Chinese property giant to make maiden investment in the City December 20, 2012 CHINA’S largest property developer by market value is set to make its first foray outside of the country after putting in an offer to buy One Finsbury Circus in the City for £152m. China Overseas Land & Investment is close to signing a deal to acquire the freehold of the Grade II listed block, designed [...]
What the autumn statement means for property players December 20, 2012 Chancellor OF the exchequer George Osborne’s autumn statement, released last month, included a £5.5bn infrastructure package, bringing infrastructure investment to £33bn a year. The funding includes support for long-term private investment in new roads, science, free schools and academies. Osborne also opted to keep property taxes and the rate of stamp duty unchanged, something some [...]
London Barometer December 20, 2012 DIRECTOR OF DOUGLAS & GORDON There are 30 per cent fewer highly saleable houses coming to the market in London compared to this time last year. This is a result of concerns over the economy and jobs, people having no other place to put their money and expectations of price increases in the £1-2m price [...]
First-timers to be kept locked out of 2013 mortgage market December 17, 2012 MORTGAGE lenders will focus their attention on the safer, low loan-to-value (LTV) end of the credit market during 2013, research showed yesterday. Lenders will conserve their precious capital and boost their lending in the remortgage market, which will grow a quarter from around 310,000 transactions this year to almost 400,000 next year, according to data [...]
House prices up on high volume of transactions December 13, 2012 HOUSE PRICES managed to creep up in November, after the month saw uncharacteristically high activity. Prices were up 0.2 per cent on the month, according to data from LSL Property Services and Acadametrics, on the back of a five per cent rise in the number of transactions compared to last November. This put prices up 3.3 per [...]
Mortgage loans jump back after September dip December 12, 2012 MORTGAGE lending bounced back strongly in October, according to industry figures released yesterday, yet analysts remain unconvinced that the government’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) is delivering a sea change in the housing market. The total number of loans for house purchase climbed 13.8 per cent to 49,500, data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders [...]
The wild, wonderful tale of the Bentley Boys December 7, 2012 When Bentley unleashes its Continental GT3 racer next year, it will be the first time for generations that owners will be able to join a Bentley racing team. This raises the mouth-watering prospect we could be looking at a whole new generation of Bentley Boys; flamboyant, wealthy and talented gentlemen racers of an ilk not [...]
Houses prices set to remain flat during 2013 December 6, 2012 HOUSE prices are set to remain flat in 2013, Halifax bank said yesterday, as weak economic growth and pressure on household finances continues to constrain demand. It also announced that the price of an average UK home rose by one per cent month-on-month to £160,879 in November. “We expect continuing broad stability in house prices nationally [...]
Loan export agency to dish out £1.5bn overseas to aid UK firms December 5, 2012 FOREIGN companies will be given up to £1.5bn of loans by the UK government to encourage them to buy British goods, under plans announced yesterday. UK Export Finance, led by minister Vince Cable, will get the cash from Treasury coffers to provide loans of up to £50m to any firm overseas that wants to buy [...]
What does the chancellor’s budget mean for you? December 5, 2012 Catherine Gannon, 50 Managing director of law firm Gannon Having started her own business 10 years ago, she earns around £100,000, though says this is getting more difficult to achieve, and while she has a share portfolio, she doesn’t have much in the way of a pension plan. Lives with her two children aged 10 [...]