Billboards and out-of-home adverts are more relevant than ever in the digital age November 5, 2018 We all know that the digital age has revolutionised marketing. The spread of the internet into every aspect of our lives and the prevalence of big data means that consumers are now served more ads (both in quantity and in relevance to our actual tastes and interests) than ever before, while marketers have had to [...]
New homes: Our pick of the new builds going on sale in London this weekend November 2, 2018 New developments on the market this week So Resi, Sydenham From £130,000 for a 25 per cent share of a two bed New homes in south east London with excellent commuting times have been released on a part-buy part-rent basis. Prospective homeowners can buy a share of a one, two or three bedroom apartment in [...]
UK house price growth slumps to five-year low in October November 1, 2018 House prices grew at their slowest annual rate for five years in October, Nationwide data revealed today. House price growth slumped to 1.6 per cent last month, with prices flat month on month as the latest figures paint a miserable picture for housing activity across the UK. October’s 1.6 per cent growth rate fell from [...]
Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Autumn Budget contained tricks and treats for your personal finances October 31, 2018 The move of this year’s Autumn Budget to Monday this week rather than its traditional Wednesday slot was ostensibly to give MPs more time to debate the chancellor’s proposals before the House of Commons rises for recess on 6 November. But presumably Philip Hammond also hoped to avoid some Halloween-themed headlines, which he himself alluded to [...]
Hammond has taken the first tentative steps towards fixing the housing crisis October 31, 2018 How do you solve the housing crisis in a single Budget? You can’t, of course – not with Brexit looming and a Prime Minister demanding that you both signal the end of austerity and reduce the UK’s national debt at the same time. But housing policy is the one single issue that personally and radically [...]
Will Hammond’s Autumn Budget help the government hit its target of delivering 300,000 new homes a year? October 30, 2018 Buoyed with revised forecasts from the OBR, the chancellor certainly had more wiggle room on Budget day than many expected, but there are questions over how his Despatch Box announcements will impact on the delivery of much needed new housing. An extension (albeit a temporary one) of Help to Buy and the roll-out of backdated [...]
Help to Buy extended to 2023 for first time buyers: Industry reacts October 29, 2018 The fate of the government’s Help to Buy scheme was cleared up this afternoon after the chancellor said that he would be extending a revised version of the policy until 2023, but for first-time buyers only. From April 2021 the scope of Downing Street's flagship housing policy will be narrowed down, with only first-time buyers [...]
Property in the Budget: First-time buyers to benefit from shared ownership stamp duty relief as Help to Buy extended October 29, 2018 The Chancellor unveiled a raft of new property measures today, including a further £500m for the housing infrastructure fund and stamp duty relief for first-time buyers that is extended to shared ownership homes worth up to £500,000. The government will also extend a revised version of its Help to Buy scheme until 2023, but for first-time [...]
The comeback kid: HMV tops Amazon in UK physical sales October 29, 2018 British entertainment retailer HMV has staged a comeback in the face of Amazon’s increased dominance to become the largest physical music retailer in the UK. In the 12 weeks to 23 September, HMV experienced market share growth for the second consecutive quarter to a total of 28 per cent, according to data published today by [...]
Mortgage approvals fall to six-month low in September as experts warn of ‘fragile’ housing market October 24, 2018 Mortgage approvals fell to their lowest value in half a year in September, according to the latest data from UK Finance, meaning every month of 2018 so far has dropped against 2017 approval numbers. Lending amounted to £21.5bn for the month, the lowest since the £20.6bn recorded in April and a drop of 1.2 per [...]