One in five aspiring first-time buyers lives with family or friends to save cash April 22, 2021 More than a fifth of aspiring first-time buyers have moved in with family or friends since the coronavirus crisis started, according to research published this morning. Some 22 per cent of people hoping to buy their first home in the next two years have moved in with parents, in-laws or friends since March 2020, Halifax [...]
Top-end homes in Mayfair and St James’s offloaded at 20 per cent below asking price April 22, 2021 Several prime central London postcodes are seeing homes sell at a considerable discount of up to 20 per cent per square foot, according to new data shared with City A.M. this morning. In many areas there is a notable difference between the expectations of home sellers and the price that buyers are willing to pay, [...]
Commercial landlord AEW UK to pay dividend as science and medical properties boost portfolio value April 22, 2021 Commercial property landlord AEW UK Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) has announced a quarterly dividend payment as life sciences and medical sites recorded a jump in value during the pandemic. AEW, which mainly owns industrial sites across the UK and has some exposure to the retail, office and leisure sectors, said it will pay an [...]
Pandemic impact: Another 100,000 UK businesses tumble into financial distress April 22, 2021 Almost 100,000 more UK businesses have tumbled into financial distress in the past three months as the impact of the pandemic continued to weigh on firms, according to new research published this morning. The latest quarter Red Flag Alert report by insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor found that around 723,000 businesses were in “significant financial distress” [...]
Hammerson completes retail park exit with £330m sale to Canadian private equity player April 21, 2021 Property giant Hammerson has confirmed that it has sold seven retail parks to private equity firm Brookfield in a £330m deal that completes the retail landlord’s exit from the struggling sector. The £330m price tag represents an eight per cent discount to the 31 December book value of £357m, and the deal concludes Hammerson’s disposal [...]
UK house prices rise at fastest rate since 2014 April 21, 2021 UK house prices soared in February at the highest growth rate recorded in more than six years – but London lagged behind the rest of the country. Average house prices across the UK increased 8.6 per cent in the year to February, up from eight per cent in January. This is the highest house price [...]
M&G reopens property fund after flogging retail assets April 20, 2021 M&G has reopened its property portfolio after flogging its retail assets more than a year after it froze dealing in the fund amid a surge in investor withdrawal requests. The asset management giant said today it will unfreeze the funds for dealing from 10 May. It suspended the property portfolio in December 2019 amid a [...]
Nationwide to lend first-time buyers five times their income on long-term mortgage April 20, 2021 First-time buyers with deposits as low as 10 per cent will be able to borrow five and a half times their income when taking out a longer-term mortgage, the UK’s biggest building society said this morning. Nationwide Building Society said that under its “helping hand” initiative, first-time buyers across the UK will have the option [...]
Hammerson collects less than half its rent even as restrictions ease April 20, 2021 Hammerson has received less than half of rent due in the second quarter even as lockdown restrictions ease and footfall returns to pre-pandemic levels. At group level just 40 per cent of Q2 rent has been received, with the UK collecting 48 per cent, France 23 per cent and Ireland 34 per cent. An aggregate [...]
Captain Tom has his own rose – buy one to support his work April 19, 2021 If you are planning on transforming your outdoor space into an English rose garden, now is the time to act. This most famous and romantic of blooms takes time and care to grow but can be the most rewarding of pursuits for keen gardeners. But if you still need an extra push, you can also [...]