House-hunters look to UAE to avoid Eurozone February 20, 2012 BRITISH house-buyers looking to invest abroad are increasingly willing to move outside of Europe, according to research from PrimeLocation.com. Searches on the website for Spanish properties plummeted 15 per cent in the final quarter of 2011, compared with the previous quarter, the website said in figures out today. Italy and France were close behind, with [...]
Mortgage loans up as recovery stays on track February 20, 2012 UK MORTGAGE lending rose in January, compared with the same month of 2011 – the sixth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, according to data out yesterday from the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML). The CML figures showed lending was up 10 per cent, and the Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) corroborated the jump this morning, publishing [...]
Segro banks £80m through selling off industrial estates February 20, 2012 BRITISH landlord Segro said yesterday it has sold a portfolio of five non-core industrial estates to funds owned by Ignis Asset Management for £80.2m. The sale is part of the company’s plan to focus its UK multi-let industrial portfolio on London and South East. “The sale of these assets demonstrates that, despite the uncertain economic [...]
Tesco launches float of its Thailand property fund to raise up to £369m February 20, 2012 TESCO, the world’s third-largest retailer, launched the initial public offering of its Thailand property fund yesterday, aiming to raise up to £369m to finance future expansion. The offering is part of a trend among retailers in recent years to squeeze more value from their real estate assets, bundling them into a property fund, selling the [...]
Get fit while the sun shines February 20, 2012 Two days without February’s usual inclement weather should have been enough to rouse from hibernation the part of your brain that craves exercise. Escape the tedium of the gym with these get-fit options that take advantage of the weather – while it lasts. TOUGH MUDDER Run by the special forces, Tough Mudder is an insane [...]
Forget cycling machines, try the Wattbike February 20, 2012 FIT IN THE CITY I must admit, I’m not a huge fan of cycling – I tend to associate it with boredom and bulky thighs. But, given that last weekend saw the track World Cup at the new velodrome, coupled with the fact that cycling’s one of the few feasible medal-winners for the Brits come [...]
Soho oyster bar is a serious catch February 20, 2012 Wright Brothers Soho Oyster House 13 Kingly Street, W1B 5PW Tel: 020 7434 3611, thewrightbrothers.co.uk FOOD **** SERVICE **** ATMOSPHERE **** Cost per person without wine: £40 THE Wright Brothers’ establishment in Borough Market is a temptation that is sorrowfully hard to indulge because it is tiny – and rammed. The former contributes considerably to [...]
Mortgage lending up by 10% February 20, 2012 Gross mortgage lending hit £10.5bn in January, up 10 per cent compared to the same month last year, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Lending fell by 14 per cent from £12.2bn from December but was still substantially up on figures from January 2011. CML chief economist Bob Pannell said he [...]
Desert island dream in remotest Philippines February 19, 2012 AS the plane rumbles along from Manila to Busuanga in the Palawan peninsula in the Philippines, the smiling stewardess at the front starts playing a game of “Show and Tell” to an enraptured audience, in the absence of TVs to divert us. First person to hold up a… pen, wins a thermos flask. Next person [...]
TRAVEL NOTES February 19, 2012 Graydon Carter’s Monkey Bar Heading to New York? You really mustn’t miss out on the hottest new-old restaurant in town. Manhattan’s legendary Monkey Bar, with a list of regulars that has included Dorothy Parker, Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando, has been given an overhaul by none other than Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, the new [...]