
Fair to Middling: Report of the Commission on Intermediate Housing
Fair to Middling, and how Pocket fits in
The latest report to be published on London’s housing crisis, Fair to Middling, is specifically focused on intermediate housing, whether it’s working, and how it can be improved. The Commission on Intermediate Housing (COIH) was set up following the Centre for London’s 2014 report, Hollow Promise, which highlighted that London needed to prioritise ways of making housing for low- to-middle income earners more affordable. The COIH has been jointly chaired by councillors from two very different London boroughs, Kensington & Chelsea and Haringey, with input from a range of eminent contributors – including Pocket’s very own CEO, Marc Vlessing.
JLL Innovators Research : Pocket
Like marriage, the secret to a successful first time home purchase is compromise.
In what has become a supply-starved London housing market effected by rapidly rising prices, Pocket have built their model around the one facet that first time buyers are not willing to compromise on – location.
The London-based developer prioritises location over size allowing it to deliver first-time buyer homes in good commuting locations at a minimum of 20% below the open market rate capped at the current top price of £260,000.
“Pocket brings a rational approach together with the sort of design flair that makes spaces feel generous and desirable. As the current crisis forces new thinking, Pocket’s initiatives provide a positive example to other housing providers when new ideas are thin on the ground.” Peter Murray, New London Architecture