Osborne caught in a tangle over tax May 17, 2011 HEAD OF TAX, ACCA A YEAR on and coalition relations are distinctly less rosy than they were in the rose garden last May. But despite recent tensions the coalition has already made plenty of progress in reshaping Britain: radical reforms to welfare, education, and healthcare have all been initiated. From an accountant’s perspective though, one [...]
House prices rise 1.2pc in March May 17, 2011 House prices rose by 1.2 per cent on a seasonally-adjusted basis in March, taking the year-on-year rate of growth to 0.9 per cent, government figures showed. The Department for Communities and Local Government said the average price of a home stood at 205,565 pounds in March. The DCLG data is based on a sample of [...]
Consumer price inflation in shock jump May 17, 2011 Consumer price inflation jumped more than forecast in April – fuelled by soaring travel costs around Easter and higher duty on alcohol and tobacco, official data showed. The surprisingly sharp rise reinforces the policy dilemma for the Bank of England, keen to keep interest rates low to support a sluggish economy. The UK Consumer Prices [...]
UK housebuilders lifted by a rise in profits as market improves May 11, 2011 BRITISH housebuilders Barratt and Bovis Homes both said they expected to report a rise in profit after a pick-up in sales, although activity will remain limited by tight mortgage availability. Barratt Developments, Britain’s largest housebuilder by volume, said yesterday sales rates returned to normal levels from 1 January to 8 May, with private selling prices [...]
House prices slide despite more activity May 9, 2011 HOUSE prices continued their decline last month despite increasing signs of the market stabilising, two separate surveys have shown. Prices were down 1.4 per cent in April, the Halifax announced yesterday, while this morning the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) revealed that 29 per cent of surveyors are still reporting falling prices, compared to [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 9, 2011 GREAT PORTLAND UBS has downgraded the property firm from “neutral” to “sell” and has raised its target price by 40p to 390p. The broker thinks the current share price is forward-looking, and does not allow for much execution risk in Great Portland’s ambitious development plans in the City and West End. However, it thinks strong [...]
House prices to fall for five years, warns thinktank May 4, 2011 REAL house prices could drop by a fifth over the next five years, a leading economic forecaster warned today. Despite prices falling since the credit crunch, houses remain overvalued by around ten per cent, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) claimed. Additional regulations on banks could knock a further ten per cent [...]
Bank reveals weak lending on mortgages May 4, 2011 SLUGGISH mortgage lending and stuttering house prices continue to haunt the UK’s housing market, a series of data releases showed yesterday. Mortgage lending grew by just £400m in March, the Bank of England revealed – below increases of £1bn and £1.7bn in the two previous months, and an average jump of £800m over the last [...]
Bank lending data shows slump May 4, 2011 Lending to consumers and homebuyers rose less than expected in March, Bank of England data showed, adding to evidence of a sluggish economy from the construction sector and falling house prices. A slew of weaker-than-expected data, kicked off by tepid first-quarter growth figures last week, have caused economists to push back their expectations of a [...]
Housing market faces years of gloom April 26, 2011 IT may not feel that way in some parts of Greater London but the housing market remains stuck in the doldrums. This is not surprising: the great housing bubble of the noughties hasn’t finished deflating yet. The readjustment process is continuing, with prices falling in real terms – and there is still a decent way [...]