Family homes with a modern twist December 5, 2013 Townhouses are standing tall next to the increasing numbers of towers that are dominating the skyline TOWNHOUSES were once the reserve of London’s nobility, standing tall around the boundaries of the City of London. But as the population rose, so did residential buildings and now it’s not unusual to live 10 or 20 storeys above [...]
Forget high speed rail. Driverless cars will revolutionise transport October 31, 2013 SOMETHING very exciting is about to happen in Milton Keynes, of all places. Starting in 18 months’ time, the Buckinghamshire town will host the first proper UK test of driverless cars. The trial will be modest by the standards of those happening elsewhere in the world – the hundred self-driving pods will use special lanes [...]
Forget high speed rail. Driverless cars will revolutionise transport October 29, 2013 SOMETHING very exciting is about to happen in Milton Keynes, of all places. Starting in 18 months’ time, the Buckinghamshire town will host the first proper UK test of driverless cars. The trial will be modest by the standards of those happening elsewhere in the world – the hundred self-driving pods will use special lanes [...]
London house prices set to soar by 35 per cent over the next five years October 24, 2013 HOUSE prices in the capital are set to spiral further upward by more than a third in the next five years, according to new research seen by City A.M. Property services firm CBRE expects the capital’s house prices to soar by an astonishing 34.8 per cent between 2014 and 2018, according to its latest forecast. [...]
Grafton keen on further growth after switching Irish roots for UK listing October 20, 2013 Gavin Slark, boss of the builders’ merchant, tells Kasmira Jefford what’s next for his company WHEN Gavin Slark was handed the toolbox and made chief executive of the Irish-based builders merchant two years ago, Grafton was in dire need of repairs. The global financial crisis had all but flattened the UK and Ireland’s construction market [...]
Brand Index: Help to Buy comes as Brits cheer up about the economy October 8, 2013 THIS week, banks including RBS, NatWest and Halifax will begin taking applications for 95 per cent mortgages under phase two of the government’s controversial Help to Buy scheme. The initiative is intended to help buyers who cannot afford a hefty deposit onto the property ladder, but critics say it could lead to another housing bubble. [...]
Regional gulf as house lending hits 2008 level August 20, 2013 MORTGAGE lending in July leapt back to levels last seen five years ago, but some parts of the country are still yet to see any boost from the budding recovery to the housing market. According to staggering figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) yesterday, gross mortgage lending rose to £16.6bn in July, [...]
Housing bubble threat underscores pressing need to revise Help to Buy August 16, 2013 HELP to Buy has been widely criticised by experts, academics and journalists as a dangerous policy. In the long term, in a supply constrained system, simply increasing lending does not build a single extra house. And due to the planning system’s failures, we have an incredibly supply constrained system. From 2000 to 2007 lending doubled, [...]
Housing bubble threat underscores pressing need to revise Help to Buy August 13, 2013 HELP to Buy has been widely criticised by experts, academics and journalists as a dangerous policy. In the long term, in a supply constrained system, simply increasing lending does not build a single extra house. And due to the planning system’s failures, we have an incredibly supply constrained system. From 2000 to 2007 lending doubled, [...]
First-time buys up to five year high in London February 26, 2013 FIRST-TIMERS rushed back to the London housing market in 2012, with first-time sales up to their highest since 2007. London housing transactions involving first-time buyers rocketed up 15 per cent between 2011 and 2012, from 32,400 to 37,300, according to Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) figures out yesterday. And the figure continued to rise through to the [...]