The Guardian reports that estate agency Savills has predicted that by 2020 house prices in the South-East will rise 21.6 per cent and 21 per cent in the East of England, compared with just 15.3 per cent in London and 12 per cent in the North-East. "In many parts of the country, such as the North-West, house price gains will be little more than expected rises in earnings and inflation", the newspaper adds.
The Guardian also reports that the Bank of England "is ready to step up controls on the housing market if a prolonged period of record low interest rates risks inflating a property bubble, governor Mark Carney has said." The newspaper says that Carney "signalled that interest rates were likely to remain on hold well into next year [and] suggested the Bank may have to revert to other measures, such as tighter lending rules, to keep a lid on house prices."
The Independent reports that hundreds of people have queued up for a chance to buy a new £199,000 flat in west London.
The Guardian reports that private investors "have pledged £45 million to Boris Johnson’s Olympicopolis plan, which could see outposts of the V&A, Sadler’s Wells and the Smithsonian take up residence on the 2012 Olympic site in east London." The newspaper says that the money "joins the £141 million of public cash promised last year by the chancellor, George Osborne. The project has been inspired by the grand museums on South Kensington’s Exhibition Road and the Southbank Centre complex, both born out of major national events: the 1851 Great Exhibition and the 1951 Festival of Britain."
