Why Britain’s housing crisis risks turning into catastrophe June 3, 2014 THE HOUSING crisis – worst in London, but bad across Britain – is fundamentally driven by lack of supply. For the past five years, we have been building fewer houses than in any peacetime period since before World War One. But house building has been on a downwards trend since the 1960s. Reasonable estimates suggest [...]
It is high time voters were given the right to recall their MPs June 3, 2014 WE SHALL soon find out whether the coalition is serious about introducing a right of recall for Members of Parliament. The whole concept is revolutionary; embracing it in a proper way would transform British politics forever and help re-establish the bond between voters and those they elect to represent them. The basic idea is simple: [...]
Why Britain’s housing crisis risks turning into catastrophe June 3, 2014 THE HOUSING crisis – worst in London, but bad across Britain – is fundamentally driven by lack of supply. For the past five years, we have been building fewer houses than in any peacetime period since before World War One. But house building has been on a downwards trend since the 1960s. Reasonable estimates suggest [...]
Tax expensive homes more, European Commission tells UK June 3, 2014 George Osborne’s been urged to up council taxes on higher value properties today – by the European Commission. The commission’s said that, in order to keep house prices under control, the UK also needs to build more houses and trim the Help to Buy 2 scheme – where the government advances 15 per cent of [...]
Average UK house price hits record high as Help to Buy fails to take off in London June 3, 2014 UK house prices rose by 11.1 per cent annually last month, according to the latest figures from Nationwide. That takes the cost of an average UK home to £186,512 – overtaking the previous peak reached in pre-crisis October 2007 for the first time. In April, the average cost was £183,577. The building society’s house prices [...]
Global house prices slow as the UK jumps up world rankings June 2, 2014 Global house prices have increased for the eighth quarter in a row but the rate of price growth is now slowing, according to figures out today from Knight Frank. Prices rose by 7.1 per cent in the year to March, according to the property agency’s Global House Price Index. However the last quarter [...]
Mortgage approvals fall to July 2013 low June 2, 2014 Mortgages have seen another fall, dropping to 62,918 in April, from 66,563 in March, according to new figures from the Bank of England. That compares with an average of 70,132 over the previous six months. We had a good idea that we'd see that third monthly decline today. Timelier measures from the BBA saw mortgage [...]
What you need to know before the open June 2, 2014 European markets are expected to receive a boost this morning after postive Chinese manufacturing data lifted Asian markets Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA, a part-owner of Noway's largest offshore oil discovery in the last several decades, may move after agreeing to buy Marathon Oil Corp.’s local unit for $2.7bn. European equities rose 1.9 percent in May [...]
London Report: UK data to show economy is on path to recovery June 2, 2014 ECONOMIC indicators out this week are expected to show the UK recovery continuing at a healthy pace. PMI survey data for services, manufacturing and construction are likely to show strong growth throughout May. Blerina Uruci, of Barclays, expects services PMI to hit 60 in May, up from 58.7 and well above the 50 figure which [...]
London house price boom set to cool down May 28, 2014 LONDON’S housing market is likely to slow down over the summer and return to normal levels of growth in the coming years, Britain’s biggest building society said today. Prices in the capital have shot up by as much as 20 per cent in the last year, but are likely to gradually slow down to increase [...]