UK stock funds suffer worst year on record as investors pull nearly £10bn January 8, 2025 UK-focused stock funds suffered their worst year on record last year as investors yanked nearly £10bn from the market, new figures have shown. While equity vehicles globally raked in a record £27.2bn through 2024, UK funds haemorrhaged some £9.6bn in their most sluggish year ever relative to the performance of the wider market, according to [...]
Housing sales end year on a high but fears about mortgage rates linger December 23, 2024 The London housing market has ended 2024 on a high, although buyers remain price-sensitive and concerned about the cost of mortgages. Over 280,000 homes worth £104bn are in the sales pipeline for 2025 – the highest number in four years, according to Zoopla. In another good sign, house prices returned to growth – up 1.9 [...]
Lord Mayor criticises ‘misalignment’ of tax in call to unleash the City December 2, 2024 The Lord Mayor of London will rebuke the government for a “misalignment” in its fiscal policy tonight as he calls for ministers to “look again” at a tax on share trading and incentivise investors to back London Stock Exchange-listed companies. In his first major speech since becoming Lord Mayor in November, Alastair King will urge [...]
Stamp duty hike: a ‘bitter but manageable pill to swallow’ for UK landlords November 5, 2024 Last week’s Budget announcement raised Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) to five per cent tax, yet household landlords seem unfazed. London-based estate agent Benham and Reeves carried a survey to find out how UK landlords reacted to this hike. Concerns about potential hikes in capital gains tax (CGT) on property investments weighed heavily on landlords [...]
Autumn Budget 2024: Landlords and renters hit by tax rise October 30, 2024 Labour’s Autumn Budget has introduced major tax changes which will impact landlords and renters across the UK. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, as expected, announced an increase in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on higher-rate tax payers from 20 to 24 per cent, and basic-rate tax payers from 10 to 18 per cent. Yet, the nil rate band [...]
Autumn Budget 2024: Stamp duty for second homes upped to support first-time buyers October 30, 2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has increased the amount of tax Brits will pay when buying their second home to provide support for first-time buyers and those moving home. Second-time buyers previously paid three per cent stamp duty on homes worth up to £250,000. From tomorrow, they will pay five per cent tax. The increase will also [...]
How might the Autumn Budget affect the housing market? October 24, 2024 The property market is, finally, doing well. In September, a closely-watched survey of estate agents found that sentiment in the market turned positive for the first time in two years. Market sentiment has improved as mortgage rates have started to fall. House prices have ticked up to their highest level in more than two years. [...]
Tory leadership: Jenrick warns of ‘big task’ to restore economic credibility October 1, 2024 Robert Jenrick has warned it will be a “big task” for the next Conservative party leader to restore the party’s “economic credibility” following Liz Truss’s calamitous mini-Budget. The leadership candidate, speaking at a Q&A for party members at the annual conference in Birmingham, told the audience he was “not happy” about the current levels of [...]
Build, Baby, Build: Why stamp duty is Britain’s worst tax June 18, 2024 Stamp duty isn’t just unpopular, it’s gumming up the housing market and leaving people stuck in properties totally unsuitable for their needs. The next government must raise the threshold or ditch it altogether, says Emma Revell The housing crisis is, at its heart, about supply. For decades, we simply have not built enough homes to [...]
Spring Budget 2024: Just four per cent of London homes exempt from ‘hefty’ stamp duty fees as pressure mounts on Hunt February 28, 2024 Only four per cent of homes on sale in London are exempt from “hefty” stamp duty charges, as fresh pressure is piled on the UK Chancellor to reform the levy ahead of the Spring Budget next week.