Most London homebuyers pay stamp duty of more than £7,500 August 5, 2013 TWO THIRDS of London home sales attract stamp duty of more than £7,500, according to research based on Land Registry data out today from the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA). Figures from the Nationwide show the average price of a London house hit £318,214 in July, meaning potential purchasers must be able to pay £9,500 in cash to the [...]
PM and Osborne back fracking August 5, 2013 David Cameron and George Osborne both affirmed their commitment to British shale gas exploration yesterday, despite signs of a growing rebellion from Tory backbenchers. Recent protests against fracking, the process used to extract the gas, have sprung up as rural communities face exploratory drilling in their area. But the Prime Minister’s spokesman and Osborne both said [...]
Lib Dems eye mansion tax return August 5, 2013 Lib Dem Treasury secretary Danny Alexander is to make another push for a mansion tax on high end property, according to the agenda of the party’s autumn conference. The document, released yesterday, shows Lib Dems members will vote on whether to adopt his proposal of an annual levy on houses worth more than £2m. Previous [...]
Real wages to fall during coalition August 5, 2013 Real wages are set to fall £1,520 over the course of the coalition government, according to figures released today by the Labour party. The calculation, produced by the House of Commons library, shows the estimated effect of inflation and stagnant wages between 2010 and 2015. Recent positive economic data has prompted Labour to concentrate its attacks [...]
Barclays hires 13 banks to sell £5.8bn of shares August 5, 2013 BARCLAYS hired another nine investment banks yesterday to sell its shares, adding to the four already announced last week to bring a total of 13 on board for its multi-billion pound rights issue. The advisers will share a fee pot of around £130m for working on the £5.8bn issue. The shares are being issued as [...]
Euro businesses finally indicate growth in July August 5, 2013 THE EUROZONE’S private sector finally began growing again in June– albeit marginally – with Markit’s purchasing managers’ index rising above 50 for the first time in 17 months. The overall figure for last month, published yesterday, was 50.5. Germany led the currency union once again with a score of 52.1. Italy, France and Spain were [...]
Eurozone hit by drop in retail with 2013’s largest fall this June August 5, 2013 RETAIL trade in the Eurozone dipped by 0.5 per cent during June, according to the EU’s official statisticians, and is now down 0.9 per cent from the same month last year. Eurostat released the figures yesterday, showing that June marked the largest monthly contraction seen so far this year. The previous significant drop was seen [...]
HMV returning to its first shop August 5, 2013 HMV IS returning to its original shop on Oxford Street after 13 years away, the music retailer’s new owner Hilco Capital confirmed yesterday. In a boost for the company’s recovery efforts after going into administration in January, HMV will move back into 363 Oxford Street in early October. The store, which housed HMV from 1921 [...]
New London homes sales hit record high as UK buyers return August 5, 2013 RETURNING confidence in the UK housing market has led to a jump in the number of Britons buying new homes off-plan, figures out today show. Domestic buyers accounted for 57 per cent of purchasers in the first half of 2013 compared with 47 per cent in the first half of 2012, according to research by [...]
Domino’s Pizza falls after £30m shares sell-off August 5, 2013 SHARES in Domino’s Pizza tumbled 7.5 per cent yesterday afternoon as investors reacted to news that two prominent non-executive directors sold more than £30m in shares after markets closed on Friday. Property entrepreneur Nigel Wray, an early investor in the pizza-maker who once held nearly 30 per cent of the firm, has pocketed £28m after [...]