West End landlord Shaftesbury swings to £700m loss December 15, 2020 West End landlord Shaftesbury swung to a loss of almost £700m this year as the value of its retail and hospitality properties plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The figures Shaftesbury this morning reported a loss after tax of £699.5m, compared to profit of £26m in the previous year, due to revaluation deficits. Net property [...]
Poor broadband can knock £40k off average London home: study December 10, 2020 Due to the global pandemic, many people have either chosen or have been forced to work from home. The shift out of the office and into people’s homes has changed the importance of factors people consider when purchasing a new property. Now, if a house has poor broadband, it will knock the house price down [...]
UK extends commercial tenant eviction ban until March December 9, 2020 The UK’s ban on commercial property eviction has been extended today to March 2021. Housing secretary Robert Jenrick announced that this will be the final extension of the business eviction ban, after it was originally supposed to end in September this year. A statement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said the [...]
UK takes top-spot in European property investment market December 7, 2020 A recent global survey by international law firm DLA Piper, showed that the UK is considered prime real estate by investors, following Brexit. The survey of 500 investors, developers, and asset managers from across Europe, China and the US, ranked the UK highest for future residential property investment. The study showed that overall, the European [...]
UK house prices grow at strongest pace in four years December 7, 2020 UK house prices soared by 7.6 per cent in the year to November, according to the latest figures from Halifax, as buyers sought more space and tried to beat the end of the stamp duty holiday. House prices rose 1.2 per cent month on month and 7.6 per cent year on year to hit an [...]
Connells submits firm £112m offer for Countrywide December 7, 2020 Estate agency group Connells has upped its offer for rival Countrywide to around £112m, after making an earlier offer was rejected. Connells today announced a firm cash offer for Countrywide, the UK’s biggest listed estate agent, at a price of 325p per share. That was up from the 250p price floated in November. The group [...]
Berkeley Group’s belief in London is ‘resolute’ despite pandemic hit December 4, 2020 Berkeley Group has reaffirmed its commitment to London even as its profits took a hit from pandemic uncertainty. Chief executive Rob Perrins said the company’s “belief in London and our developmetn approach is resolute” as it reported its interim results. The company has acquired three sites in London this year – Borough Triangle in Southwark, [...]
UK construction industry sees biggest rise in orders since 2014 – PMI December 4, 2020 By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s construction industry grew faster than expected last month, boosted by the strongest orders since 2014 amid a boom in house prices, a survey showed on Friday. The IHS Markit/CIPS construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 54.7 in November from 53.1 in October, its strongest since July and [...]
Activist investor Browning West attempts to oust Countryside chairman December 2, 2020 Activist investor Browning West has called for developer Countryside to remove its chairman and sell its private house building business in a letter to the FTSE-250 firm’s board. The US-based shareholder this morning said leadership changes at Countryside are “immediately required”, claiming the developer has “several significant deficiencies”. Browning West said that Countrywide’s partnerships division, [...]
Exclusive: Capital gains tax on French properties to soar for UK residents post-Brexit December 2, 2020 UK residents with a second home in France will have to pay substantially more capital gains tax on property sales starting from next year when Britain leaves the Brexit transition period. French tax authorities confirmed today that UK residents will no longer benefit from the EU exemption from a social levies tax and will need [...]