London housing commission calls for devolution to solve chronic lack of house building March 7, 2016 Local authorities need to be given more oversight of house building in the capital if London is to accommodate its growing population, the London housing commission said today. In return for greater powers over borrowing, property taxes and planning, the Mayor and boroughs would have to make a joint commitment to deliver significantly higher numbers [...]
Yahoo considering the sale of $1bn-$3bn worth of non-core assets, including patents and property, finance chief tells conference March 3, 2016 Internet giant Yahoo is considering selling off up to $3bn (£2.1bn) worth of non-core assets. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference today, Yahoo's finance chief Ken Goldman said that the company had appointed a committee to explore spinning off its core business and is considering a quick sale of some non-core assets, such as [...]
Canary Wharf homes are now a reality – get them while they’re hot March 3, 2016 When the first homes went on sale at 10 Park Place on the Canary Wharf estate, there were buyers queuing a day early for them. When developer Galliard launched Maine Tower nearby, around £140m of property sold out within four hours, the equivalent of £580,000 worth of sales every minute. Now, it’s Telford Homes’ turn [...]
Thanks to Landmark Place, you never have to leave the Square Mile March 3, 2016 Two new glass structures are set to join the banks, law firms and sky gardens that line the City’s riverside in the summer of 2018. Only this time, they’ll be housing wealthy residents who want to live on top of the financial district. A nine storey block will interconnect with an 11 storey block to [...]
London house prices: London renters have paid a quarter of the price of an average home to their landlords in the past five years March 3, 2016 There's no easy way to say this: if you're renting in London, you could probably have put together a 23 per cent deposit for the average home in the capital with the rent you've paid in the last five years. New research by Shelter suggests renters paid a total of £89,269 over the past five [...]
UK house prices: More than half of first-time buyers would buy ex-army barracks to get onto property ladder March 2, 2016 Times are tough for first time buyers and more than half would buy just about anything – from a church to a school or ex-army barracks – to get on the property ladder, according to Your Move and Reeds Rains. According to the estate agency’s latest first time-buyer barometer, 57 per cent claimed they were willing [...]
Property of the fortnight: Former Belgravia guest house Ormonde House in need of a £2m cash injection March 1, 2016 Belgravia is London’s land of grandeur, of embassies and white stucco-fronted mansions owned by Arab princes. It’s hardly the place you’d expect to find a fixer-upper, but Ormonde House is exactly that. And all it needs now is a millionaire with grand designs. It used to be a guest house, nestled in between Sloane Square [...]
EU referendum: Brexit could affect property prices – but the Chinese slowdown and a potential interest rate rise are greater causes for concern February 29, 2016 The date has been set and the die has been cast – after 40 years this June voters will have a chance to decide if Britain should stay in the EU and speculation on the possible impact of a Brexit has reached fever pitch. While politicians, businesses and industry experts are willing to throw their [...]
Chinese property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang’s microblogging accounts blocked after Xi criticism February 28, 2016 Chinese property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang has had his microblogging accounts shut down by the Beijing authorities after he criticised President Xi Jinping. The Cyberspace Administration of China said Ren had published "illegal messages that had a bad impact". "The cyberspace is not outside the laws, nobody is allowed to spread illegal information using the internet," Jiang Jun, [...]
Hometrack figures show slide in property sales across top 20 UK cities in 2015 February 26, 2016 The number of number of homes sold across the UK's top 20 cities fell by two per cent over the last year, according to data released today by Hometrack. London has seen a seven per cent dip in transactions in the year to January while Cambridge experienced the biggest drop in sales, down 20 per cent [...]