Are Sadiq Khan’s planning reforms viable? June 6, 2016 After just two weeks in office as the new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan revealed his plans to deal with the capital’s housing crisis and said the previous mayor had “left the cupboard bare” when it comes to delivering affordable housing. Khan says he will be working with the government to actively identify surplus public [...]
More money for proptech: HouseSimple raises £13m from Carphone Warehouse boss June 6, 2016 More money is flowing into up and coming property technology (proptech) companies, with the founder of Carphone Warehouse leading a new multimillion pound investment in online estate agent HouseSimple. Sir Charles Dunstone lead the £13m funding in the firm which ditches the high cost of traditional agency fees, along with his business partner Roger Taylor. An institutional investor [...]
Housebuilders are busy in the Home Counties as Londoners flee the capital’s ridiculous house prices June 6, 2016 Housebuilding is on the up in the home counties as Londoners flee outrageous house prices in the capital. There was an 11.3 per cent increase in residential planning approvals over the last year, up to 12,010 in 2015 from 10,793 the year before, according to commercial law firm EMW. The greatest increases in housing applications from [...]
BlackRock agrees to sell Singapore office spot to Qatar Investment Authority for $2.5bn June 6, 2016 BlackRock announced today that it had agreed to hand over the keys to an office complex in Singapore to sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority for $2.5bn (£1.7bn). Asia Square Tower 1 consists of 43-storeys of space and more than 1.25 million square feet of area that could be let out. Citibank, one of the building's most notable tenants, has been in [...]
Gazumping is a go! This is how many property purchases fall through June 3, 2016 Some would-be homeowners are learning the hard way that, even if the ink's dry on the contract, it doesn't guarantee they'll be moving in any time soon. More than a quarter (28 per cent) of homebuyers have had a house purchase fall through after they've had an offer accepted, research out today has found. The [...]
Now Savills has got into online estate agency with its latest investment June 3, 2016 Savills has jumped into the online estate agent market with both feet, after it ploughed "a substantial amount" into "hybrid" estate agency Yopa. Yopa said today that it had raised £16m, including investment from Grosvenor Hill Ventures, Savills' proprietary investment arm. Yopa, which was only launched at the beginning of this year, allows people to [...]
New homes on sale in London: from a Hackney reservoir opened by Sir David Attenborough to Shared Ownership homes in Greenwich and Penge June 2, 2016 Woodberry Down, Stoke Newington From £475,000 Live in an apartment overlooking a protected nature reserve in north east London that hasn’t been accessible to the public for 200 years. Sir David Attenborough re-opened the Stoke Newington Reservoir in April and now the first homes next to it, The Nature Collection, are on sale. Set across [...]
Property of the Week: We may have found the only bungalow in central London tucked inside a courtyard in Marylebone June 2, 2016 If you’re torn between living centrally in squished conditions or braving a suburban commute for a quainter way of life, then The Bailey in Marylebone may be the solution. Its sales agent Kay & Co claims it’s the only bungalow in central London. Bungalows – self-contained, single level houses – became popular in the inter-war [...]
Focus On Southfields: This south west London suburb is bucking the London property trend ahead of Wimbledon June 2, 2016 If you went down to Southfields today, you’d be in for a big surprise. Buying London property is hardly a teddy bear’s picnic at the best of times, but as buyers rush to the leafier outskirts in search of more affordable property, outer boroughs that were once overlooked are finding they’re in high demand. London [...]
Holiday Homes: Sussing out the property market in Barcelona, the Spanish city proving popular with cash-strapped millennials June 2, 2016 Barcelona is the millennials’ Paris. There are scores of city-wide events aimed at a younger demographic, the art galleries are overwhelmingly modern, and a cursory glance through social media will net you far more pictures of young couples standing atop one of Barcelona’s several hills than the Eiffel Tower. The city’s growing popularity means property [...]