Berkeley Group’s home reservations hit by stamp duty and the Brexit vote September 6, 2016 Berkeley Group, the housebuilder recently relegated from the FTSE 100, has said in a statement today that reservations for its properties have fallen by 20 per cent as compared to last year. Stamp duty tax changes and the EU referendum had made trading more difficult, it said in its trading statement today, which covers the period from [...]
SocGen sells Tower Hill office to Hong Kong-listed property developer September 5, 2016 Societe Generale has sold its Tower Hill premises to a Hong Kong-listed property developer, SRE Group. The sale for around £84.5m in cash of the nine-storey office building and linked five-storey car park was formally agreed last Friday but was not reported until today. According to the fine print of the deal, the sale of the building will complete [...]
The tallest residential skyscraper in Western Europe is coming to London Docklands – this is what it will look like September 5, 2016 Londoners will soon get the chance to live in Western Europe's tallest residential skyscraper. The £800m tower, set for London Docklands, is being built by Chinese firm Greenland Group and will be 67 storeys tall, housing 861 apartments. But don't worry – getting to the top won't take long. There will be nine lifts travelling between floors at [...]
Estate agent Belvoir says Brexit vote and stamp duty “unsettled” the property market September 5, 2016 UK property franchise Belvoir Lettings said this morning the property market had been "unsettled" in the lead up to the Brexit vote. Chairman and chief executive Mike Goddard said demand for property remains strong, but added that tax changes for buy to let landlords, combined with the EU referendum, meant the market's growth in the first [...]
Parents are forking out more to buy homes near top schools September 5, 2016 Parents are increasingly prepared to pay a hefty premium to buy a home within the catchment area of Britain's best state schools. Lloyds Bank research released today showed they are willing to fork out an average of £53,000 more to live in an area close to a top performing state school — an increase of £13,000 (31 per cent) [...]
One in three homeowners disappointed with their progress up the housing ladder September 3, 2016 A third of homeowners are disappointed with their progress up the housing ladder, new research has found. Some 33 per cent expected to have advanced further than they currently have, according to a Lloyds Bank survey of around 1,000 homeowners. The figure increases among first-time buyers, 43 per cent of whom said they are lagging [...]
Berkeley Group has suspended construction on a £20m housing scheme in Barnes September 2, 2016 Berkeley Group may have just dropped out of the FTSE 100, but that's unlikely to have stopped rival developers from keeping a close eye on its activities. Tony Pidgley, the company's founder, famously called the top of the London housing market during the recession. Now he's taken the decision to, er, stop building a small [...]
Something must be done about the surge in short-term lets on Airbnb – or we will be left facing a housing disaster September 2, 2016 Just when it seemed news for renters couldn't get any worse – it has. Figures out today from the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) show that a surge in the numbers of short-term lets on Airbnb could be having dire consequences for renters in London. In the four months from February to June this year London Airbnb [...]
Is Britain a BBQ nation? Laura Ivill thinks so and she’s spent the last few days of summer learning some grill skills September 1, 2016 Brits love to BBQ. I count the quality of the summer by how many BBQs I’ve had. A couple of years ago I had a New Zealand friend staying. So in tune with the BBQ lifestyle are the Kiwis that his family would have a cook-up on Christmas Day. On balmy evenings we would fire [...]
Opinion: Research shows that homebuyers are ready to embrace new technology – but estate agents aren’t keeping up September 1, 2016 Buying or selling a property can be a stressful and daunting process. Choosing the right estate agent, and utilising new digital tools, can make all the difference – not only to the price but also to the overall experience. Dezrez recently conducted research to explore the attitudes, perceptions and expectations that UK home buyers have [...]