Whitbread offloads £89m worth of Premier Inns to Londonmetric Business Hospitality giant Whitbread has offloaded a number of its Premier Inn hotels to property group Londonmetric for £89m as it looks to boost profits. The group sold nine South Eastern hotels to the group, ranging from Southampton Airport to Warwick, as part of its plan to reuse £250m-£300m of property proceeds for growth opportunities, including [...]
London families to shoulder nearly a quarter of all inheritance tax bills Tax Families in London and the South East coughed up nearly half of all UK inheritance tax receipts, amid a continued climb in property prices. Londoners paid the greatest share of the unpopular levy, at 23 per cent, narrowly ahead of the South East at 22 per cent. This was followed by the South West, but [...]
London homeowners most likely to make a loss upon selling their home Markets London homeowners are most likely to make a loss upon selling their house as prices in the capital continue to drop. In 2025, nearly 15 per cent of Londoners sold their home for less than they bought it, the highest proportion in England and Wales, according to analysis from real estate agent Hamptons, well above [...]
House prices expected to rise in 2026 after December dip January 8, 2026 UK house prices slipped slightly in December, as affordability issues and the fallout from the Autumn Budget dampened buyer appetite, but industry figures expect the market to pick up in 2026. House prices fell 0.6 per cent in the final month of 2025, bringing prices down by a further £1,789, following a 0.1 per cent [...]
Rent control law to ‘knock £11bn’ off commercial property January 8, 2026 New legislation introducing rent controls could lead to £11bn being stripped from commercial property values, fresh analysis has shown, in the latest blow to the confidence for investors. The government is proposing a ban on upward-only rent hikes on commercial property in a bid to support small businesses with costs. The proposed ban can be [...]
Frasers founder Mike Ashley snaps up stake in UK’s largest listed residential landlord January 7, 2026 Fraser’s founder Mike Ashley has secured a slice of an FTSE 250 property firm in a multi-million-pound bet on the future of UK rental housing. The UK billionaire has acquired a 3.1 per cent interest in the UK’s largest listed residential landlord in the private rented sector, Grainger, through a high-stakes financial move known as a spread bet. The [...]
Construction marks full year of decline in blow to Labour January 7, 2026 The construction sector has now marked one full year of a decline in output, according to a leading survey, blowing a hole in Labour’s ambitious housebuilding targets. S&P Global’s monthly survey showed the sector had fallen under a threshold for neutrality in output for the twelfth successive month. The reading for December was also the [...]
European office deals rebound in 2025 January 4, 2026 European office deals bounced back last year, as investors ploughed money into transactions after the prospect of a supply crunch revitalised the sector. A total of 21 transactions worth £100m or more were completed in central London as of mid-December, up from the 12 completed during 2024, first reported in the Financial Times. Meanwhile, nine [...]
Housing market ended 2025 on ‘softer note’ after ‘resilient’ year January 2, 2026 The UK housing market rounded off 2025 on a softer note after remaining “resilient” through a volatile year, according to Nationwide’s latest house price index. Annual house price growth slowed to 0.6 per cent in December from 1.8 per cent in November, with a 0.4 per cent fall in prices. This took the average UK [...]
UK home insurers brace for 2026 losses as premiums set to fall December 23, 2025 British home insurers are set to finish 2025 in the black, but losses are expected in 2026. According to data exclusively shared with City AM by Deloitte, UK home insurers are set to make an underwriting profit in 2025, with a net combined ratio (NCR) of 98 per cent. For every £1 taken in premiums [...]