New homes: Our pick of the new builds going on sale in London this weekend August 31, 2018 New developments on the market this week Manhattan Plaza, Poplar From £599,995 Hate furniture shopping? Four fully-dressed two bedroom apartments are going on sale this weekend at this development close to Canary Wharf and Blackwall DLR stations. The flats are being used to sell the last two and three bedroom homes, many of which are [...]
Focus On Covent Garden: The tourist trap turned foodie hotspot also does homes August 31, 2018 Who lives in Covent Garden anyway? To most Londoners, this historic 17th century piazza is synonymous with street performers and burger bars. It’s always been a place to pass through on the way to the theatre, rather than a place to spend much time in or, god forbid, live in. But all that is changing [...]
The simple changes that could save the Lifetime Isa August 31, 2018 It’s never been harder for young people to get on the property ladder, and yet they’re not being given the tools or information they need. The Lifetime Isa was supposed to help, but ended up leaving a lot of people confused. While some are calling for it to be scrapped altogether, I think the Lifetime [...]
UK house prices suffered their biggest drop month-on-month since 2012 in August August 31, 2018 In August UK house prices suffered their greatest month-on-month fall since July 2012, according to new data released today. Building society Nationwide's house price index showed prices fell by half a per cent in August, as annual house price growth slowed to two per cent. The average price of a house slipped to £214,745 in [...]
Countrywide of the mark: City investors spurn beleaguered estate agent as share wounds deepen August 30, 2018 It seems there is no end in sight for Countrywide’s bloodbath on the stock market. The embattled estate agent has suffered a collapse in its share price since unveiling a £140m emergency fundraiser earlier this month, reflecting just how uncertain City investors feel about the firm’s future. Shares have fallen a further three per cent so far today, [...]
First-time buyers swoop in during summer lull August 30, 2018 First-time buyers jumping onto the property ladder rose to an eight-month high in July, as hopeful homeowners took advantage of the housing market’s traditional summer slump. Roughly 30 per cent of all house sales were made to first-time buyers in July, rising from 23 per cent in the same month last year, according to new [...]
Mortgage approvals sink back down as housing activity grows thin August 30, 2018 Mortgage approvals suffered a renewed dip in July, underlining fears of stagnant activity levels throughout the UK’s housing market. Last month approvals for house purchases edged down to 65,000, bucking a slow rise to a five-month high in June, according to new bank of England (BoE) statistics. Remortgaging approvals also dropped 5.5 per cent to 45,000 [...]
Irish hotel group Dalata swoops in for £91m Aldgate site August 29, 2018 Ireland’s largest hotel operator has agreed a £91m deal for a site under development on the edge of the Square Mile. In the latest sign of London’s burgeoning hotel market, the aim-listed Dalata Hotel Group has snapped up the Clayton Hotel in Aldgate, which is situated near the new Crossrail station at Whitechapel. The deal for [...]
Changing with the times: Mayfair’s historic owner is setting its sights on property development outside of London August 29, 2018 The Grosvenor Estate, one of the country’s oldest and largest landlords known for its assets at the more expensive end of the monopoly board, is ramping up its expansion plans for property development outside of London. As part of a new portfolio strategy to build 30,000 homes outside of its traditional Mayfair and Belgravia stomping [...]
London house prices face further falls as experts warn of no-deal Brexit August 29, 2018 London house prices could fall a further 1.6 per cent this year, according to a new Reuters poll that signals more trouble to come for the capital’s sluggish housing market. In a survey of 30 housing market specialists, house prices in London are projected to tumble 1.6 per cent by the end of 2018 and a [...]