UK benefits from $429bn global boom in real estate investment April 19, 2015 Money is flooding into global real estate with new capital targeting the commercial sector reaching a record $429bn (£287bn) in 2015, according to a DTZ report. The Americas are fuelling the boom, with a 12 per cent increase in capital flowing into the western hemisphere totalling $166bn of which $145bn is earmarked for the US. [...]
Beware, Sid – Lloyds sale could be tricky April 19, 2015 A big retail offering of Lloyds shares is on the cards. Large-scale privatisation is back. David Cameron is promising a £4bn sale of Lloyds shares to retail customers, swapping one big government shareholder for thousands of individuals. An instant comparison is with the 1980s. Giant firms like BT, BP and British Gas were taken out [...]
London house prices: Capital homes increasingly unaffordable April 19, 2015 Homes in London have become drastically less affordable under the current government, according to a new report published today. A consumer’s capacity to buy a home in the capital is now 77 per cent worse than it was in 2010, according to the latest Ability to Buy index from the estate agent Hamptons International. London [...]
Asking prices reach record highs in London’s property market April 19, 2015 The price of homes coming to market in London has reached an all-time high, according to new figures released today. The average asking price in the capital is now £594,585, up nearly seven per cent from this time last year and almost 50 per cent over the last five years, according to the property website [...]
Money in your pocket? Here’s where the main parties stand on income tax April 19, 2015 The contents of voters’ pockets has always been a key motivating factor when it comes to deciding which party to place a cross next to. Few things encapsulate this kind of consumer politics more than the rate of income tax. The coalition has made great play of taking the lowest paid out of income tax [...]
Mike Ashley funds purchase of Chelsea development worth £900m April 19, 2015 Mike Ashley has financed a deal for a lucrative development in Chelsea that could be worth around £900m according to reports. The Newcastle United owner and Sports Direct founder is said to have provided the £200m paid by Citygrove and McLaren Properties for a development site from John Lewis. According to The Sunday Times, the money [...]
ECB President Mario Draghi warns Greek bailout deal is “urgent” April 19, 2015 European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi has warned the negotiations around Greece's €240bn (£181bn) bailout program are "urgent" and a default by the cash-strapped country would push the region into "uncharted territory". "Much more work is needed now, and it's urgent," he said at the International Monetary Fund – World Bank spring meeting in Washington. [...]
Standard & Poor’s upgrades Nokia and puts Alcatel-Lucent on positive watch April 17, 2015 Was selling off its mobile manufacturing arm the best decision Nokia's management ever made? Following a generally positive reaction to its proposal to buy Alcatel-Lucent earlier this week, it's only gone and been upgraded by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's… In a statement today S&P said it was upgrading the Finnish former mobile manufacturer [...]
UK house prices hit new high, but growth slows to its lowest for 16 months as London feels the effects of stamp duty changes and mansion tax fears April 17, 2015 UK house price growth is at its slowest since 2013, despite the cost of buying a house hitting record highs. The capital was particularly affected, as changes in stamp duty and fears of a mansion tax hit sales. The figures According to figures from LSL property Services, March 2015 had the smallest annual rise in [...]
Quindell share price edges up as investors vote in favour of Slater & Gordon deal April 17, 2015 Quindell shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a deal to sell its professional services arm to Australian law firm Slater & Gordon, with 99.1 per cent in favour of the deal. Shares in the company rose 1.3 per cent to 133p after the vote, which took place at an extraordinary general meeting held in [...]