Focus On Canary Wharf: there’s more than just money in E14 June 28, 2019 Most parts of London have had their ups and downs, but few areas have experienced shifts as seismic or profound as Canary Wharf. With the advent of the London Docklands, it went from being uncultivated marshland to the site of the world’s largest port. Following the docks’ closure in 1960, Canary Wharf became an economic [...]
Reforms to planning and Help-to-Buy unveiled by government June 27, 2019 A shake-up of Britain’s planning system that will let councils approve applications more quickly and enforce tougher Help to Buy rules on developers was unveiled today. Housing secretary James Brokenshire has revealed plans to introduce new quality controls on housebuilders, while also pledging to prevent developers from selling leasehold houses through its Help to Buy [...]
Bitcoin: Is it starting to feel like 2017 all over again? June 27, 2019 By Gary McFarlane from interactive investor. Bitcoin’s decisive break above the psychologically important $10,000 mark – with $11,000 breached over the weekend and in sight again – is being driven by institutional investors and the afterglow from Facebook’s Libra news, despite the regulatory and political pushback against Mark Zuckerberg’s global money plans. Also, the recommendations, as expected, from [...]
Istanbul has rekindled Turkey’s fight against religious autocracy June 26, 2019 Istanbul is one of the most famous cities in the world, on account of a storied history encompassing myriad great events. As Byzantium, it was first the fortress of the eastern Roman Empire and then the bastion of Orthodox Christianity. After its fall to the Turks in 1453, the newly-minted Constantinople became the capital of [...]
Revealed: The top 10 most affordable London boroughs for first-time buyers June 25, 2019 The City of London is the least affordable London borough for first-time buyers, according to new research that has ranked the capital’s best and worst spots for hopeful homeowners. Hackney, Haringey, Brent and Camden joined the Square Mile as the five most unaffordable boroughs in London based on the net wage and time taken to [...]
London property market drags down UK house prices June 19, 2019 UK house prices were dragged down by subdued demand in London last month, as buyer caution continued to linger in the capital during April. London witnessed the lowest annual growth out of any region, with prices falling by 1.2 per cent over the year to April 2019, up from a fall of 2.5 per cent [...]
Ted Baker share plunge fails to attract buyers June 17, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Despite sinking to prices not seen since 2012, investing in Ted shares remains hugely speculative. Ted Baker (LSE:TED) shares are trading at levels not seen since November 2012 after another profits warning accelerated the de-rating of this former high-flying lifestyle brand. Whereas Ted’s shares had once been reassuringly expensive at around 30 times [...]
Shanghai-London stock market connection finally launched June 17, 2019 The long-awaited London-Shanghai Stock Connect that links the two markets has been launched today, letting UK and Chinese companies sell shares on each others’ stock markets in a pioneering scheme. Read more: HSBC confirms it is exploring Chinese listing via new London-Shanghai link It marks the first time any foreign company will be able to [...]
Second home ownership soars towards the value of £1 trillion June 15, 2019 The number of British people owning a second home has soared by more than 50 per cent since 2001 as the value of additional property wealth nears £1 trillion, according to a new report. Research from think tank the Resolution Foundation revealed that 5.5 million people – around one in ten of the UK population [...]
Most Help to Buy beneficiaries ‘did not need scheme’ June 13, 2019 The government’s Help to Buy scheme has been accused of subsidising existing homeowners, after it emerged most people who have bought a house using the programme could have done so without it. A National Audit Office report today said three-fifths of buyers could have bought a property without the support of Help to Buy, “but [...]