Boris needs to be innovative to get the private sector building houses August 16, 2012 THE Mayor of London owns 530 hectares of land and is the largest public landowner in London. He is responsible, with the London Boroughs, for addressing the needs of the 350,000 Londoners on the housing waiting list, for planning for the future housing needs for the capital, and for a budget of around £3bn to [...]
Prospective first time buyers hit by the escalating cost of renting August 9, 2012 HOPEFUL first time home buyers are trapped in an increasingly expensive rental market, according to a series of separate studies released yesterday and today. The cost of renting a home shot up by 4.3 per cent in the year to May-July, with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) explaining that “many would-be buyers continue [...]
Bank of England slashes medium-term growth outlook August 8, 2012 The Bank of England has sharply cut its forecast for medium-term growth in Britain’s economy due to worries that factors hurting growth since the financial crisis may be more long-lasting than first thought. In its quarterly Inflation Report, the Bank said that growth in two years time was likely to be around 2 per cent [...]
Vim added to trusty Audi estate August 7, 2012 Audi’s A6 Allroad model has long been something of the unsung hero in its ever-expanding model range. Is it an oddity? Well, it’s certainly unique. An estate car with four-level height adjustable suspension and quattro all-wheel-drive – A6 Allroad appeals to people that want a rugged car but for whom an SUV just doesn’t cut [...]
Slump expected as house prices tumble in July August 6, 2012 HOUSE prices across the UK dived by 0.6 per cent last month, according to a widely-regarded survey released yesterday, with analysts warning that the rest of 2012 will remain gloomy for the sector. Prices in three months to July were flat compared to the previous three months. Halifax, which compiles the data, said that prices [...]
LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR August 5, 2012 SINCE City A.M.’s last awards ceremony in 2011, the legal sector has undergone one of the biggest shake-ups in recent years with the introduction of the Legal Services Act. The introduction of Alternative Business Structures (ABS) on 3 January was a formal acknowledgment of the ripples of change that have been spreading across the legal [...]
Libor is fundamentally flawed and threatens London’s global position July 31, 2012 ONE OF the most famous security posters of the Second World War read “Loose Lips Sink Ships”. The idea was to curtail careless talk and prevent giving away information to the enemy. The Libor scandal has featured a different problem: too little careful talk. The basics of the scandal are well-known. The British Bankers’ Association [...]
Mortgage approvals plummet to their lowest level for 18 months July 30, 2012 MORTGAGE approvals plunged to their lowest number in a year and a half in June, according to Bank of England data released yesterday. Only 44,192 loans for home purchase were waved through by lenders last month, down from 50,544 in May and significantly below economists’ forecasts. While two extra bank holidays falling in June might [...]
HOUSE PRICES ON THE SLIDE July 30, 2012 House prices across the country fell for the first time in seven months in July, with even resilient London and the south east of England seeing a slowdown in growth, claims research out today from Hometrack. Rising house prices in London and the south east have been offsetting the decline across the rest of the [...]
Private equity slips in stakes July 30, 2012 PRIVATE equity funds have started to slip behind their private company rivals in the bidding war to snap up firms for the first time since 2007, research published today shows. Average price to earnings multiples paid by trade buyers in this quarter have surpassed private equity prices by 130 basis points. BDO partner Andrew Ware, [...]