UK green lights £1.3bn of housing and infrastructure spending August 4, 2020 Proposals to build more than 70,000 new homes and start a raft of commercial infrastructure projects were given the green light today in a £1.3bn funding announcement from the UK government. More than 300 projects in England – including a £23m commercial development in Manchester and a £14.88m investment in building residential homes on Brownfield [...]
Office space provider IWG takes £156m hit on coronavirus crisis August 4, 2020 Office space provider IWG announced it will take a £156m hit due to the coronavirus pandemic as it shrinks its portfolio by four per cent amid a home-working boom. IWG’s share price dropped more than five per cent today after it announced it will accelerate its office closure plans due to the Covid-19 crisis, with [...]
Government extends Help to Buy scheme due to lockdown delays August 3, 2020 The government has extended the Help to Buy scheme due to construction delays during the coronavirus pandemic. The deadline for homes to have been finished in order to comply with the equity loan scheme has been extended from this December to 28 February next year. The cut-off date for legal completion of the sale is [...]
Estate agent Purplebricks reports record-breaking July instructions August 3, 2020 Estate agent Purplebricks recorded its highest ever month for instructions in the UK in July due to the stamp duty holiday and pent-up demand following the coronavirus lockdown. Shares in the company jumped 4.59 per cent this morning after it announced that it listed a record-breaking 7,000 homes in July. The figures Purplebricks this morning [...]
Hammerson pins hopes on ‘£800m’ raise to survive crisis August 3, 2020 Retail landlord Hammerson is considering tapping investors for up to £600m in a bid to shore up its finances during the coronavirus crisis. Hammerson, which owns Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre and Brent Cross in north London, also confirmed that it is in advanced talks to sell its 50 per cent stake in Via Outlets to [...]
Pent-up demand pushes up competition for property despite coronavirus August 3, 2020 Years of pent-up demand are driving up competition for UK properties despite the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey from estate agent Knight Frank has found. The firm found that discounts are still being negotiated due to the ongoing downturn caused by the pandemic, but sellers are fast hardening their resolve as demand grows more quickly [...]
UK house prices rebound sharply after stamp duty cut July 31, 2020 UK house prices unexpectedly bounced back in July after tumbling in June, as pent-up lockdown demand was released and the stamp duty cut cheered buyers and sellers. Building society nationwide said British prices jumped 1.7 per cent in July compared to a month earlier, when they fell 1.6 per cent. Analysts had been expecting a [...]
John Lewis may convert department stores into affordable housing July 30, 2020 John Lewis is considering converting some of its store estate into housing in an attempt to strengthen its services business as the high street battles the impact of the coronavirus crisis. The retailer, which owns the department store chain and Waitrose, said it is exploring the concept of new mixed-use affordable housing with third parties. [...]
London commercial rents set to slump amid ‘drastic’ change to market July 30, 2020 Commercial rents in London are widely expected to fall across the board in the next three months, a new survey from RICS has shown, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hammer the property market. According to the data, 95 per cent of survey respondents expect retail rents in the capital to decline in the next [...]
Prime house price growth slows to lowest rate in 11 years July 29, 2020 House price growth in global prime residential markets slowed to the lowest rate in 11 years in June as the coronavirus pandemic took its toll. The Knight Frank prime global cities index increased 0.9 per cent in the year to June, down from 2.3 per cent in March. It is the slowest rate of growth [...]