London mayor Boris Johnson presses ahead with plans for 3,000 new houses in Beam Park January 22, 2016 Mayor of London Boris Johnson is pressing ahead with plans to transform a derelict factory plant, which once formed the backdrop to popular film "Made in Dagenham", into 30,000 new homes. Johnson today announced that developer Countryside Properties with Quadrant Housing Trust will take forward the regeneration of Beam Park. This includes a new train station which will run [...]
FTSE 100 ends the week in a party mood as oil stocks jump January 22, 2016 After a week of turmoil, the FTSE 100 finished Friday on an upbeat note, closing 2.2 per cent higher, at 5,900 points. Other European stocks followed suit, with the French Cac finishing more than three per cent higher, and the German Dax ending almost two per cent higher. The news followed a bounce in oil prices, with [...]
Brent crude and WTI: Oil set to clock first weekly gain this year on cold weather January 22, 2016 Oil prices are set to clock their first weekly gain this year, as freezing weather and snowstorms in parts of the US and Europe boosts demand for heating oil. Brent crude, the global benchmark, jumped seven per cent to $31.30 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark, increased 6.26 per cent to $31.38. [...]
Davos 2016: Why you can’t afford to ignore the fourth industrial revolution – and how data must become essential to your business January 22, 2016 There's been one phrase on everyone's lips at this year's World Economic Forum: the fourth industrial revolution. Definitions differ on what exactly it is, but one thing we can all agree on is that the fourth industrial revolution is here and it is happening a lot faster than many of us ever imagined. While the first [...]
UK Statistics Authority blasts market-moving data leak January 22, 2016 Market-moving UK data was leaked to hundreds before its official release on Wednesday, a breach blasted by the country’s statistics watchdog. The UK Statistics Authority wrote that it was “deeply concerned about the impact that breaches (and apparent breaches) relating to the unauthorised, widespread sharing of statistics before their publication may have on the trustworthiness [...]
Government sells stake in King’s Cross development for £371m to AustralianSuper January 22, 2016 The government has sold it stake in the King's Cross development – currently part-way through a process that will overhaul the 67-acre site – to pension fund AustralianSuper, for £371m. The decision to sell the site was made back in August, when Lazard and Savills were hired to handle the deal. The government's 36.5 per cent stake [...]
UK public borrowing figures for December mean Chancellor George Osborne is unlikely to meet his fiscal target January 22, 2016 Economists have warned UK public sector finances aren't improving quickly enough for the government to meet its deficit-reduction target laid out in the Autumn Statement. Public borrowing, excluding state-controlled banks, fell to £7.47bn in December from £11.7bn a year earlier, figures from Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown. This also beat economists' expectations for a decline to [...]
London house prices: Crossrail has made Hounslow Emoov’s top tip for first-time buyers who don’t want to break the bank – but would like a healthy return January 22, 2016 The UK property seesaw consists of two influential factors, with house prices at one end and the demand for said housing at the other. The changing face of the London property landscape means there is a tussle between boroughs, as the once desirable become unaffordable, and the not so desirable become the new hotspots – Brixton, for example. [...]
UK house prices: Property prices increased by as much as the average salary – but in London it’s more than double that January 22, 2016 The property market might be cooling, but last year still gave home-owners a solid boost to their wealth, with new research suggesting UK properties gained in value by as much as the average salary. Throughout 2015, the average homeowner made £27,264 – or £16 for every working hour of the year. Those who own property in London, [...]
UK rental market: The government must do more to combat rogue landlords January 22, 2016 Today Brandon Lewis MP announced £5m in government funding to combat the scourge of rogue landlords. Councils are in desperate need of additional funding to help them fix the problems associated with rogue landlords and there's no doubt that this public money be put to good use. They will be better able to target notorious ‘beds in sheds’, cramped hellholes rented out [...]