‘Busiest six months in 57 years’: Stamp duty holiday causes pandemonium in property sector July 1, 2021 The last week has seen chaos for buyers trying to beat the stamp duty holiday deadline, and long hours and stress for all other parties involved in the process. This week homebuyers were in a race against time to beat the deadline on the most generous stamp duty holiday, which ended at midnight last night. [...]
Civitas Social Housing raises target dividend following portfolio growth June 30, 2021 Civitas Social Housing has raised its target dividend by nearly three per cent after the real estate investment trust (REIT) performed well in the last year despite Covid-19. The REIT has raised its target dividend to 5.55 pence per share for 31 March 2022, up from 5.4 pence per share in the 2021 financial year. [...]
House prices: Growth rates surge across UK, with London homes averaging £509,000 June 29, 2021 UK house prices: Growth rates surge across UK, with London homes averaging £509,000
Property investor Kennedy-Wilson buys £177.5m London office building June 29, 2021 American company Kennedy-Wilson Holdings has bought an office building in London for £177.5m, betting on a rebound in workspace demand after the pandemic and Brexit hit property valuations in the city. The U.S.-based real estate investment firm’s purchase of One Embassy Gardens, a 156,000-square-foot building in Nine Elms district, follows its recent sale of a central [...]
Private equity firm CC Capital refutes claims it plans to bid for IWG June 29, 2021 CC Capital will not make a takeover bid for office space provider IWG, the U.S. private equity firm said, following a Sky News report of deal talks between the two. IWG shares jumped as much as eight per cent on hopes of a bid, which claimed CC Capital and IWG were in talks that would value the [...]
Finance boss at Countryside leaves housebuilder to head to rival Barratt June 29, 2021 Mike Scott has resigned from housebuilder Countryside in order to take up the role of chief financial officer (CFO) at UK rival Barratt Developments. Both UK housebuilders simultaneously announced the move this morning, which sees Scott end a seven-year stint at Countryside, in which he oversaw the group’s IPO in 2016 and acquisition of Westleigh [...]
Stamp duty holiday pushes 1.8 million houses into higher land tax bracket in Treasury win June 29, 2021 Intense market activity driven largely by the stamp duty holiday has pushed nearly two million UK properties into a higher stamp duty bracket in a win for the Treasury. Thanks to feverish market activity in the last 12 months, of all UK homes, 940,000 additional properties will now attract some level of stamp duty at [...]
Cost of buying first home in London more than doubles over last half century June 26, 2021 Today’s first-time-buyers in London have to pay two and a half times as much for their first home as they did five decades ago, according to new research. A report published by the Resolution Foundation today shows the cost of purchasing a first home with a mortgage in the capital was £212,000 in 1974 – [...]
Record number of homes selling for the asking price or above June 25, 2021 A record number of homes that completed in January 2021 sold for their asking price or above, and those that didn’t missed the mark by only a small amount. More than a third (37%) of homes in England and Wales achieved their asking price or more in January 2021, while those that didn’t achieved on [...]
Homeowners could still sue for damages amid leasehold ground rent reforms June 24, 2021 Even though Persimmon Homes and Aviva have agreed to change the way they operate in regard to leaseholds and ground rent charges, homeowners could still be entitled to compensation, according to legal experts. Following a recent investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), house builder Persimmon will allow its leaseholders to buy the freehold [...]