PMI: House building shrinks for first time since beginning of pandemic July 6, 2022 A slowdown in the UK economy triggered by the cost of living crisis has led to house building stalling, a closely watched survey published today reveals. Activity in the UK house building sector dropped for the first time since May 2020, when the country was in the teeth of the most onerous pandemic restrictions, according [...]
If money was no object: The City is by far Londoners’ most desirable borough July 2, 2022 One in five Londoners would want to live in the City, with the figure rising to 28% among those aged 18-34, according to new research shared exclusively with City A.M. today. The Square Mile is closely followed by Kensington and Chelsea, with 18 per cent of Londoners choosing the leafy and exclusive borough as their [...]
No cost of living crisis for Prince Charles as Duchy of Cornwall’s assets swell to record £1.2bn after £93m ‘staycation’ boost June 30, 2022 Annual accounts published this afternoon show that the total assets of the Duchy of Cornwall’s landed estate have risen to more than £1.2bn, a jump of nearly £93m since last year. As heir to the throne, the Prince of Wales is entitled to the Duchy’s profits as his yearly private income, which came to £23m [...]
Shares in property firms continue to tumble as Bank of America warns WFH here to stay June 30, 2022 Selling pressure has mounted after American investment titan Bank of America warned that “real estate’s glory days are numbered”. A major concern for the bank was that “working from home and hybrid working are here to stay”, adding in its research note: “Recession will likely lead office occupancy and market rental values to decline and [...]
Remortgage sales hit highest level since before the pandemic outnumbering all other types of home loans June 29, 2022 The FCA’s latest data shows that remortgage sales in the fourth quarter of last year, at 92,558, reached their highest level of activity since early 2020, before the outbreak of the pandemic. In fact, they outnumbered all other types of home loans for the first time since the third quarter of 2020, according to analysis [...]
Boost for the City as office take-up hits highest level so far this year with vacancy rates dropping and rent at new record June 28, 2022 Office take-up in the City of London office take-up reached 714,683 sq ft in May, which is the highest monthly take-up by volume since December 2021, and the most number of deals by number (36) since March 2021, real estate giant Savills said this morning. Take-up for the year-to-date has now reached 2.3m sq ft [...]
Calls grow for City of London to drop plans to tear down historic Barbican buildings which include Museum of London June 27, 2022 The City of London Corporation is urged to reconsider an earlier decision to demolish historic buildings, including the Museum of London, in the capital’s Barbican area. A campaign has been launched. The City of London Corporation has submitted plans to demolish Bastion House and the Museum of London, replacing both with a 780,000 square feet [...]
UK leads Europe in mortgage market might but sits at bottom for share of population that owns home June 24, 2022 While the UK may trail other European nations when it comes to the total proportion of the population that own their own home, it does lead the way when it comes to the might of the mortgage sector and the number of properties purchased by borrowing. At 65.1 per cent, the UK sits well within [...]
Credit Suisse and Citco face £430m lawsuit over Chelsea property deal that lost Vatican £100m June 22, 2022 The filing of a €500m (£430m) lawsuit against Credit Suisse and Citco over the loss of millions in charitable funds through a Chelsea property deal has led to calls for greater transparency around the “origins of money used to purchase high-value property” in Britain. The calls come after Anglo-Italian financier Raffaele Mincione’s WRM Group filed [...]
Government admits most Brits will not benefit from Boris Johnson’s ‘benefits to bricks’ housing plans June 22, 2022 Most Brits will not be able to make use of Boris Johnson’s “benefits to bricks” scheme to allow welfare payments to secure mortgages, the government has admitted. Earlier this month, the Prime Minister announced a plan to enable people who are in work but also on housing benefit to use welfare payments towards a mortgage, [...]