Barratt Developments to resume paying dividends next month January 8, 2021 Barratt Developments announced this morning that it intends to resume shareholder payouts next month as it reported a surge in new home sales due to pent-up demand following the first nationwide Covid-19 lockdown. The FTSE 100 housebuilder said it had delivered an “excellent first half performance” but warned that sales rates had become more subdued [...]
London hotel investment expected to boom in 2021 as vaccine roll-out whets investor appetite January 8, 2021 Investor appetite for central London hotel assets is expected to boom in 2021 due to the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines, strengthened by opportunities presented by the pandemic and Brexit. Analysis by estate agent chain Knight Frank predicted strong demand for hotel investment this year once the pandemic eases and borders and airways reopen, with the sector [...]
Mayor of London calls for eviction ban extension for private renters January 7, 2021 The Mayor of London has called for an extension of the eviction ban as new figures show reports of rogue landlords have soared amid the pandemic. Despite having no formal powers over the private rented sector, Sadiq Khan is calling on the government to give renters the same protection as commercial tenants who were granted [...]
Wework unsure over long-term liquidity due to how Covid-19 changed the way we work January 6, 2021 Flexible office space giant Wework has raised concerns over its long-term future after the Covid-19 pandemic sparked a dramatic shift to remote-working. The company said today that it has sufficient liquidity to “mitigate the near-term uncertainty associated with Covid-19”. However it said the key judgements in relation to approving the company’s accounts as a going [...]
Commercial landlords call for insolvency rules overhaul amid ‘abuse’ of CVAs January 5, 2021 The British Property Federation (BPF) – the industry group representing landlords – has called for an overhaul of UK insolvency rules, claiming the Covid-19 pandemic has prompted “abuse” of restructuring proceedings. In a letter to corporate responsibility minister Lord Callanan, the BPF said the flexibility of the UK’s insolvency framework had led to the abuse [...]
UK mortgage approvals soar to highest level since before 2008 Global Financial Crisis January 4, 2021 UK home lending defied expectations of a slowdown in the housing market boom that started after the first Covid-19 lockdown
Sunday Talk: Mark Ridley, CEO of real estate giant Savills January 2, 2021 In a wide-ranging interview, City A.M. discusses fundraising challenges, Brexit and the shift to home working with Mark Ridley, who has been the group CEO of Savills since 2019, the London-based, LSE-listed real estate services giant which had a revenue of £1.93bn in 2019 and currently employs around 40,000 people in the UK and across Europe. The [...]
Lockdown making you hate your home? Try these eight trends from London Design Week December 31, 2020 Most of us are spending a lot more time at home thanks to the pandemic, throwing our bad decor decisions of the past into sharp relief. If you’re thinking of giving your home an overhaul, here are eight of the key trends from London Design Week to inspire you for the year to come. Exotic [...]
House price growth hits six-year high as pandemic fails to quell demand December 30, 2020 House prices grew at the fastest rate in six years in 2020, a respected tracker has revealed. Property prices skyrocketed by 7.3 per cent across the year, according to the Nationwide House Price Index. Home prices increased by 0.8 per cent in December alone. Read more: A booming Britain will need a broadband boost The [...]
Mayor bids for developer levy to fund replacement cladding work December 27, 2020 Sadiq Khan has called on Whitehall to introduce a £3bn levy on private housing developers to fund replacement cladding work. Thousands of Londoners, both in the private and social housing sector, are still awaiting replacement cladding work on their properties after the Grenfell Tower disaster exposed serious safety issues. Read more: Mayor warns of toughest [...]