Light at the end of the tunnel, but buyers should stay cautious March 25, 2010 IT’S the perennial dinner party question: what will happen to house prices in the coming year? With a hung parliament on the cards come May and economists divided over when the Bank of England will decide to raise interest rates, those who are looking to move property remain understandably nervous. Mortgages are still hard to [...]
The sun is shining on property in the Med March 11, 2010 THIS year’s freezing winter may well have proved a tipping point in your decision to invest in a sunny property abroad – and it couldn’t have arrived at a better time. Possibly by the time the time London’s largest overseas property fair, A Place in the Sun (held at Earl’s Court) rolls around 26-28 Mar, [...]
Ronson plans City hotel March 4, 2010 GERALD RONSON, the billionaire and head property group of Heron International, has submitted plans to build a five-star hotel and more than 100 luxury apartments in the heart of the City of London as part of a large £500m project. The plans will see a five-star hotel run by Four Seasons and 120 luxury flats, [...]
New rules would be bad for London January 21, 2010 HOW predictable. No sooner was Barack Obama humiliated by the Massachusetts electorate earlier this week – his left-wing candidate lost Ted Kennedy’s ultra safe seat to a radical conservative – than he announces another war on Wall Street. It is easy to forget in Britain, where Obama remains extraordinarily popular, that his administration is no [...]
Q&A: BUYING January 14, 2010 CAMILLA DELL MANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q. Dear Camilla, I am thinking about selling my property, but I am nervous about the upcoming general election and how this will affect the property market. Should I hold off until the election is over? A. Actually, we think that the current market is an ideal scenario [...]
City office rents expected to surge by end of 2010 January 5, 2010 PROPERTY consultancy King Sturge Prime has forecast a 10.5 per cent rise in City office rents by the end of 2010. The West End, which suffered the sharpest decline in rental last year, ranks top in the Consultancy group’s list of prime office space location. Rents in the area are predicted to rise to £70 [...]
Stuck in London for Christmas? Hole up in a luxury hotel December 20, 2009 OH dear. A bit of snow, as we had on Thursday, and London goes into panic mode. Flights are delayed, cancelled and rearranged, and with the threat of a BA strike only tenuously averted, getting out of London over the Christmas period seems anything but a sure bet. But look on the bright side. It’s [...]
Buy-to-let is back as rents stabilise and low prices attract landlords December 3, 2009 BUY-TO-LET is starting to look like an attractive proposition once again, as lower house prices and a stabilising rental market result in more enticing yields. Data from LSL Property Services – the company that owns Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agencies – shows that annual returns on landlords’ investments have turned positive for the [...]
Bankers grab luxury homes October 22, 2009 IN a fresh sign that bankers are feeling comfortable enough to splash the cash, enquiries for prime properties in Kensington and Chelsea have jumped in recent weeks, according to estate agents Knight Frank. Goldman Sachs was recently under the spotlight for awarding its 30,000 staff £500,000 each in bonuses, with some top traders set to [...]
London rents still higher than Europe October 11, 2009 LONDON remains the most expensive European city in which to rent prime office, distribution and shopping centre space according to research out today by Knight Frank. Despite a steep fall in prime property values, London’s West End remains the most expensive location to rent space in Europe. Office space in London’s West End is now [...]