Weekend read: First-time home now have to stump up £33k more than before Covid hit April 24, 2022 How much worse off are Britain’s first-time buyers now the pandemic starts to settle? Quite a bit, as it turns out, largely as a result of the post-pandemic property market boom. A new analysis of first-time buyer house prices looked at the cost of purchasing a first home before the start of the pandemic in [...]
UK avoided arming Ukrainians for fear of angering Putin, former ministers said April 23, 2022 The UK Government has avoided sending arms to Ukraine for the last seven hears out of fear of angering President Putin, the Sunday Times reported today. Former ministers said Boris Johnson and his two predecessors, Theresa May and David Cameron, have maintained a line of “appeasement” with Moscow since the country’s invasion of Crimea. “Some [...]
HMRC uses unprecedented amounts of data and ‘nudge’ letters in crackdown on foreign tax evaders April 23, 2022 The number of overseas investors confessing to tax evasion in the UK has more than quadrupled to 338 this year from 78 in the previous year, according to new data shared with City A.M. today. Many of these disclosures are from overseas investors in buy-to-let property who are coming clean about unpaid tax on their [...]
Housing stock running dry triggers market slowdown, new data suggests April 22, 2022 Homes changing hands has drastically slowed since the beginning of the year, with the market running dry of properties, according to the latest data. The number of properties up for sale has plunged a third, compared to stock levels available before the pandemic, research by Savills and data analyst TwentyCi has found. The UK’s property [...]
Dramatic clip shows moment renters are ‘attacked’ at London estate agent over ‘illegal eviction’ April 21, 2022 Dramatic footage has emerged online of showing the moment tenants were confronted at a London estate agents in a row over evictions. Seven people visited the offices of Eaton Green in Camberwell, protesting about alleged illegal eviction, before someone exited its office and started “attacking” the activists. In a clip shared on Twitter by @SarahWarsama, [...]
UK housing market shows signs of stability with Brits’ reluctant to spend April 21, 2022 The UK’s housing market could be returning to stability, say analysts, before deals pick up as warmer weather blankets the country. Residential transactions for March have plunged more than a third in comparison with the same month last year, according to the government’s latest figures, after a continued, pandemic-era, buying frenzy. Although deals have climbed [...]
Property boss who burned model of Grenfell on bonfire avoids jail April 20, 2022 A property tycoon has avoided jail for filming a replica model of the Grenfell tower burning in a bonfire. Millionaire Paul Bussetti was handed a suspended sentence over the incident during Guy Fawkes night in November 2018, where he put the model on a bonfire, before the video went viral online. The clip, during which [...]
Angry leaseholders protest against footing cladding bill outside Parliament April 20, 2022 Angry leaseholders and tenants have gathered outside Parliament to protest the Building Safety Bill which is being debated in the Commons today. The Bill aims to fix cladding on taller buildings which have been deemed a major fire risk, following the Grenfell disaster in 2017, but has handed leaseholders the responsibility to fund the fixes. [...]
Demolition of M&S Oxford St store put on hold by Gove April 20, 2022 The bulldozing of the iconic Marks & Spencer building on Oxford St has been put on pause by the government. According to a report by the BBC, Michael Gove asked Westminster council to press pause on a demolition application. Under an Article 31 holding direction, a local authority cannot green light planning permission until ministers [...]
From Barnet to Fulham via Camden and Southwark: Here are London’s most expensive and decadent rental properties April 19, 2022 While the average London tenant will pay £1,574 per month, the average cost of residing at the very top of the capital’s rental market comes in at a huge £23,839, – a 1415 per cent rental price premium. London-focused rental platform Rentd looked at the average cost of renting in each London borough before comparing [...]