The business built to help customers outsource their chores September 15, 2013 Annabel Palmer meets Raj Singh, co-founder of the online marketplace Sooqini, who shunned job security for a career as an entrepreneur ACCORDING to Raj Singh, founder of online marketplace Sooqini, we are now living in a “gig economy”. His theory, albeit paraphrased from Michael Lewis’s The New New Thing, goes that people no longer want [...]
Risky loans are back as house market booms September 12, 2013 MORTGAGE lending is up by almost one-third on the year, according to industry data out yesterday, as borrowers gain confidence and the market gathers pace. And the belief that a boom could be underway was backed up again by figures from surveyors group e.surv showing a rise in high loan to value mortgages. In July [...]
Buyers queuing for homes, says Barratt’s chief September 11, 2013 HOUSEBUILDER Barratt Developments yesterday said queues were forming for its housing schemes for the first time since the financial crisis, as the market recovery spreads beyond southeast England. Britain’s largest housebuilder by volume, said yesterday that buyer appetite for its homes was so strong that for some sites it was making five to 10 sales [...]
First time buyer loans swell by nearly a third September 10, 2013 MORTGAGE lending to first time buyers has jumped upward, rising by 31 per cent to £8bn in the year to June, according to Bank of England figures released yesterday. New government schemes to boost activity in the housing market appear to have had the desired effect in the second quarter, as the Funding for Lending [...]
Gross new lending hits record high as Help to Buy kicks in September 10, 2013 Figures published today by the Bank of England (BoE) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) show new high for gross new lending and interest rates on gross new lending for the second quarter, since the start of the series in 2007. Mortgage lenders and administrator statistics show record levels; at 1.6 percentage points higher than [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 09 September 2013 September 8, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Capital warning from bank reformer The chief architect of Britain’s post-crisis regulatory reforms believes banks’ capital levels should be double the level recommended two years ago by the government-appointed commission that he led. Sir John Vickers told the Financial Times that in a “blue-skies” world banks’ core tier one capital ratios would now [...]
It’s time we ended the pretence that planning rules come without a price September 6, 2013 MOST agree that the UK housing market has long been stuck in an affordability crisis. Despite a fall in prices since 2007, Nationwide recently calculated that the typical house now costs 5.1 times average earnings, up from 3.9 a quarter of a century ago. In London, the ratio has risen from 5.7 to 7.7. And [...]
Japanese brewer in talks to buy Glaxo’s Ribena and Lucozade September 5, 2013 JAPANESE group Suntory Beverage & Food is in advanced talks to buy Lucozade and Ribena from pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). A person close to the company told City A.M. that the two drinks brands are likely to be sold for between £1bn to £1.5bn and that a deal could be completed within days. However, the [...]
Number of first time buyers up by 45 per cent September 5, 2013 THE NUMBER of first time buyers has swelled as the housing market begins to rebound, with LSL Property Services suggesting a 45 per cent increase in the 12 months to July. There were 26,100 people buying homes for the first time in July, up by over 8,000 through the year, with LSL’s figures suggesting that [...]
Northampton to go well again this year as London Double Header gets the season off to a flier September 5, 2013 AS THE summer draws to its conclusion, the start of the Aviva Premiership is almost upon us following on from an unforgettable British and Irish Lions Tour. Last term Leicester Tigers once again saved their best rugby until last to secure their first title in three years. Richard Cockerill’s side are 15/8 favourites to repeat [...]