As the first residents move into Television Centre, a new era is beginning for the BBC’s former home in west London November 28, 2017 When BBC Television Centre in White City, west London, was opened by the Queen in 1961, it was described by then director general Gerald Butler as “the largest, best equipped and most carefully planned factory of its kind.” Rather than goods, this building would manufacture culture and, at the time, it was the most ambitious [...]
M7 cancels IPO of its real estate investment trust which would have been the largest this year November 24, 2017 M7 Real Estate, a firm which invests in commercial property around Europe, has today cancelled the planned float of its new investment trust on the London Stock Exchange. The M7 Multi-Let Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit), which was set to invest in UK commercial property, aimed to raise £300m in a stock market listing which [...]
Interiors: Victorian dandy and perfumer Atkinsons returns to Burlington Arcade and we get an early preview of its 19th century-inspired decor November 24, 2017 On the black marble bar the bottles of pale and amber liquid are neatly lined up in a row. I inhale the powerful aromas one at a time like a fine wine or rare whisky. This bar, however, doesn’t serve booze, it’s the centrepiece of the new Atkinsons fragrance shop in Burlington Arcade and the [...]
Focus On Forest Hill: Meet the up-and-coming part of south east London that’s been dubbed the “new nappy valley” November 16, 2017 Like a lot of south east London, Forest Hill likes to keep a low profile – lest anyone find out just how good it is. But as the affordability crisis forces more and more Londoners to search the nooks and crannies of the capital for decent housing, many of them have alighted upon this useful [...]
Asia’s construction investment to outpace both Europe and US over the next five years November 16, 2017 Vast growth potential in the Asian construction sector is set to be tapped into over the next five years, with investment expected to average $1.61 trillion annually, outstripping comparable figures for Europe and the US. According to research by Oxford Economics, resurgent growth among Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – the so-called tiger [...]
Interiors: As we face a future without wood-burning stoves, we look at alternative ways to fire up the home November 16, 2017 Earlier this autumn Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, caused a storm by announcing plans to put restrictions on wood-burning stoves, forbidding the burning of solid fuel in certain zones. If they go ahead, it’s not only the authenticity of a stone-baked pizza from your favourite pizzeria that would be extinguished – the aromas and hypnotic [...]
Here’s why housebuilder shares are down today November 8, 2017 It was a bad morning for housebuilders, with companies listed on both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 dragging the indices lower. Persimmon, the UK’s largest housebuilder by volume, led the fallers on the FTSE 100, with shares dropping 3.4 per cent to 2,772.5p, while Barratt, Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley Group were all among the [...]
Every London borough ranked by house price growth in the next three years November 3, 2017 Despite doomsday predictions for house price growth in the capital, prices in Hackney will continue to keep growth strongly over the next three years, new research has suggested. Prices in Hackney are expected to grow more than five per cent in the years to 2020, followed by Westminster and Lewisham, which will both experience growth [...]
Most affordable London commuter towns: How a one hour commute can save buyers £500,000 on London house prices October 30, 2017 Living an hour outside London could slash half a million pounds off house prices compared with buying a home in zones one and two of the capital, according to new research. Commuter towns such as Crawley, Windsor, Rochester and Peterborough have an average house prices of £316,000, a survey by Lloyds Bank has found. That [...]
What will an interest rate hike mean for house prices? October 17, 2017 Inflation hit three per cent in September, adding fuel to the fire for commentators calling for a rate hike. There has been talk of a rate rise for years now, although it hasn’t moved above 0.5 per cent since March 2009. The Bank of England hasn’t increased the rate since December 2007, when it began [...]