UK housing crisis: How deregulated “slums” can solve the shortage of homes and high prices for renters August 6, 2015 A blog recently posted on the ASI website seems to have driven some angry reaction. “Britain needs more slums” proclaimed Theo Clifford, the winner of our 18-21 category of our Young Writer on Liberty Competition. While the ASI has a policy of publishing a whole range of opinions (views expressed on the blog are those [...]
Halifax house prices: UK house price growth continues shrinks to its lowest since December August 6, 2015 Growth in UK house prices dipped to 7.9 per cent in the year to July, the lowest figure since December 2014, figures published by Halifax this morning showed. On a quarterly basis, prices grew 2.4 per cent, lower than June's 3.3 per cent, while the monthly figure fell by 0.6 per cent – its first [...]
Savills revenues rise 27 per cent as London market stabilises August 6, 2015 Property services giant Savills reported a jump in revenues this morning, despite uncertainty during the run-up to the General Election. The figures Group revenues rose to £547m in the six months to the end of June, up 27 per cent from £430.8m during the same period last year. Profit before tax rose seven per cent to £26.4m, up from £24.7m last year. Meanwhile, underlying [...]
August 2015 TfL Tube strike: Union RMT wants pay rises in line with house price growth August 5, 2015 Transport union RMT has given a rare level of detail into one of its demands over the Night Tube – namely that it is seeking pay rises of up to 25 per cent for the five years. The union has put together a detailed flyer “for the public” to explain why Tube workers are [...]
UK house prices: Nationwide says house price growth is stabilising August 4, 2015 UK house prices are back in growth, with the UK average increasing by 0.4 per cent in July, following a 0.2 per cent dip in June, according to the Nationwide House Price index. The relatively modest month-on-month rise means that the annual pace of house price growth edged up to 3.5 per cent from [...]
Crystal Palace and West Ham win the house price Premier League August 3, 2015 As football supporters gear up to cheer on their teams when the Premier League kicks off this weekend, one contest has already been won: the house price Premier League – of which Crystal Palace are the winners, after prices in the area around Selhurst Park jumped 17 per cent over the 12 months to June, [...]
London property sales account for almost half of stamp duty revenue August 2, 2015 Almost half of all stamp duty revenue across England and Wales is collected from property sales in London, according to data showing the impact of last year’s rise in rates for the most expensive homes. Research by estate agent Knight Frank shows London accounted for just 13 per cent of all property transactions for the [...]
Stephen Greenhalgh: “Buy to leave” investors are pricing Londoners out of the property market – this is how I’d tackle it July 31, 2015 Often it is the non doms in London who are given a really bad press for inflating the property market. However I believe that it is the "non res" rather than the non dom that London should really worry about. The global non resident super rich see London residential property as a holiday home [...]
Detractors are wrong: OntheMarket is here to stay July 31, 2015 It has been just six months since the launch of agent-owned, agent-controlled OnTheMarket.com. In this very short period in the history of property portals, we have already made significant in-roads in disrupting the current duopoly of Rightmove and Zoopla Property Group. Read more: OntheMarket will fizzle out before its first birthday Rightmove and Zoopla [...]
London house prices: First-time home buyers face nightmare market as deposits soar and supply lags July 31, 2015 We all know how tough the housing market is for first-time buyers, and one of the main reasons is lack of supply. Much has been said about how the government is looking to tackle this problem by encouraging housebuilders to ramp up construction of new builds. But figures out this morning show that far from [...]