Property of the Week: 48 Sloane Square in Chelsea has been restored to its original Art Deco glory March 10, 2017 48 Sloane Square, Chelsea, £6.95m When property developer Aristo refurbished this second floor apartment overlooking Sloane Square, it pulled out a perfectly preserved newspaper from 11 August 1904, the year the building was built, from underneath the floorboards. This window into the art deco era inspired a theme for the entire project and Aristo set [...]
Organic, natural candles are the only way to go. Here are a few brands to get you started March 10, 2017 Flickering candlelight – there’s nothing like it to bring warmth, romance and life to a room. As we transition from cosy nights in to entertaining for spring outdoors, lighting candles lifts the spirits. They’re so hot right now, there’s even a new kind of consultant whose job it is to create signature scents for the [...]
New Homes: What’s on sale in London this weekend in Hackney, Southwark, Bermondsey, Mitcham and Clapham March 10, 2017 Kings Crescent, Hackney From £98,750 for a 25 per cent share First time buyers living or working in Hackney will be able to get a step on the ladder with Shared Ownership at Kings Crescent. Tomorrow will see 36 none to three bedroom apartments on sale, some refurbished some new, next to Clissold Park each [...]
London’s best places to buy a pied-a-terre: Thinking of selling up for a landing pad in the city? Here are the best locations March 10, 2017 For those disenchanted Londoners considering a move to the country, but afraid of spending half their lives on commuter trains, buying a pied-à-terre could be the solution. For a fraction of the price that you would sell a family home in London, hard-working city executives can hole up close to the office during the week, [...]
Here are the best London commuter towns – with house prices you can actually afford March 10, 2017 London life is not for everyone; it's noisy, the houses are too expensive and the pints aren't cheap either. So if you're looking to get away from it all, but you don't want to give up your City job, where is the ideal place to settle down? Read more: This is what the Budget had [...]
With RICS finding the housing market subdued, should we brace for falling house prices? March 10, 2017 Kay Neufeld, an economist at the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), says Yes. With infallible regularity, every year a number of property market analysts predict that “this year prices surely must fall”. Most of the time, they are wrong. Looking at market fundamentals, not much has changed in 2017. The demand for housing [...]
Government hands over £2.5bn to businesses in quiet U-turn over business rates March 10, 2017 The government has performed a screeching U-turn over new reforms to the business rates system by dropping unpopular proposals for the rates appeals’ process. The proposed appeals regulations would have denied businesses £2.5bn worth of rebates over the next five years, according to estimates by ratings specialists CVS. On Wednesday, communities secretary Sajid Javid quietly met with ratings [...]
Estate agent Countrywide’s share price tumbles as profits fall by more than half March 9, 2017 Shares in the UK's largest estate agent have tumbled after it admitted pre-tax profit plummeted by close to 60 per cent last year. Read more: Estate agents Savills warns current UK house price growth is unsustainable The figures Countrywide, the company behind high street estate agency brands including Bairstow Eves and Hamptons International, said today its [...]
Rents could rise 20 per cent in the next five years – as UK house prices rise 18 per cent March 9, 2017 Rents in the UK could rise by a fifth in the next five years as housing costs rise for the UK's lowest earners, one of the UK's most well-respected housing bodies has said. Research by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed rents for those on lower incomes could rise more than 20 per [...]
Budget 2017: Here’s how the Budget will affect landlords and the buy-to-let sector March 8, 2017 With the housing crisis in full throes, the last few years have been difficult ones to be a landlord – indeed, many have felt punished by measures such as an end to mortgage tax relief and higher stamp duty on buy-to-let homes. The good news for landlords was that today's Budget didn't include any further [...]