Oh, he does like to be beside the seaside: Luke Johnson has just bought Brighton Pier for £18m April 8, 2016 He may be best known as the former owner of Pizza Express, but it seems Luke Johnson is more of a scream-if-you-want-to-go-faster man now: he's just splashed out (see what we did there?) on the company behind Brighton Pier. This morning Johnson's company, Aim-listed Eclectic Bar Group, said it had entered into an agreement with the [...]
Shiver me timbers: Architects propose plans for London’s first wooden skyscraper April 8, 2016 Forget steel and concrete. Wood is poised to take over as the construction material of the 21st century according to architects at the University of Cambridge and PLP Architecture, who have revealed plans for what London's first timber skyscraper could look like. Researchers at the university will today present London mayor Boris Johnson with conceptual [...]
From Doctor Who penthouses gothic three-beds, here are the new builds hitting the London property market this week April 7, 2016 Queen’s Wharf, Hammersmith Four penthouses are on sale atop a riverside scheme in Hammersmith. Named Clark, Dixon, Appleby and Thorne after four key figures in the construction of Hammersmith Bridge, the penthouses have three bedrooms and a private roof terrace each. Prices start at £4.2m and they’re due to be finished in 2017. The scheme [...]
Another sign that stamp duty deadline sent buy-to-let investors into a buying frenzy April 7, 2016 More proof George Osborne's stamp duty wizard wheeze served to push up prices in the run-up to the deadline, after new figures showed UK house prices rose by the most in at least a year in March. Halifax's house price index, published this morning, showed prices rose 10.1 per cent in the year to March, [...]
Demand for homes in London is falling as prices keep rocketing – except in these two boroughs April 6, 2016 It looks like rocketing house prices are having a demotivating effect on London home buyers, after new figures suggested demand for homes has fallen across many of the capital's most exclusive boroughs. The figures, by online estate agent Emoov, found demand for homes in Southwark fell 50 per cent between the final quarter of last year [...]
East London is propping up slowing central London housing market, JLL report shows April 6, 2016 East London residential property prices jumped by seven per cent in the year to March, helping to shore up a slowdown in other parts of the capital hit by uncertainty in the market, new research from JLL today shows. The property firm's latest central London development report shows a slowdown in sales activity in the first quarter of the [...]
US investor Cain Hoy buys historic Mayfair block for £80m April 5, 2016 Cain Hoy, US investment firm backed by Guggenheim Partners, has snapped up a historic building in one of Mayfair's luxury shopping streets for £80m. The five storey terracotta building at 19 South Audley Street dates back to 1845 and is best known for housing china and silverware retailer Thomas Goode's emporium since that time. It also has offices and flats on the [...]
How EggHomes cracked high speed broadband and eco-efficiency in the Lake District April 5, 2016 This year marks the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter's birth. Born and bred in the Lake District, her illustrated tales of the adventures of Peter Rabbit and his friends have become quintessential children’s bedtime stories of the English countryside. The founding of the protected 885sq mile Lake District National Park in 1951 has ensured the [...]
Londoners are sick of all the skyscrapers – we’ve mapped how many are planned near you April 5, 2016 From the Gherkin to the Shard, some of London's most well-loved landmarks are skyscrapers, but new research shows the capital's residents are getting sick of all the glass towers going up. A total of 430 new towers are planned for the capital, but a poll from YouGov has shown nearly half of Londoners – 48 per cent – think the [...]
Property tech start-up Settled wins backing from lastminute.com investor and launches £1m fundraise April 4, 2016 An online property platform aiming to shake-up the traditional estate agency model by encouraging landlords take control of their own sales has launched a £1m funding round, after winning the backing of one of the UK's leading tech investors. Settled was launched last year by brother and sister team Gemma and Paul Young, who wanted to create an online business that put aspiring homeowners directly [...]