London 2030: An optimist’s vision of the next urban renaissance April 1, 2014 LONDON faces acute problems of growth. We are building barely a third as many new homes as we need. Yet there is no credible plan for the other two-thirds. In 17 boroughs, the average rent is more than half the average wage, and the typical first time buyer is 32. Peak congestion is unbearable across [...]
Shock February drop in lending for mortgages March 31, 2014 MORTGAGE lending dipped during February, according to surprising official figures from the Bank of Lending, marking the first monthly drop in a year. There were 70,309 mortgages approved by financial institutions in February, down by more than 6,000 from January’s figure, which was the highest in six years, going back to the onset of the [...]
London property sellers bag 99pc of the asking price March 31, 2014 House prices have risen for the 14th consecutive month, with a 0.6 per cent rise in March, according to the monthly national housing survey conducted by residential property analysts Hometrack. 50 per cent of postcode districts reported an increase in prices. The survey also showed that those who are selling property in London were able [...]
UK house prices see biggest jump since summer 2010 March 25, 2014 House prices rose 6.8 per cent compared with a year earlier – the biggest increase since August 2010 – and up from 5.5 per cent in December, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. A Bloomberg poll revealed analysts expected a rise of 6.6 per cent. London led the increase, with prices up [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 25 March 2014 March 24, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Russia braced for £70bn in outflows The Russian government is braced for the country’s capital outflows to soar to $70bn in the first three months of the year as investors seek cover from the fallout of President Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian land grab. Andrei Klepach, Russia’s deputy economy minister, said capital outflows in the [...]
How most Help to Buy homes are outside of London market March 24, 2014 THE government’s controversial Help to Buy scheme is being most used outside of London and the south east, fresh figures released yesterday show, following fears that it would lead to another bubble in house prices in the capital. Between the start of the policy in April and the end of 2013, 17,395 house purchases went [...]
Down to a Fine Art March 23, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks to Patrick van der Vorst, the ex-Sotheby’s art expert who used a £100,000 investment from Dragons Den to build online valuation service Value My Stuff THE INTERNATIONAL art market is having a ball, as investors flock to the perceived safer asset. A Sotheby’s sale last month totalled £163m, with demand coming from [...]
4 reasons now is the right time to get excited about gold March 21, 2014 With last year's 28 per cent price crash – suffering its sharpest fall in 30 years – it wasn’t just gold bugs and mining companies who have had to endure gold’s bumpy road, as its crashing popularity signalled a shift in economic confidence, upping the favour of paperless assets. This year, things have started to [...]
UK residential building enjoys strong February March 20, 2014 HOUSING construction ballooned over the 12 months to February, up by nearly three quarters from the same month last year, and surging back towards pre-crisis levels. According to Barbour ABI, a firm that provides data on the construction sector, house building is the runaway success story of the last year. Though all construction work has [...]
Chancellor hopes for 200,000 new homes as a result of budget measures March 19, 2014 George Osborne has announced the government will be providing support to small housebuilding firms, with £150m used for new build housing. The construction of a new garden city at Ebbsfleet was also confirmed. The chancellor said the measures taken in the budget would support over 200,000 new homes, with 120,000 built as a result of [...]