Britain set to boom as global economy slows November 19, 2013 THE UK will defy the weak global economic trend next year as the recovery takes hold in Britain, analysts at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicted yesterday. The world’s economy will only grow by 2.7 per cent this year and 3.6 per cent next year, the think-tank said – slashing 0.4 percentage [...]
Housing market cools for winter but price growth beating wages November 17, 2013 HOUSE prices this month are still up four per cent on November last year, despite a small seasonal dip from October. According to Rightmove’s latest house price index, London prices are up by 6.9 per cent in the same period. In the year to September, average weekly earnings only rose by 0.8 per cent. Between [...]
Help to Buy assists 155 per cent boost in Nationwide profits November 15, 2013 British building society Nationwide has reported a whopping underlying profit increase of 155 per cent, for the six months to the end of September. Underlying profit was £332m compared to £130m during the same period in 2012. Nationwide attributed the dramatic growth to increased lending and a burst of new customers switching to the building [...]
Inside Track: The new issues market hits the first signs of trouble November 14, 2013 WHAT a difference a week makes. Last week I reported on a piece of research from Deloitte, the business advisory firm, on the storming performance of 10 main market flotations in 2013, including Royal Mail obviously, showing how their overall share price performance had outperformed the wider market seven times. This week the talk has [...]
Help to Buy boosts Barratt sales by 47 per cent November 13, 2013 Barratt Developments has praised the government's Help to Buy scheme for playing a large role in the rising activity in the housing market, reportinga rise in private forward sales of 46.7 per cent, or £1.1bn, for the period of July to November. The company's interim management statement, released on Tuesday, said: The Government's Help to [...]
Help to Buy “already delivering” says David Cameron as second phase sees over 2,000 applications November 11, 2013 Help to Buy is gathering momentum. This morning both RBS and Halifax reported strong uptake of its second phase, which was launched a month ago. 2,384 applications have been put in, totalling £365m of new mortgage lending. On average, households have asked to borrow around £155,000 for houses worth about £163,000. The UK average house [...]
Experian boss defends his drive for expansion November 10, 2013 Don Robert has steered the credit checking firm into fast-growing new businesses AS THE boss of a company best known for its credit checks, Don Robert is at home talking about hazardous spending decisions. “Arguably if every investment we made was brilliant we’d have to ask ourselves the question: are we taking the right amount [...]
Our guide to the best investments November 7, 2013 London property prices are sky-rocketing, so what better time to invest with the rest? RIGHT now, investing in a London home looks like a pretty smart move. Asking prices saw a 10 per cent increase last month and, with low-deposit schemes like the government’s Help to Buy initiative, more people are looking to invest in [...]
Ecclestone: Veto shows bribe to retain control not needed November 7, 2013 FORMULA One chief Bernie Ecclestone has revealed a key argument in his defence to charges that he paid a $44m bribe to stay in charge of the sport: his position was virtually ringfenced anyway. Ecclestone says he would not have needed to bribe anyone to hold onto his job because governing body the FIA was [...]
Help to Buy lifts Persimmon new sales past 3,000 November 6, 2013 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon said yesterday it has sold over 3,000 homes under the government sponsored Help to Buy scheme, in yet another sign of rising confidence in the housing market. Chief executive Jeff Fairburn said that while 90 per cent of sales were to first-time buyers, growing market confidence was prompting more second and third-time buyers [...]