Opinion: The Budget left out property and the housing crisis – but here’s what Philip Hammond should have done instead March 13, 2017 Apart from a nod towards business rates (the devil will be in the Finance Act detail), the Budget was almost a property-free zone. But Mr Hammond missed out on some much-needed blue-sky thinking, especially if the government is going to fix what it calls the ‘broken’ housing system. Here are some things that Spreadsheet Phil [...]
With RICS finding the housing market subdued, should we brace for falling house prices? March 10, 2017 Kay Neufeld, an economist at the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), says Yes. With infallible regularity, every year a number of property market analysts predict that “this year prices surely must fall”. Most of the time, they are wrong. Looking at market fundamentals, not much has changed in 2017. The demand for housing [...]
Co-op Bank stems losses to £477m but says legacy problems and lower for longer interest rates led to sale March 9, 2017 Co-operative Bank today said legacy issues and low interest rates had dragged on performance and prompted the lender's owners to put the bank up for sale. Although the bank reduced annual losses of £477m from £611m in 2015, it took a further £60m hit from its merger with Britannia Building Society and was slapped with an £82m charge following [...]
Budget 2017: Here’s how the Budget will affect landlords and the buy-to-let sector March 8, 2017 With the housing crisis in full throes, the last few years have been difficult ones to be a landlord – indeed, many have felt punished by measures such as an end to mortgage tax relief and higher stamp duty on buy-to-let homes. The good news for landlords was that today's Budget didn't include any further [...]
Spring Budget 2017 at-a-glance guide: All of chancellor Philip Hammond’s big announcements you need to know March 8, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond has delivered his first (and last, thanks to a shift around in dates) spring Budget speech. But, as not everybody has the time to go back and listen to his words of wisdom in full, here's an at-a-glance breakdown of the biggest announcements you need to know: Economics, public spending and politics [...]
Foxtons results: Another dive in profits thanks to London house prices March 8, 2017 Shares in struggling London estate agent Foxtons took a dive today after it admitted London's cooling market pushed down profits last year. The figures Revenues fell 11 per cent to £132.7m in the year to the end of December, Foxtons said today – while pre-tax profits fell more than half, from £41m in 2015 to £18.8m in 2016. Lettings revenue fell one per [...]
Here’s what the property sector is expecting in this week’s Budget – from stamp duty to landlords to luxury homes March 7, 2017 It’s that time of year again: the days are getting longer, the trees are blossoming, and the one-time-only Spring Budget is rapidly approaching – with homeowners and landlords alike steeling themselves for more punishment from the chancellor. The good news is it looks unlikely there will be much to punish homeowners or lower house prices [...]
This chart shows what’s changed since since the Bank of England began its quantitative easing programme in 2009 March 4, 2017 Tomorrow is the eighth anniversary of the Bank of England (BoE)'s quantitative easing (QE) programme and of interest rates being cut to the "emergency" level of 0.5 per cent. It also happens to be the deadline for written submission to the treasury select committee's enquiry into the effectiveness and impact of the post-2008 monetary policy. Laith Khalaf, senior [...]
Taylor Wimpey’s profit jumps over 20 per cent February 28, 2017 Taylor Wimpey left 2016 on a high, reporting this morning that its profits jumped more than 20 per cent last year. The figures Profit before tax jumped 21.5 per cent, from £603.8m in 2015 to £733.4m last year, and revenue rose 17.1 per cent year-on-year from £3.14bn to £3.68bn. Read more: Safe as houses? London [...]
Discretionary income is “fading fast” as fuel prices squeeze families February 27, 2017 Growth in discretionary income is "fading fast" as fuel prices soared in January. UK families had an average £205 of disposable income available each week last month, according to Asda's income tracker, up 3.5 per cent on the same month the year before. Read more: Alarm bells sound over rising costs and inflation However growth [...]