City Views | Have you bought a new car this year? September 6, 2012 HANNAH DISS SNR DENTON I will probably in the next 2-3 years but at the moment I can’t. Fuel duty and road tax are huge costs and I don’t think the government is doing enough for the consumer, especially first-time buyers like me. ANDY TAYLOR I’m Australian and haven’t bought a car in the UK [...]
Back to work September 2, 2012 THE COALITION announced a raft of new policies yesterday in a desperate attempt to get the economy – and their poll ratings – back on track. But critics said ministers’ infighting and U-turns were making matters worse, creating extra uncertainty for businesses while failing to come up with any meaningful solutions to the double-dip recession. [...]
Top tips for investment first-timers September 2, 2012 IF YOU’RE lucky enough to find that you’ve got money left at the end of each month, the investment decisions you make now could make a big difference to the quality of the rest of your life. However, deciding how you invest isn’t easy. At a time of stock market volatility, negative real returns from [...]
JJB shares dive as it looks for a white knight August 30, 2012 SEVERAL bidders have expressed interest in taking control of crisis-hit retailer JJB Sports, which was forced to put itself up for sale yesterday after failing to secure fresh funding from investors. The company, which has 180 stores and employs 4,000 people, has been locked in discussions with suppliers and investors in recents months in a [...]
International money bolsters central London property boom August 27, 2012 INTERNATIONAL cash is flooding into the London property market, as foreign buyers capitalise on weak sterling, a report released today by Cluttons claims. The property consultants predict a 3.2 per cent annual increase in prime central London house prices, driven by cash buyers – in turn driven by the weak pound. Compared to the 2007 [...]
BSkyB’s rivals scheme over new live football rights deals August 22, 2012 Word that ITV might be interested in showing live Premier League matches for the first time ever is fascinating. If the unlikely move occurred, ITV would bring elite football back to a broader audience after more than 20 years of having it shown exclusively live on pay-per-view television. Not everybody would be cheering from their [...]
Fewer deals on offer for first time buyers August 22, 2012 THE MORTGAGE market has tightened up over the past six months, but remortgage lending has bounced back, according to reports. The number of high loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages has plummeted, with a collapse in 90 per cent and 95 per cent mortgages offered, MoneySupermarket said yesterday. Its data shows that 95 per cent mortgage availability has [...]
Bovis leader calls for lenders to raise awareness of NewBuy August 20, 2012 THE CHIEF executive of Bovis Homes yesterday called for banks to take further action to promote the government’s NewBuy scheme as first-time home buyers remain left in the dark. David Ritchie praised the scheme, which offers 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgages, but said reservations were still trickling in at three or four per week. “What [...]
Building your house on government support does not provide the firmest of foundations August 20, 2012 BETWEEN a government practically falling over itself to offer support and the supply constraints that continue to dog the UK property sector, there are worse things to be, even in today’s difficult marketplace, than a housebuilder. As Bovis Homes proved yesterday, with a doubling of pre-tax profit in the first half of the year compared [...]
Mortgage lending jumps ahead of Funding for Lending Scheme August 20, 2012 MORTGAGE lending jumped sharply in July, according to industry data published yesterday, with the government’s new Funding for Lending Scheme expected to boost loans further through August. Gross lending rose eight per cent to £12.7bn in the month, reversing the fall to £11.7bn in June, the Council of Mortgage Lenders revealed. However, analysts warn the [...]