Why there won’t be much property magic in the Autumn Statement November 21, 2016 There is a long list of measures which, were they to appear in this Wednesday’s Autumn Statement, would be regarded as a magical outcome for us real estate types. For example: serious increases in the capital budget to fund infrastructure, which is both a facilitator of new development and a prerequisite for community acceptance of [...]
This is what the property industry wants from the Autumn Statement November 18, 2016 The big day is almost here – Autumn Statement day. The housing crisis has been at the top of the political agenda for years, but successive governments have failed to get a handle on it. Chancellor Philip Hammond is promising new funding to help get Britain building, but the property industry wants a range of [...]
Nationwide pulls out of commercial real estate lending as it reports falling profits November 18, 2016 Nationwide announced plans to pull out of commercial property lending as it reported falling profits today. The figures Statutory profit for the six months to September came in at £696m, down from £802m. And underlying profit was reported at £615m, down from £801m. Nationwide said gross mortgage lending was up 17 per cent to £17.5bn [...]
Barratt has taken “pricing action” on high-end homes in London as weak demand begins to bite November 16, 2016 Not long ago, housebuilders were all clamouring to get a slice of London's high-end property market. Not any more: today Barratt said although sales have been strong, demand in the capital has weakened. The figures First, the good news: in a trading update ahead of its shareholder meeting today, the housebuilder said total forward sales [...]
The housing minister just admitted the government will miss its housebuilding targets November 11, 2016 The UK's housebuilding sector is "absolutely… not at the rate we need to be" in order to meet government targets, the housing minister has admitted. In an interview with Sky News, Gavin Barwell said although the UK is currently building 170,000 new homes a year, we're on course to miss a target of one million [...]
Thanks Carney: Aldermore’s results boosted by Bank of England scheme November 10, 2016 Aldermore revealed today that it has boosted its new lending during the first nine months of the year, with a little help from a recently introduced Bank of England funding scheme. The figures The challenger bank announced it had generated £2.3bn in new lending during the first nine months of 2016, up 20 per cent [...]
How to put your children onto the property ladder (without acrimony) November 9, 2016 With rising house prices and tighter lending criteria, it is increasingly difficult for young people to get onto the housing ladder. In most cases, they will need to call on the Bank of Mum and Dad. Parents who want to help their children are often uncertain about the best way to provide the funds, the [...]
RBS faces a long road to profitability as it seeks to put its problems behind it November 9, 2016 In an era of ultra low interest rates, ever tightening regulation and steep legacy fines, times are tough for banks. But taxpayer-backed RBS, which has not made a full-year profit since 2007 and has seen shares slide 36 per cent in the year to date, is having a particularly rough ride. This is largely through problems [...]
As a new report finds household debt reaching £1.5 trillion, is this a disaster waiting to happen? November 7, 2016 Baroness Altmann, former minister of state for pensions, says Yes. This news makes for disturbing reading. Casting our minds back a few years to the events leading up to the 2008 crash invokes an apprehensive sense of deja vu. Was it not excessive borrowing that led to the crisis we are still struggling to overcome? [...]
UK house price growth eased off in October November 7, 2016 Much has been said about whether the Brexit vote hit demand for homes in the UK. Figures published today suggest that may be the case: prices grew 5.2 per cent in October, down from 5.8 per cent in September. The average house price hit £217,411 in October, according to the Halifax house price index – that's [...]