UK mortgage approvals jump December 8, 2011 Loans for home purchases hit their highest since December 2009 in November, according to data out today from e.surv chartered surveyors, thanks largely to loose mortgage conditions. Purchase approvals rose from 52,743 in October to 54,658 in November on a seasonally adjusted basis – an increase of four per cent, and 15 per cent higher [...]
Know your Fire from your Vox with our guide to the ultimate e-readers November 30, 2011 People said e-books would never catch on. For some reason, this was quite often backed up by the argument that e-readers don’t smell like real books. But – and this is no slight on the aroma of the works of Mark Twain – these people were wrong. Retailers are rubbing their hands at the prospect [...]
City A.M.’s at-a-glance guide to the key points of Osborne’s mini-Budget November 29, 2011 UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK • The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has slashed the growth forecasts it made in March. • Its central forecast for 2011 has been revised down to 0.9 per cent from the 1.7 per cent March prediction. It expects 0.7 per cent year-on-year GDP growth in 2012, instead of 2.5 per cent. [...]
Government announces an end to stamp duty holiday November 29, 2011 THE CHANCELLOR was accused of dealing a blow to first-time buyers yesterday after announcing that the government would not be extending the stamp duty holiday beyond next March. In his Autumn Statement yesterday, George Osborne said that duty land tax relief “has been ineffective” in increasing the number of first time buyers entering the market. [...]
Pride before a fall: Osborne looked to special interests, not the UK’s perilous state November 29, 2011 THE Autumn Statement showed that George Osborne has failed to grasp the gravity of the economic crisis facing the UK. Urgent action was needed to brace the economy for double-dip recession and the fallout from the euro crisis. Instead, the chancellor announced a big increase in government borrowing, together with a series of measures that, [...]
House prices rise for third month November 29, 2011 House prices edged up in November, beating expectations and despite a weak economy, but activity remains subdued and prices are more likely to dip in the next 12 months, mortgage lender Nationwide said. House prices rose 0.4 per cent from October on a seasonally adjusted basis, their third straight monthly increase, a Nationwide survey showed. [...]
Osborne to find cash for UK builders November 27, 2011 TOMORROW, George Osborne will deliver his Autumn Statement, supposedly focusing on economic growth. There will also be fresh data on government finances from the Office of Budget Responsibility. The statement is likely to contain a mixture of bad news for taxpayers as well as government subsidy for pet ideas. It is unlikely to contain anything [...]
Nationwide’s warning over Euro turmoil November 22, 2011 THE EUROZONE crisis is forcing up the cost of UK retail deposits, the chief executive of Nationwide warned yesterday as the lending giant reported a rise in profits. Graham Beale said the added funding costs would be felt for as long as the single currency remained mired in a sovereign debt problem. “Whilst the initial [...]
Home ownership to slide says Bank’s David Miles November 22, 2011 FIRST-TIME buyers are taking longer to save for large deposits, and so the number of owner-occupiers is set to fall, David Miles from the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee said in a speech yesterday. The transition to a society with fewer homeowners will be painful, he warned, but could have long-term benefits to the [...]
Our economy and housing supply are being held back by planning: Liberalise now November 22, 2011 THE roots of our urban and housing crises began in the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act. This created the current planning framework where all major private property changes are subject to state veto. All land released for housing has to be approved by councils. Councils tell developers what they should build and where it [...]