Countryside shrugs off Brexit concerns with soaring revenue and profits November 29, 2016 Housebuilder Countryside has laid solid foundations for 2017 after making a return to the London Stock Exchange earlier this year. The figures Adjusted revenue was up 26 per cent from £615.8m in 2015 to £777m, while adjusted operating profit rose 34 per cent to £122.5m from £91.2m. Basic earnings per share were up 209 per cent from [...]
Ikea scores fifth year of sales growth in the UK November 29, 2016 Ikea has announced its fifth year of sales growth in the UK, and has broadened its market share. The furnishings retailer's UK sales hit £1.72bn in the 2016 financial year, increasing 8.9 per cent on last year. Its market share jumped by 0.5 percentage points to 8.2 per cent. Read more: Flatpack-loving foodies push Ikea sales to [...]
The City’s tallest skyscraper gets the go-ahead November 28, 2016 The tallest building in the City of London, 1 Undershaft, has just received planning approval. Rising up 73 storeys, the new glass giant will be the second tallest tower in western Europe after the Shard. To make room for the building, Aviva Tower will be demolished. Read more: Steel group Severfield sets its sights on [...]
The surprise London areas where disposable income’s rising fastest November 28, 2016 Did someone say gentrification? Any resident of south London knows the area's on the rise, but now new figures reveal just how much that's happening: disposable incomes in some of the hottest areas south of the Thames are rising more than 10 times faster than the rest of the UK. Lewisham and Southwark experienced a 5.3 per cent rise in cash in [...]
Mongolian property developer aims for London float November 28, 2016 A Mongolian property developer is plotting a flotation on the London Stock Exchange’s junior market. Asia Pacific Investment Partners this morning announced its intention to float on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) next month. The group claims to be one of “a few Mongolian real estate developers able to effectively access both international and domestic [...]
Planning permission could soon be granted for the City of London’s highest skyscraper at 1 Undershaft November 27, 2016 A decision on planning permission for what would be the City’s tallest building is expected soon from the City of London Corporation. If it is approved, the tower at 1 Undershaft will be situated at the heart of the City’s cluster of skyscrapers, slotting between the Leadenhall Building and 30 St Mary Axe – known [...]
Interiors: Tara Bernerd looks back on her 15-year career designing hotels and elite residences around the globe November 25, 2016 If there’s one imminent interiors project in London that we can’t wait to sneak a peek at, it’s the show apartments for One Park Drive, a Herzog and de Meuron-designed cylindrical tower taking shape in Canary Wharf. It’s highly-anticipated, not just because the 472-apartment tower is one of the largest remaining undeveloped sites in the [...]
Focus On Peckham: How it went from Only Fools fame to be the first time buyer capital of London November 25, 2016 Whatever you think about 2016, it’s been a billboard year for Peckham. Two large houses near Peckham Rye station sold £2.5m this year, a record price for the area, firmly cementing SE15’s fast-growing reputation as a desirable place to live. It’s not bad for an area that is embedded in the national psyche as the [...]
Autumn Statement opinion: Will the Chancellor’s ban on fees kill off the high street letting agent? November 25, 2016 Two days on and the property industry is still reeling from the Chancellor Philip Hammond’s decision to ban letting agent fees for tenants almost immediately. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, given that these fees were banned in Scotland four years ago and the Government has actually been consulting on them for the last [...]
Property of the Week: Church Grove in Kingston, an enormous Victorian treasure on the edge of a royal park, is on sale for £2.695m November 25, 2016 If you have a conservatory in your house, you’re considered pretty lucky. But few have one that was built in the 19th century that’s secured with a stable door straight from Hampton Court Palace. Church Grove, a six-bedroom house in Kingston-Upon-Thames, does though. Foxtons has been marketing the unusual feature as a “sun room”, but [...]