CMA orders Taylor Wimpey and Countryside to remove ground rents in rental contracts March 19, 2021 The Competition and Markets Authority said this morning it has instructed homebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Countryside Properties to remove certain contract terms that require leaseholders to pay ground rents which double every decade. The CMA said these terms could affect the property rights of the firms’ customers. Moreover, “as this increase is built into contracts, it means [...]
I moved to an island paradise during the pandemic: You can too March 17, 2021 Like many others, the pandemic changed my outlook on life. I found myself looking at the same four walls every day with no boundaries separating work and home life. My wife and I were juggling our careers and home-schooling, it was a precarious circus act and we had to work hard at making sure all [...]
UK borrowers impacted by pandemic face rising mortgage payments, L&G warns March 17, 2021 UK borrowers who have suffered a drop in income during the pandemic could soon be paying thousands of pounds more in monthly mortgage repayments, according to the latest research. The survey by Legal & General Mortgage Club found that one in three borrowers are considering staying on their current lender’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR) once [...]
Exclusive: Central London office investment activity jumps on success of UK vaccine rollout March 16, 2021 Investment activity in the Central London office sector jumped last month as the progress of the UK’s Covid vaccination programme bolstered buyer confidence, City A.M. can reveal. In the City of London, £346.55m was transacted across four deals in February, compared to just £30.96m in the previous month. Investment in the Square Mile was down [...]
Remote purchase: Can you buy a house you haven’t visited? March 16, 2021 Since the start of the Covid crisis, there has been a lot of talk about remote purchase as a solution to limitations on movement. Some hoped that virtual viewings and remote purchases would be a lifeline to the industry under lockdown and beyond. At Aykroyd & Co, we have had some significant successes with remote [...]
Canary Wharf: The ‘all work, no play’ banking district tries to reinvent itself as a Millennial neighbourhood March 15, 2021 Canary Wharf: The 'all work, no play' banking district tries to reinvent itself as a Milleninial neighbourhood
House price boom continues in March as buyer demand hits record levels March 15, 2021 Record levels of buyer demand pushed the average price of new properties coming to market up 0.8 per cent last month, new research shows. According to Rightmove, the current excess of demand is the highest it has been for a decade, pushing prices up £2,484 in March. The number of potential buyers enquiring about each [...]
The companies finding the perfect house plant for you March 12, 2021 Before lockdown, house plants were around to brighten up the place. Now for many of us, they are our best friends and sole confidants, helping pull us through the long, lonely days. During the pandemic, sales of indoor plants have spiked, with a host of new subscription delivery services cropping up to meet the demand [...]
Hammerson widens losses as pandemic wipes £2bn off portfolio value March 12, 2021 Retail landlord Hammerson this morning posted a £1.7bn loss for last year, after the coronavirus pandemic wiped £2bn off the value of its property portfolio. Hammerson, which owns Birmingham’s Bullring Shopping Centre, said losses widened from £781m in 2019 to £1.7bn last year, primarily due to falling property values. Its portfolio value at the end [...]
UK housebuilder Berkeley Group expects profits to flatline despite housing boom March 12, 2021 Berkeley Group said this morning that profits are set to flatline this year, in line with expectations. The UK housebuilder said it is on track to post a similar profit to last year’s £503m, and that forward sales are expected to be more than £1.7bn for the year. It estimated that future gross margin in [...]