London house prices: Housebuilding is falling in the capital – so rip up planning rules and start again January 29, 2016 Help to Buy. The Help to Buy Isa. NewBuy. Right to Buy. Shared ownership. As the housing crisis worsened in recent years, there was no shortage of government schemes aimed at helping first-time buyers reach that crucial bottom rung on the housing ladder. In the capital, it is becoming increasingly obvious gentle encouragement from George [...]
Megacity London: Our next mayor needs the ambition to match the scale of the challenge January 28, 2016 The next mayor of London will have some difficult decisions to make. Forecast to reach 9m residents by 2020 and 10m by 2030, the capital’s soon-to-be status as a “megacity” will bring with it both significant challenges and opportunities. This evening, the main candidates standing to be the next mayor will be setting out their [...]
FTSE 100 index closes in a bear market as the price of oil falls further January 20, 2016 The FTSE 100 index officially fell into a bear market on Wednesday as the price of oil continued to slide. The UK's blue-chip index fell 3.46 per cent to 5,673 points, falling over 20 per cent from the high it reached in April 2015. "Few stocks were spared today as European equity markets plunged sharply today with the FTSE 100 [...]
London mayoral election 2016: Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith lays out “vision for London” January 19, 2016 Conservative candidate for Mayor of London Zac Goldsmith will today set out his vision for London if elected in May. The Richmond Park MP's plan aims to "build on the city's economic strength" under current mayor Boris Johnson, and will focus on four key areas: housing, transport, living environment and crime. "We can take London’s success and make [...]
Generation Rent is fleeing London as housing costs soar January 15, 2016 Is London bracing for a mass exodus of millennials? The capital’s exorbitant housing costs are hardly news, but a new survey suggests that the situation is getting so bad that more than 80 per cent of London’s twenty-somethings may be sent packing to other parts of the UK. At £1,507, the average monthly rent for [...]
Labour MP John Mann wants to charge £1000 membership fee to Labour party members who own houses worth more than £1m January 14, 2016 A leading Labour MP is proposing a so-called wealth tax to "save the Labour Party" from financial ruin. John Mann, the MP for Bassetlaw, said in a blog post on his website today that Labour should charge party members with properties valued at over £1m a "Labour wealth tax of £1,000 a year". "It will raise significant money and [...]
EU migrant crisis: Europe can turn the current human disaster into an economic opportunity January 13, 2016 This quarter’s CFO Global Business Outlook Survey – the quarterly survey of over a thousand global Chief Financial Officers – reveals that optimism is now stabilising at levels compatible with low but positive economic growth. On the other hand, European and US CFOs list the difficulty in attracting and retaining qualified employees as one of [...]
Think tanks urge people to be able to choose for themselves on sugar January 13, 2016 Controversial sugar tax proposals have been slammed by an economic think tank, following hints by Prime Minister David Cameron last week that the government could introduce a tax on sugary drinks this year. The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has today published a report sharply criticising the plans, labelling them “regressive, inefficient and unpopular”. Lobby [...]
London house prices: Rethinking high rise estate regeneration could create 360,000 more new homes January 11, 2016 We may have been doing regeneration wrong this whole time. There's a much better way to redevelop London's high rise housing estates that would increase the number of homes in the capital by several hundred thousand, a new report has found – all but solving the housing crisis. More than a quarter of a million extra homes [...]
London must build on low quality green belt spaces to solve its housing crisis, according to the Adam Smith Institute January 8, 2016 London should build on low quality green belt spaces to solve the housing crisis, according to new research from free market think tank the Adam Smith Institute. The think tank said one million new homes will be needed in the next 10 years and that low quality spaces around existing commuter infrastructure must be built on to meet housing [...]