Treasury to sell £1.5bn of Royal Mail June 4, 2015 CHANCELLOR of the exchequer George Osborne announced plans for a £13bn round of privatisations yesterday, as he added the sale of £1.5bn of Royal Mail to the £11.8bn sale of Lloyds Bank currently underway. And if he brings forward plans to sell down the government’s holdings in bailed-out bank RBS, he could add tens of billions of [...]
UK house prices drop in May: Tug of war as high price-to-earnings ratios and a lack of supply affect market June 4, 2015 UK house prices dropped for the first time in three months this May, according to data from Halifax. The market is feeling the effects of a tug of war as a lack of supply drives prices higher, stretching finances and affecting sentiment. The figures On a monthly basis – the most volatile measure – house [...]
More UK home buyers are using cash to seal deal June 3, 2015 A RECORD high proportion of homes were sold without the need for a mortgage during the first three months of year, a major mortgage provider said yesterday. The share of cash purchases in the housing market reached an all-time high of 38 per cent in the first three months of the year, according to Nationwide. [...]
Buyers lured as clubs post record profits June 3, 2015 ENGLAND’S leading football clubs have become the subject of increased interest from potential buyers after entering what industry experts believe is a new era of profit-making. Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, which advises parties looking to acquire and sell teams, said it had noticed the market warming to Premier League sides in response to unprecedented financial [...]
UK house prices: The proportion of house buyers shunning mortgages for cash purchases has hit a record high June 3, 2015 More people than ever before are buying houses without the need for a mortgage, according to new figures. Almost four in 10 people (38 per cent) paid for their properties in cash during the first quarter of the year, Nationwide has said. This mitigated subdued mortgage lending data to some extent. There are signs that [...]
UK house price growth slows to lowest rate in over a year June 3, 2015 UK house price growth slowed in May, with the annual growth rate slowing to an annual rate of 4.6 per cent in May – down from 5.2 per cent in April and the lowest rate since August 2013. The figures The average cost of a house in the UK now stands at £195,166 – the [...]
Brookfield wins race to land deal for Center Parcs June 2, 2015 CANADIAN investment giant Brookfield yesterday won a hotly contested race to buy UK holiday parks operator Center Parcs from private equity firm Blackstone in a deal worth about £2.4bn. Brookfield, which also bought Canary Wharf’s owner alongside Qatari Investment Authority earlier this year, will take control of five resorts operated by Center Parcs across the [...]
Buy gold for just £20, Royal Mint encourages retail investors June 2, 2015 The Royal Mint is making investing in gold even more attractive to individuals with a new services allowing anyone to buy bullion from just £20. The new signature gold service lets anyone put their money into gold, permitting the precious metal to be bought based on value rather than weight for the first time. For [...]
Fighting forward: The Black Farmer’s Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones talks sausages, political incorrectness and willpower May 31, 2015 Being an entrepreneur is all about timing. You can have the best-laid plans in the world, a huge amount of skill, but it’s really about catching the zeitgeist.” This is Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones’s opening line to me. After a brief pause, he adds, “life is also all about timing”. This is something the founder of [...]
Mansion tax, shmansion tax: This £24m Notting Hill home sold just before the General Election May 29, 2015 Property types may have been worried about the looming spectre of a mansion tax during the run-up to the General Election – but that concern clearly didn't stretch to one billionaire buyer, who forked out £24m on a house in Notting Hill. An "unmodernised" end-of-terrace home on Kensington Park Gardens, which comes complete with eight [...]