House prices edge down last month as market slows March 5, 2021 House prices inched down in February as activity slowed but remain more than five per cent up year-on-year, new data released today showed. According to Halifax’s House Price Index, prices dropped 0.1 per cent last month compared to in January, with the average price now £251,697. However, in the quarter from November to February prices [...]
Prime outer London house prices boom as demand for extra space continues to rise March 5, 2021 House prices in prime outer London boroughs boomed last month as demand for more space has driven suburban property markets in the capital. In the year to February there were 1.1 per cent more transactions in prime outer London than over the previous 12-month period, underlying the strength of activity given the UK property market [...]
UK PMIs: Construction activity bounces back as paused projects get green light March 4, 2021 UK construction activity bounced back in February as businesses gave the go ahead to projects that had been forced to be suspended due to the pandemic. The IHS Markit/Cips purchasing managers (PMI) index for construction scored 53.2 in February, with any score above the 50-mark indicating growth. That’s markedly ahead of analyst expectations of a score of [...]
Hygiene surge boosts ratcatchers Rentokil March 4, 2021 Rentokil said that it had boosted profit 5.4 per cent across the full year thanks to huge growth in its hygiene business amid the coronavirus pandemic. Across the year, ongoing operating profit rose to £383.8m, up from £365.5m the year before. Revenue also increased 5.0 per cent to £2.8bn. Despite the impressive performance, shares in [...]
KPMG unit sale creates new restructuring behemoth Interpath Advisory March 4, 2021 KPMG has signed an unconditional agreement to sell its restructuring practice to Interpath Advisory, a newly-formed company backed by private equity firm HIG Europe. The sale will see 22 partners and around 528 staff currently employed in KPMG’s restructuring practice transfer to Interpath Advisory, making it the largest independent restructuring and turnaround business in the [...]
Housebuilder Vistry to double profit in 2021 as Sunak extends property tax cuts March 4, 2021 Housebuilder Vistry Group predicted that it would at least double its profit before tax over the coming financial year after a strong start to the year. As a result of the positive outlook, the firm said that it was reinstating a final dividend of 20p per share. It follows fellow builder Taylor Wimpey in reintroducing [...]
Before the Bell: Sunak’s Budget aims to boost GDP, the pain comes later March 4, 2021 Although yesterday’s UK Budget was generally well received in the international markets, with the fiscal taps to be left fully open until December, the British Pound did rally. With the major decisions pre-announced earlier this week, a big equity market reaction to the Budget speech was unlikely anyway. In addition to the extension of Covid-19 specific support, [...]
Budget 2021: Government to guarantee five per cent mortgages on homes up to £600,000 March 3, 2021 The government will introduce a new scheme that will allow individuals to put down just a five per cent deposit on homes valued up to £600,000. From April, the government will introduce a the scheme that will provide a guarantee to lenders across the UK that offer mortgages to people with a deposit of five [...]
Budget 2021: As it happened March 3, 2021 Live updates and links to all our coverage, reactions and analyses as the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivers the government’s Budget later today – at 12.30pm. Please also visit our dedicated Budget 2021 Hub. Wrap-up of the main Budget announcements Here’s a wrap-up of the main announcements made by the chancellor in his spring Budget: [...]
Stamp duty holiday: Property industry welcomes extension but calls for long-term reform March 3, 2021 Developers and property industry experts have welcomed the Chancellor’s extension of the stamp duty holiday but urged the government to fully reform the tax in the future. Rishi Sunak this afternoon confirmed that the higher stamp duty threshold of £500,000 will remain in place until 30 June – an extension of the original 30 March [...]