Parking mad: London parking spaces sold for over £200,000 May 8, 2016 LONDON is one of the world’s most expensive places to pay for parking space. On Brewer Street in Soho, for example, you could spend over £50 on just three hours of parking. That may be why some mysterious buyers have forked out as much as much as half a million pounds to buy a parking [...]
Housebuilders have their doubts about government targets May 6, 2016 When the government revealed its target to build one million homes by 2020, plenty of those dreaming of stepping onto the property ladder must have rejoiced. However, a study out today warns that they might have celebrated too soon, as over half (51 per cent) housebuilders believe that the target will not be met, with lack of land, painfully [...]
Canary Wharf boss says London could be overtaken by EU cities within years if Brexit happens May 6, 2016 Canary Wharf property boss Sir George Iacobescu has said London would be overtaken by other key European cities within five years if Britain leaves the European Union. "There is nothing you have here in London that is not replicable," Iacobescu said at the City Property Association's EU referendum debate last night. "Whether it is Frankfurt [...]
Knowing me knowing Kew: your guide to buying and living in this greenest of London areas May 5, 2016 For a capital city, London is pretty green – not environmentally, of course – but aesthetically, coming in at number three for green space globally. Kew, however, is pretty green even by London’s standards and its 75 acre botanical gardens are world-renowned. This, coupled with an underground and overground line and good schools, make it [...]
Reviving the Mary Celeste of property: Wandsworth’s most astonishing home May 5, 2016 When city recruiter Susan Cuff first viewed her home in Wandsworth, it was a bit like a residential Mary Celeste. Abandoned 18 months previously, there was still washing in the machine and uneaten food lying around. But underneath the debris of bachelors gone by, she saw there was potential for it to be an incredible [...]
The £18 million view: designer Martin Kemp on overlooking the Tower of London May 5, 2016 Of course the money shot is the view,” says interior designer to the world’s squillionaires, Martin Kemp, pointing out the vista of the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the Thames at close quarters. I can spare a glance out of the window, but turn back to the job at hand of stroking my way [...]
Settled aims to make the home buying process far smoother May 5, 2016 While most people will start a home search these days on Rightmove or Zoopla, less of us are ready to ditch the traditional estate agent and go online, when it comes to the selling process. And the reason why the online agents have failed to grab a larger market share so far is, according to [...]
Gardening spend in the UK shows signs of slowing, survey shows May 4, 2016 The amount people in the UK spend on gardening is falling, new research has revealed. Despite the UK being a nation of garden lovers, with a third of people spending time every week gardening, total spend would appear to have dropped since Lloyds Bank Insurance carried out a survey last year. Just 12 per cent [...]
Investment in London offices hits £3.5bn in the first quarter despite Brexit jitters May 4, 2016 Investors appear to have put Brexit fears aside in the first quarter after splurging £3.5bn on London's office market, new research reveals. Real estate firm CBRE's quarterly figures show that total investment volumes were down 14 per cent on the previous quarter after a particularly strong end to 2015. However, this was on par with the first quarter [...]
Barclays has just started offering a 100 per cent mortgage (but bank of mum and dad is still required) May 4, 2016 We all know how well 100 per cent mortgages worked before the financial crisis – but now Barclays has become one of the first lenders since the crisis not to require a deposit from first-time buyers. Well, sort of. The lender said it has made changes to one of its first time buyer mortgages which means borrowers [...]