Londoners wait far longer to sell homes as stamp duty weighs on confidence April 29, 2026 The wait for a London house sale is six days longer now than last year, as the capital sees the “greatest impact” from stamp duty and the Iran war’s hit to property confidence. The average time it takes for a house in the capital to be snapped up once it is listed on the market [...]
It’ll take more than a squirrel to revive share ownership: cut stamp duty April 28, 2026 The government can’t promote investing in stocks and shares with one hand while taxing it with the other, says Steven Fine There is something faintly surreal about the government launching Savvy the Squirrel to encourage people to invest in shares while taking a record haul in tax from those who already do. The latest public [...]
‘Mascots don’t move markets’: City grandee pours cold water on retail investment drive April 28, 2026 The government’s industry-backed investing campaign will fail to usher in a new wave of retail investment unless ministers also promise to scrap the UK’s “hard to defend” tax regime on shares, the boss of a top investment bank has warned. Writing in City AM, Peel Hunt chief executive Steven Fine said that the record haul [...]
Here’s how to get London building now March 31, 2026 New housebuilding in London has ground to a halt. Urgent effort is needed to cut taxes on new housing, make the regulator more efficient and help first time buyers, says John Dickie As we head towards May’s local elections, London’s acute housing crisis will be one of the most frequent issues raised by voters on [...]
Second home stamp duty means 2m houses ‘missing’ from rental market March 16, 2026 More than 2m rental homes are missing from the market because of the second home tax imposed a decade ago, new research has found. Nearly ten per cent fewer homes are available to rent than was projected in 2016, when the stamp duty surcharge on second homes pushed millions of houses out of the reach [...]
Why are London’s house sellers losing money? January 17, 2026 London’s housing market is known for offering vast mansions and leafy avenues to wealthy buyers from across the world. So why are more sellers in the capital suffering losses than anywhere in the country? It is London’s most affluent and sought-after locations where the profitability of home-selling is taking the biggest hit, with Chelsea and [...]
Labour policy is making it harder to sell a flat in London January 15, 2026 Lowering the threshold for Stamp Duty and locking out first-time buyers at the same time as introducing legislation that makes it economically nonviable to be a landlord has led to a glut of London flats on the market, says Simon Gerrard Londoners were the most likely to have lost money when selling their property in [...]
Housing market ended 2025 on ‘softer note’ after ‘resilient’ year January 2, 2026 The UK housing market rounded off 2025 on a softer note after remaining “resilient” through a volatile year, according to Nationwide’s latest house price index. Annual house price growth slowed to 0.6 per cent in December from 1.8 per cent in November, with a 0.4 per cent fall in prices. This took the average UK [...]
Visma IPO plans add to London’s late-year listings revival December 31, 2025 Norwegian software giant Visma is gearing up to be the latest boost to London’s stock market, as the City comes off its strongest year for IPO activity since 2021 following a late spurt of listings. London’s stock exchange welcomed 11 flotations this year, raising £1.9bn in total , more than double the proceeds of the [...]
Reform government would partially nationalise Rolls-Royce through ‘strategic stake’ December 16, 2025 A Reform government would partially nationalise Rolls-Royce as a quid pro quo for helping it ramp up its small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear programme “as fast as it possibly can”, its policy chief has said. In a wide-ranging interview setting out his party’s plans for the UK economy, Zia Yusuf told City AM that Reform [...]