Mortgage borrowing surges ahead of stamp duty changes May 1, 2025 Net borrowing or mortgages spiked by £9.7bn in March as house buyers looked to clinch deals before higher stamp duty taxes came into effect. Net borrowing levels exceeded £13bn, according to the Bank of England, as the rise compared to February beat market forecasts of £3.2bn. EY ITEM Club’s Matt Swannell said the surge in [...]
Lego to relocate 1,500 staff to new landmark headquarters May 1, 2025 Lego is set to move its London headquarters from Farringdon to the iconic 76 Southbank in 2027, it has been confirmed. The Danish company will occupy 192,000sqft across three-and-a-half floors in the riverside building, originally designed by famed brutalist architect Sir Denys Lasdun. The redeveloped site, next to the National Theatre, has been modernised by [...]
Puma to move UK head office from London to Manchester May 1, 2025 Puma is to relocate its UK head office from London to Manchester after signing up to take space in a new £87m building. The global sportswear brand is to take 20,000 sq ft at 3 Circle Square in the city centre, which is due to open this summer. The head office will become home to [...]
Lindt: £75m sought for UK home of Swiss chocolatier April 30, 2025 The UK headquarters of Swiss chocolatier Lindt has been put up for sale with an asking price of £75m. The building in Richmond upon Thames is a redevelopment of the former Gosling Department Store. The five-storey, mixed-use development is fully let, with luxury gym operator Third Space and two high-end restaurants occupying the lower floors. DTRE [...]
House prices drop an ‘eye-catcher’ due to stamp duty changes April 30, 2025 UK house prices fell in April at their fastest month-to-month rate in nearly two years, fresh data has suggested, as adjustments to stamp duty knocked demand. Prices declined by 0.6 per cent in April compared to the previous month, according to Nationwide. The drop was attributed to stamp duty changes, introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves [...]
Zoopla: Rightmove rival handed £500m price tag April 30, 2025 Online property portal Zoopla has been put up for sale with an asking price of around £500m, it is understood. The company, which was launched in 2008, has put on the market by Silver Lake Partners which has owned the group it forms a part of following a £1.6bn deal in 2018. That group also includes [...]
Sir Robert McAlpine returns to profit after losing over £100m April 28, 2025 Sir Robert McAlpine, the family-owned construction giant which built London 2012’s Olympic Stadium, has recovered from losing over £100m to return to profit. The Hertfordshire-headquartered business has posted a pre-tax profit of £10.4m for 2024 after having slumped to a loss of £104.6m in 2023. The business has also reported a turnover of £940m for [...]
Controversial tower opposed by Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Felicity Kendal rejected April 25, 2025 Plans for a 29-storey mixed-use tower at the southern end of Battersea Bridge have been unanimously rejected by Wandsworth Council. The 110-home Glassmill scheme was voted down at meeting of the authority’s planning committee on Thursday night. The decision follows months of local opposition to the project, with more than 2,000 objections from members of [...]
London house prices fall fuels sales surge April 24, 2025 Sales of prime central London housing jumped up during the first three months of 2025 as prices fell amid the ongoing global uncertainty. Residential sales activity in the first quarter rose 12 per cent compared to 2024, according to new research from global property advisor JLL. “There are clear signs of renewed confidence across prime [...]
Inside the ‘nationally significant’ plan to put Manchester ‘on the map’ April 24, 2025 The first phase of a “nationally significant” plan which would see 20,000 jobs created and put Greater Manchester “on the map” has been officially submitted. The Northern Gateway development would be the largest proposed employment site in the region – with its first phase including up to 6.5 million sq ft of employment space, supporting [...]