Wellcome Trust offers to buy developer Urban & Civic for £506m November 6, 2020 The Wellcome Trust has made a £506m offer for housing developer Urban & Civic for £506m, as the health research charity’s investment arm bets on the residential property sector in the south of England. The charity, which has an investment fund worth around £26.8bn, said the recommended offer is “fully aligned with our existing strategy [...]
Redrow plans to reinstate dividend as London exit progresses November 6, 2020 Redrow announced it has made progress on pulling out of the London market as the developer focuses on the post-pandemic changes in consumer behaviour, saying it will reinstate its dividend at its half-year results. The housebuilder said it has exited three of the six London sites it had decided not to develop and is continuing [...]
UK house prices see fastest growth in four years but monthly rate slows November 6, 2020 UK house prices grew at their fastest annual rate since 2016 in October, new figures have shown, although month-on-month price growth slowed considerably. House prices jumped 7.5 per cent in October, according to the Halifax house price index, compared to 7.3 per cent in September. Yet growth slowed to just 0.3 per cent when looked [...]
Airbnb suspends 800 party houses in crackdown on antisocial behaviour November 6, 2020 Airbnb has suspended more than 800 UK property listings as part of a crackdown on party houses. More than 13,500 booking requests have also been blocked as part of a pilot to prevent under-25s to rent homes close to where they live in a bid to stop anti-social behaviour. Airbnb removed listings that have received [...]
Carlyle Group buys UK retirement homes group Beechcroft November 4, 2020 Private equity firm The Carlyle Group has acquired UK retirement homes group from Alchemy Partners for an undisclosed sum. The US investment giant’s €540m Carlyle Europe Realty fund invested in Beechcroft, which owns a portfolio of homes in Greater London and South East England. Founded more than 35 years ago, Beechcroft covers the entire development value [...]
Crest Nicholson shares soar after housebuilder hikes profit expectations November 3, 2020 Shares in Crest Nicholson soared this morning after the housebuilder hiked its profit forecast following strong sales after coronavirus lockdown restrictions were lifted. The FTSE 250 firm said adjusted profit before tax is expected to be significantly ahead of the previous forecast of £37.9m, at around £45m. The London-listed developer’s share price surged more than [...]
Office space provider IWG revenue drops as it closes sites November 3, 2020 Office landlord IWG has posted a decline in revenue over the third quarter as it continued to close sites due to the “unprecedented storm” of the coronavirus pandemic. The FTSE 250 firm posted a 14.3 per cent drop in revenue to £583.3m in the three months to the end of September and warned support measures [...]
Regulator extends mortgage payment holiday ahead of lockdown November 2, 2020 The financial watchdog has proposed an extension of the mortgage payment holiday for borrowers struggling to make payments, ahead of a second national lockdown
Purplebricks shares jump as estate agent expects to beat profit forecast November 2, 2020 Shares in Purplebricks jumped this morning as the online estate agent said it expected to post strong profit for the first half of the year following a jump in new instructions after lockdown restrictions eased. The firm’s share price was up more than five per cent this morning after it said new instructions in the [...]
UK house price growth rises to highest rate in five years October 30, 2020 UK house price growth jumped to the highest rate in five years this month, as the market continued to experience a post-lockdown bounce. Annual UK house price growth rose to 5.8 per cent in October, the highest level since January 2015. Property prices were up 0.8 per cent month-on-month compared to growth of 0.9 per [...]