How the ONS single-handedly knocked £100,000 off the average UK house price in April June 15, 2016 Eagle-eyed house price watchers may have spotted something fishy about the official house price figures for April. Yep: in the figures, published yesterday, the average UK house price was almost £100,000 lower than last month – dropping from £292,000 in March to just £209,000 in April. Are those jitters over the EU referendum really having that bad an [...]
Berkeley Group chairman Tony Pidgley backs Remain as the housebuilder’s revenues fall June 15, 2016 Berkeley group's chairman, the venerable Tony Pidgley, has backed the Remain side as the company announced this morning that its revenue had fallen. The figures Revenues fell at the UK housebuilder from £2.12bn to £2.05bn in the year to April 30. Pre-tax profits were also down, from £539.7m to £530.9m. The company said that there is "robust underlying demand" but [...]
Fewer tenants are in serious rent arrears thanks to an improved jobs market June 15, 2016 The improving employment market means that fewer tenants are falling into arrears, according to data released today. Research from lettings agents Your Move and Reeds Rains shows 3,100 fewer households were in serious rent arrears in the first quarter of 2016 as compared to the previous quarter. As a result of the improving situation from tenant [...]
Labour shortages are casting a shadow over the UK property market June 14, 2016 Housebuilders are convinced that a lack of labour is one of the biggest challenges facing the property market, according to a survey from Knight Frank released today. The report found that as many as 73 per cent of respondents believed the cost and availability of labour will have a negative impact on future housing supply. Read [...]
House prices remained buoyant in April despite Brexit backdrop, and yes, you guessed it: London property is still hideously expensive June 14, 2016 UK average house prices continued to grow in April according to the latest ONS house price index. Any Brexit jitters failed to impact the market, as prices increased by 8.2 per cent in the year to April, following the trend marked out since the end of 2013. Read more: No, Brexit won't hit house prices – here's why [...]
Ashtead Group’s share price is on the up, building on a set of good results June 14, 2016 Ashtead's share price was on the up in morning trading after the construction equipment provider announced a set of strong results. The figures Ashtead's rental revenue for the year grew 17 per cent. There was also double-digit growth for the company's pre-tax profit, up 24 per cent to £645m, from £490m in 2015. This year the company invested £1.2bn [...]
Housebuilder Crest Nicholson’s shares fall – despite rebuffing Brexit blues June 14, 2016 Nothing can dampen the profits of a housebuilder, not even Brexit – housebuilder Crest Nicholson this morning posted healthy results despite the uncertainty about the outcome of the UK's upcoming referendum. The figures In its half-year report this morning, Crest Nicholson announced pre-tax profits at the firm were up 26 per cent in the six months [...]
Are leading investors wrong to criticise house-builder Persimmon for its £600m executive bonus pot? June 14, 2016 Rachel Cunliffe, deputy editor of CapX, says Yes. Persimmon’s aim was simple: incentivise executives to develop land in the most profitable way. The bonus scheme it established rewarded managers if they hit ambitious targets over a 10-year period – targets they have outperformed dramatically, building more homes more efficiently. Investors should be thrilled. The share price [...]
Focus On Walthamstow: the outer London hotspot where house price growth is frankly ridiculous June 13, 2016 There was a time when the postcode East 17 was tainted in the popular consciousness by a band of shirtless youths with odd taste in hats. But, thankfully, those days are gone, and it’s been restored to its rightful owner, Walthamstow in north-east London, and it’s one of the fastest-growing, up-and-coming places in the capital. [...]
Property of the week: This five-bedroom, five storey house is a rarity on London’s Brutalist, iconic Barbican Estate June 13, 2016 Love it or hate it, the modernist maze that is the Barbican Estate is a concrete part of the City of London’s architectural history. Costing around £150m to build over a period of 20 years, the Queen described it as “one of the wonders of the modern world” when she opened it. But its three [...]