DEBATE: Is Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday the right move? July 9, 2020 Is Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday the right move? Clive Docwra, managing director of property and construction consultancy McBains, says YES. Raising the level where stamp duty tax kicks in to £500,000 is great news for the London property market. With the average cost of a home in the capital standing at close to £600,000, [...]
Halifax: UK house prices suffer longest fall since 2010 July 7, 2020 UK house prices fell for the fourth month in a row in June for the first time since 2010, according to Halifax data released today. Unlike rival Nationwide, which found the value of homes shrank for the first time on an annual basis in June, Halifax recorded a 2.5 per cent-year-on-year rise. But as the [...]
Builders urge government to target 30,000 new houses for elderly a year in pandemic recovery June 25, 2020 The three largest retirement home providers have warned Boris Johnson that Britain’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic will be “running on empty” if he does not urgently build new houses for older people. The chief executives of McCarthy & Stone, Churchill Retirement, and Lifestory Group have written to the Prime Minister urging him to [...]
London house market set for £52bn post-lockdown splurge as transactions stall May 11, 2020 London property buyers could be set to splurge £52bn once the lockdown is lifted due to huge pent-up demand as coronavirus brings the market to standstill. The figure represents the potential spend for residential buyers and marks a 20 per cent increase on the same time last year. It comes as the number of lost [...]
Level up: Boosting the regions might mean levelling down London March 12, 2020 Except for updates on the coronavirus, no ministerial appearance these days is complete without mention of the government’s professed intention to “level up”. This seems to mean a desire to do something — usually something to do with infrastructure spending — for the so-called “left-behind” places that voted Leave in 2016, and especially those “red [...]
City workers snap up central London homes as Brexit uncertainty fades March 2, 2020 The number of City workers snapping up property in prime central London areas surged last year as the uncertainty surrounding Brexit began to clear, according to the latest research. The percentage of buyers from the financial services sector buying properties worth more than £2m jumped to 34.6 per cent of total sales in 2019, the [...]
London house prices: Did your borough benefit from the Boris bounce? February 19, 2020 The increased political certainty offered by the Conservative General Election victory in December has been credited with giving London house prices a “Boris bounce”. This morning the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that UK house prices jumped 2.2 per cent on an annual basis in December, with London house prices [...]
London house prices rebound with 2.3 per cent growth after election February 19, 2020 London house prices grew at their fastest rate in 15 months in December following Boris Johnson’s election win, official figures showed today, as UK house prices also rose. Homes in the capital enjoyed a 2.3 per cent rise to £484,000 after a 2019 full of falls, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The [...]
Want to encourage downsizing and free up the housing market? Reform stamp duty February 13, 2020 With the first post-Brexit Budget fast approaching, there are huge hopes, expectations, and indeed demands across industries and sectors — but perhaps few areas are more important than solving the housing crisis. As Boris Johnson’s team focuses on delivering their manifesto promises, including building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, it’s worth remembering that [...]
House prices 2020: How will the UK property market fare next year? December 26, 2019 It’s been a rocky year for the property market, as protracted political uncertainty and affordability problems left house prices largely stagnant in London and across the UK. But with a resounding victory for Boris Johnson in the General Election earlier this month, and the prospect of an end to the Brexit saga in sight, 2020 [...]