London Mayor and Berkeley Homes to build 3,500 homes on Newham Parcelforce depot site March 15, 2016 Berkeley Homes is pushing ahead with a scheme to turn a disused Parcelforce depot in east London into 3,500 homes – including one of London’s largest private rental schemes – after agreeing the terms of the deal with London mayor Boris Johnson. Speaking at the annual MIPIM property conference in Cannes this afternoon, Berkeley Group chairman [...]
London house prices: Iranian billionaire investors poised to splurge £6bn on properties around the world – and London is one of the top destinations March 15, 2016 Ultra high-net-worth investors from Iran are poised to go on a buying spree of properties around the world – and London is likely to be the top location. Research by high end estate agent Rokstone claims that millionaires and businesses will spend £6bn over the next five-to-10 years on property outside Iran, following the lifting of sanctions. [...]
UK house prices: Stamp duty – unless we’re still at war with France, it should go March 14, 2016 Stamp duty was originally introduced as a temporary tax in 1694 by a weird coalition of Dutch and British Monarchs, to maintain the war against their French foes. The duty then lay in the background until 1997, when Gordon Brown‘s first act as chancellor was to resurrect it. Brown’s master plan was to impose a [...]
London house prices: The average renter in the capital is now paying more than asking price for their home March 14, 2016 Renters in the capital are now paying above the original asking price of their homes, new research has found – with the average tenant paying 100.9 per cent of what was originally asked. Countryside's monthly lettings index found Londoners were paying an average of £1,309 a month in the year to February, up from £1,295 the month [...]
The rate of high street shop closures at five-year low as coffee shops and takeaway food outlets take their place March 14, 2016 British high streets lost 14 stores a day in 2015, though the rate of closure has slowed to its lowest level in five years, research out today shows. Around 5,138 shops closed down in town centres in 2015 compared with 5,839 in the previous year, according to data from PwC and the Local Data Company (LDC). [...]
Cinven considers bid for part of Thomson Reuters as news organisation set for sale of intellectual property and science units March 13, 2016 Private equity group Cinven is considering bidding for part of Thomson Reuters, with the news organisation set to launch a sale of its intellectual property and science units. The divisions – which reported revenues of $1bn (£0.7bn) last year and an operating profit of $221m – have been valued at around $3bn by analysts. Cinven already owns intellectual [...]
UK house prices: Northern cities are among the best places to invest in property March 11, 2016 Forget Brixton and Hackney – Northern cities are the hottest up-and-coming areas for UK property investors, according to data released today on affordable homes. The figures from consumer group Which? show the areas where property prices are surging that also have an average house price below £200,000. The top spot for affordable homes in the UK is [...]
UK house prices: Stamp duty reforms are forcing landlords to give up buy-to-let investing – or even ditch their portfolios altogether March 11, 2016 More than half of landlords are planning to halt investments into buy-to-let homes, new research has revealed – weeks before April’s stamp duty hike is due to come in. Figures from the crowdfunding platform Property Partner show 59 per cent of landlords are planning to scrap investments into traditional buy-to-let properties, or are intending to sell some [...]
House prices: Mortgage lending jumps in February as landlords make last sprint ahead of April stamp duty hike March 11, 2016 The rush to beat April's stamp duty surcharge on second homes continued to fuel record high levels of lending in February. House purchase approvals reached 72,799 in February, up 17.4 per cent on the same month last year and the second highest monthly figure since January 2014, according to figures released today by UK chartered surveyor e.surv. This was [...]
Battersea Power Station developers submit plans to change hotel into more homes March 10, 2016 The developers behind Battersea Power Station plan to turn a part of the development that was previously set aside for a hotel into extra homes. Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) has submitted a plans to Wandsworth Council for change of use, in a move that would create an extra 409 flats across the 42-acre site. The plans show that around 26,379 square metres [...]