Varde in deal to take Crest Nicholson on August 7, 2011 HOUSING firm Crest Nicholson will be taken over by a US distressed debt specialist within the next few weeks, a source close to the firm confirmed yesterday. Minneapolis-based Varde Partners has been working for months with advisers Lazard and Bingham McCutchen to assess the options for the firm, which became 90 per cent owned by [...]
Living the life of a laird in a private Scottish stronghold August 7, 2011 ACKERGILL Tower is the sort of place that ought to have a permanent backdrop of lighting forks and thunderclaps. An asymmetrical block of granite turrets and chimneys, it’s a brooding, lonely obelisk that pierces the flat coastal landscape at Scotland’s most northerly tip. John O’Groats is just up the road, the next headland over is [...]
TRAVEL ROUND-UP August 7, 2011 CAMPING no longer means leaky tents and rickety gas stoves – options for glamping (“glamorous camping”) are booming. City A.M. asked Tom Dixon, MD of glamping specialist Sawday’s Canopy & Stars, for his recommendations for August escapes. Visit www.canopyandstars.co.uk for bookings and more information. THE POP UP HOTEL, CORNWALL This is a really cool concept [...]
TRAVEL NOTES August 7, 2011 Cuba’s inside track Travel company Esencia Experiences specialises in bespoke Cuban travel experiences led by its on-the-ground concierge team, and right now it’s offering travellers the company of a cigar sommelier to guide you through the country’s most famous product. Along with that, there are private catamaran rides to the flamingo-populated north coast, salsa dancing [...]
House prices in slim rise August 5, 2011 House prices have gone up for the third month in a row, according to the Halifax mortgage lender. Its latest monthly survey says they rose in July by just 0.3 per cent, leaving them 2.6 per cent lower than a year ago at £163,981. The lender explained that over the last three months prices had [...]
British Land sees asset values jump to almost £10bn August 4, 2011 BRITISH Land, one of the country’s biggest landlords, saw the value of its assets rise as it made more acquisitions and pressed ahead with its £1.1bn office development pipeline that includes the Cheesegrater skyscraper in east London. The property developer said its portfolio value increased by 1.5 per cent to £9.9bn during the quarter, with [...]
ACTON, W3 August 4, 2011 BROMYARD AVENUE Price: £275,000 This one-bedroom, one-bathroom flat has a communal garden, parking and a private-gated entrance with a 24 hour concierge. Westfield Shopping Centre, Acton Green Common and the River Thames are all close by. Contact: Knight Frank on 020 7861 5336. or go to www.knightfrank.com. SOUTHFIELD ROAD Price: £575,000 This three-bedroom house has [...]
SELL August 4, 2011 Managing Director of central London ESTATE AGENCY KAY & CO Q.I am contemplating putting my flat on the market, but have been told that the summer is not the best time as many people are away and the market is quieter. What do you think? A.While this is true and many people do wait until [...]
Oh, we Brits do like to have a second home by the seaside.. August 4, 2011 THE Victorians invented the idea of the British seaside as a holiday escape, and our coastal towns remain excellent options for second homes today. Even given the property market’s recent blip, seaside prices in England and Wales have increased by 128 per cent in the last decade. Seven out of 10 seaside towns have experienced greater [...]
A bargain estate in bucolic Ireland August 4, 2011 TO say the Irish property market has had a bit of a rocky patch is like saying Brian O’Driscoll’s relatively tasty when it comes to scoring tries. As the Irish economy came apart in the recession, the property market fell, and fell, and fell. Then it fell a bit more. Now, those prepared to make [...]