House prices: Which central London postcodes offer the most open space? April 27, 2021 The W1K postcode of Mayfair and St James’s is the greenest pocket of the prime central London market, according to new research that looked at which London postcodes present high-end homebuyers with the most open space. An estimated 36.5 per cent of the postcode area presents open outdoor spaces, by far the most of all [...]
House prices: New build homebuyer demand explodes on England’s south coast and in Wales April 26, 2021 Homebuyer demand for new build homes has climbed 9 per cent in the last year, with coastal towns in the south of England and Wales leading the charge. Across Britain, 38.7 per cent of all new build homes are already sold subject to contract or under offer, a 9 per cent jump on the same [...]
Boost for first-time buyers as more ultra-low deposit mortgages hit the market April 24, 2021 In a further boost to first-time buyers, more lenders are bringing 5 per cent deposit mortgages onto the market. New deals announced by Metro Bank and Cambridge Building Society are not part of a new government-backed mortgage guarantee scheme which was launched this week to increase the availability of 5 per cent deposit loans. Major [...]
Public debt: Who has lent a staggering £2.1 trillion to Rishi Sunak? April 23, 2021 Government debt has hit its highest point as a portion of gross domestic product since the early 1960s when the country was still paying off what it had borrowed to fund the fight against Nazi Germany, new figures showed this morning. Last year spending skyrocketed to pay for dozens of programmes to prop up the [...]
One in five aspiring first-time buyers lives with family or friends to save cash April 22, 2021 More than a fifth of aspiring first-time buyers have moved in with family or friends since the coronavirus crisis started, according to research published this morning. Some 22 per cent of people hoping to buy their first home in the next two years have moved in with parents, in-laws or friends since March 2020, Halifax [...]
Top-end homes in Mayfair and St James’s offloaded at 20 per cent below asking price April 22, 2021 Several prime central London postcodes are seeing homes sell at a considerable discount of up to 20 per cent per square foot, according to new data shared with City A.M. this morning. In many areas there is a notable difference between the expectations of home sellers and the price that buyers are willing to pay, [...]
Taylor Wimpey sees strong housing demand as market continues recovery April 22, 2021 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey today said that the housing market has remained healthy in 2021 after a surge in customer demand. Speaking in a trading update, Taylor Wimpey reported a net private sales rate for the year to 18 April of 1.00, compared to 0.90 in 2020. Its total order book value stood at around £2.81bn, [...]
Nationwide to lend first-time buyers five times their income on long-term mortgage April 20, 2021 First-time buyers with deposits as low as 10 per cent will be able to borrow five and a half times their income when taking out a longer-term mortgage, the UK’s biggest building society said this morning. Nationwide Building Society said that under its “helping hand” initiative, first-time buyers across the UK will have the option [...]
BA looks set to recover from pandemic, so why are its 40-something pilots giving up their gold-plated pensions? April 20, 2021 In turbulent times, when the future of a company is being called into question, it is not uncommon for staff to transfer out of their employer’s defined benefit (DB) pension scheme, if they have one. Although seen as “gold-plated”, some DB scheme members worry about their scheme falling to the pension lifeboat fund, and that [...]
Barclaycard defends decision to cut customers’ credit limits by 95 per cent April 20, 2021 Barclaycard has defended cutting some customers’ credit limits after a backlash from people complaining they had been reduced by over 95 per cent. Some customers complained that their limits had been significantly reduced despite having never missed a payment. It was pointed out that Barclaycard had made the reductions at a time when some people [...]