Cut stamp duty to reap £4bn windfall, Berkeley urges Healey Property One of Britain’s biggest housebuilders has urged John Healey to slash stamp duty on newly built homes, in a move which it says would hand the Treasury a £4.2bn windfall. In its Budget submission, London-listed Berkeley Group told the Chancellor that urgent action was needed to prevent the housing market from “sliding over an economic [...]
Top Tory pleads with young people to stay in Britain Politics Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith has urged young people to stay in Britain and support the Conservatives as he highlighted the Tory pitch to young people amid a row over the party’s commitment to keeping the triple lock pension. In a speech to party members on Monday, Griffith said Tory policies to scrap stamp duty and [...]
Property tax uncertainty causes London luxury rents to soar Property Uncertainty over how the government might shake up property taxes at next month’s Budget is contributing to huge increases in the cost of renting a luxury house in London. Luxury property experts said fears that Andy Burnham could crack down on high-value homes, along with an influx of demand from the US and the Middle [...]
London house price slowdown worsens as luxury areas lose value September 16, 2026 House prices losses in London accelerated in June as the capital’s most sought-after postcodes shed value again. The average house price in London dropped by 3.3 per cent in July to £550,000, worse than June’s 2.5 per cent fall, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The capital’s most affluent postcodes have suffered sharp [...]
Barratt Redrow hopes to defy housebuilding gloom by splashing cash September 15, 2026 As some of London’s listed housebuilders take emergency measures to cut costs amid rising building costs and stagnant demand for homes, one firm is splashing the cash. Barratt Redrow, which will announce its full-year numbers on Wednesday, defied the miserly approach taken by its rivals earlier this summer when it said it will buy back [...]
Stamp duty reform is ‘urgent,’ Berkeley tells Burnham September 11, 2026 Berkeley has urged Andy Burnham to commit to “urgent reform” to stamp duty, which it says has become a “binding constraint” on housebuilders and buyers. The FTSE 250 firm said that stamp duty is to blame for the slump in demand for new homes, because it makes first-time-buying unaffordable and dissuades existing homeowners from moving [...]
Mortgage rate hikes cost London homebuyers £35,000 August 27, 2026 The surging mortgage rates caused by the Iran war have forced the average London homebuyer to fork out an extra £35,500 for their deposit. The rising cost of borrowing caused by the Middle East conflict has meant that the average deposit in the UK is £18,400 higher than in January – though costs have risen [...]
Budget 2026: Which taxes will Burnham and Healey hike? August 25, 2026 With interest rates on course to remain elevated and a new government keen to win over sceptical voters with cost-of-living measures, economists think tax rises at October’s Budget are all but guaranteed. But where will the new Chancellor look for revenue? Ali Lyon and Mauricio Alencar examine the most likely revenue raisers. Speak to any [...]
House prices suffer biggest August slump in eight years August 17, 2026 House prices in the UK have suffered their biggest August drop since 2018, as a usually quiet period for the property market is stifled further by fears of Budget tax rises. The average house price slumped by two per cent this month to £364,999, according to property portal Rightmove. House prices are down one per [...]
Stamp duty on shares is ‘biggest handbrake’ says UK bank chief August 13, 2026 The boss of a London-listed bank and former Labour party donor has called for stamp duty on shares to be ditched in the Autumn Budget to boost trading from retail investors. Ian Corfield, the boss of Secure Trust Bank, told City AM one of the firm’s “biggest challenges is trying to generate liquidity into the [...]