Focus On Chalk Farm: property prices, best streets and house price growth February 16, 2018 Clustered in among some of London’s most popular neighbourhoods, Chalk Farm is a sort of dividing line between the tourists and the nightlife of Camden, and the exclusive neighbourhoods of Primrose Hill and Belsize Park. As such, it’s moments away from both – with 24 hour transport links now the Northern line has joined the [...]
First-time buyers at 10-year high in 2017 but the mortgage market weakened in December February 13, 2018 The number of mortgages taken out by first-time buyers boomed last year to its highest level since 2006, buoyed by the Help to Buy subsidy. Banks lent money to 365,000 first-time buyers in 2017, an increase on the year before of 7.4 per cent, according to UK Finance, the lenders’ industry body. However, the December [...]
Shame on both the buyers and the sellers of volatility products February 13, 2018 Well this is more fun now, isn’t it? I mean, aren’t we all just a little bit more excited about equity markets now that strange concept of a “two-way market” has been reintroduced for the first time since the market carnage in 2016? Isn’t it great to finally see some of the most stupid and [...]
Lloyds ban on credit card Bitcoin purchases is the right move February 6, 2018 On Monday, Lloyds Banking Group announced it has banned its credit cards from being used to buy Bitcoin. The decision includes Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA credit cards. It follows a similar move by US banks. It’s a hard decision to argue with. Regardless of the inherent volatility in the value of [...]
Michelle Mone’s latest bitcoin gambit is EQUI, a venture capital firm to back tech startups with its own cryptocurrency initial coin offering (ICO) February 6, 2018 Fresh from offering luxury apartments in Dubai to buyers with bitcoin, bra tycoon and baroness Michelle Mone is delving deeper into cryptocurrency. Along with boyfriend and businessman Doug Barrowman, the pair are launching a venture capital firm supported by the launch of their own cryptocurrency via what’s known as an initial coin offering (ICO), or [...]
It’s high time archaic cannabis prohibition went up in smoke February 5, 2018 Five years ago, Colorado and Washington became the first two states in the US to legalise cannabis. Alaska and Oregon followed, and at the beginning of this year, California and Nevada joined them. This month will see Maine start sales and Connecticut debate legalisation, while to the north, Canada will start selling on the same [...]
Focus On Vauxhall: Donald Trump might not be keen on it, but international investors dig these skyscrapers south of the river February 2, 2018 Vauxhall got dragged through the mud by no less a figure than the President of the United States recently. The US Embassy’s much touted move to the “off location” was supposedly the reason behind Donald Trump’s cancelled visit to the UK, even though the new building has its own moat. Clearly, tech behemoth Apple didn’t [...]
London startup Ahauz is helping millennials buy a home with an innovative new Help to Buy-style scheme January 31, 2018 Forget ditching coffee and avocados, a new startup which describes itself as the “bank of mum and dad for everyone” is aiming to help more young people get on the property ladder with an innovative take on the Help to Buy scheme. Ahauz is set to start offering first-time buyers help by offering a loan [...]
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn wants powers to take over empty luxury properties to solve the housing crisis January 28, 2018 Jeremy Corbyn wants to reclaim luxury property that is left “deliberately” empty to help solve the nation’s housing crisis. “We would give local authorities the power to take over deliberately left vacant properties,” the Labour leader said, speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show on Sunday morning. Read more: Editor’s Notes: May can benefit from [...]
Focus On Deptford: We delve into the housing market in the Help to Buy capital of London January 26, 2018 Since Help to Buy, the government’s equity scheme to help first time buyers on to the property ladder, was announced in 2013, it’s created thousands of new home owners. And nowhere has benefited more from this than Deptford. This once run down part of south east London is now the Help to Buy capital of [...]