Stamp duty holiday: What does it mean for the UK housing market? July 7, 2020 In a “mini-budget” spring statement tomorrow chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce a range of measures to boost the economy which has been ravaged by the coronavirus crisis. As part of the package the chancellor is reportedly planning to cut stamp duty for properties worth up to £500,000 in a bid to reinvigorate the [...]
Halifax: UK house prices suffer longest fall since 2010 July 7, 2020 UK house prices fell for the fourth month in a row in June for the first time since 2010, according to Halifax data released today. Unlike rival Nationwide, which found the value of homes shrank for the first time on an annual basis in June, Halifax recorded a 2.5 per cent-year-on-year rise. But as the [...]
Robert Jenrick faces fresh questions over new planning row July 5, 2020 Under fire housing secretary Robert Jenrick has been plunged into a potential new controversy over a planning approval called up by the government just after he was appointed to cabinet. Quinn Estates had an application for a 675-home housing development in Kent taken over by the government last August from Swale Borough Council, after the [...]
Land Securities collects majority of rent as dividends set to resume July 3, 2020 Land Securities provided investors with a sigh of relief this morning, as it said it intends to begin paying dividends again later this year after a positive uptick in revenue. The property developer said 60 per cent of the net rent due on 24 June was paid to it within five working days, compared to [...]
Schroders takes majority stake in Asian real estate firm July 1, 2020 Schroders has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Asian real estate investment firm Pamfleet, which currently has $1.1bn in assets under management. The asset manager said the deal strengthened its private assets and real estate capabilities. It comes after the recent acquisition of the German real estate specialist, Blue Asset Management, and [...]
Hammerson collects just 16 per cent of third-quarter UK rent July 1, 2020 Retail property giant Hammerson said it had received only 16 per cent of the rents it is owed in the UK so far this quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic weighs heavily on the sector. As of 29 June, the shopping centre operator said it had collected 73 per cent of UK rents for the first [...]
British Land boosted by reopening of retail stores July 1, 2020 Real estate firm British Land has reported strong sales as lockdown restrictions on non-essential retail started to ease earlier this month. The pandemic seems to have had little effect on consumer confidence. In the week commencing 14 June, when restrictions started to ease, British Land reported footfall at its English assets was 64 per cent [...]
Boris Johnson’s New Deal: PM invokes Roosevelt in ‘radical’ infrastructure overhaul June 30, 2020 Boris Johnson has today set out plans to overhaul the UK’s planning system, to make building new homes easier, in order to fix what he termed “intergenerational injustices” in access to property. The overhaul will allow developers to change the use of buildings and land in town centres without planning permission, meaning that vacant buildings [...]
Redrow anticipates turnover to drop by more than a third June 30, 2020 Housebuilder Redrow expects turnover to drop more than a third this year, as the closure of its sites during lockdown had a “profound” impact on business. The figures In a trading update for the year ended 28 June, Redrow said turnover is expected to fall from £2.11bn last year to £1.34bn. The group’s completions also [...]
Shard developer accused of ‘vandalising’ Bermondsey property to earn planning permission June 29, 2020 A row over a Bermondsey development has escalated with local campaigners alleging that Shard developer Sellar has “vandalised” a heritage building to earn planning permission. The Old Bermondsey Forum (OBF) and the Bermondsey Village Action Group (BVAG) are accusing Sellar of tearing out a hydraulic hoist from a historic warehouse in Vinegar Yard, near London [...]