Estate agents urge government to extend coronavirus support March 22, 2020 Estate agents have urged the government to protect the industry as house viewings drop and sales activity slows due to coronavirus. The sector has called for the government to extend the business rates holiday, which applies to retail and hospitality firms, to estate agent companies. The UK’s housing market looked set to bounce back this [...]
Selling your home? Think twice before dismissing the first offer March 20, 2020 There are numerous examples that I can recall where we have received a good offer for a property very soon after bringing it to the market, sometimes in a matter of days – only to have the owner reject the offer on the basis that it has been ‘too quick’. More often than not, this [...]
Coronavirus: Rishi Sunak leaves door open for ‘helicopter money’ strategies March 18, 2020 A wave of government cash handouts could be given to individuals and businesses if the scale of the economic downturn from coronavirus is worse than expected, according to Rishi Sunak. Sunak told the Treasury Select Committee he was “looking at every tool” to weather the economic storm and that “more macroeconomic, economy-wide solutions than targeted [...]
Seven firms suspend UK property funds as virus casts uncertainty over assets March 18, 2020 Aberdeen Standard Investments and BMO have joined five other firms who have suspended their property funds after independent valuers introduced material valuation uncertainty clauses due to the coronavirus outbreak. The UK commercial property market is facing unprecedented challenges brought on by the pandemic. Valuation firms are now saying that they can no longer make reliable [...]
Aviva Investors suspends property funds as CBRE warns of market uncertainty March 18, 2020 Aviva Investors has suspended its property fund, following similar decisions by Kames Capital and Janus Henderson yesterday. In a statement, Aviva Investors said the coronavirus outbreak had impacted the UK property market and “made it difficult to value the property owned by the funds with the same degree of certainty as would otherwise be the [...]
Kames Capital suspends property income fund due to market uncertainty March 17, 2020 Kames Capital has become a victim of the turbulent market as it temporarily suspends its property income fund. In a statement to investors, Kames said: “Following continued market volatility and uncertainly for property funds, which began with the 2016 Brexit Referendum and continued in recent weeks with the Corona Virus pandemic the valuers of the [...]
JP Morgan backs property lender Glenhawk with £200m facility March 16, 2020 JP Morgan has agreed a £200 facility with challenger lender Glenhawk to grow its property loan size and enter the UK homeowner mortgage market. The new senior funding line will support Glenhawk’s ability to grow its maximum property bridging loan size from £3m to £5m to fund a mixture of residential and commercial borrowers. The [...]
LSL abandons Countrywide merger amid coronavirus concerns March 16, 2020 LSL Property Services has pulled out of a potential £500m merger with Countrywide, terminating a deal that would have created the UK’s biggest estate agent, amid market uncertainty due to the outbreak of coronavirus. LSL, which owns Your Move and upmarket chain Marsh & Parsons, did not give a reason for its decision this morning, [...]
Chinese economy nosedives as virus outbreak hits factories March 16, 2020 China’s factory production slumped to its lowest level on record in the first two months of the year as the coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc for the world’s second-largest economy. Analysts said the shock was worse than the financial crisis decade ago and reinforced fears that the epidemic may have cut China’s economic growth in half [...]
City Moves for 16 March — Who’s switching jobs at Coretech Solutions, Liontrust and F&C Investment Trust? March 16, 2020 Today’s city Moves includes Coretech Solutions, Liontrust and F&C Investment Trust Coretech Solutions UK technology specialist Coretech Solutions has announced the appointment of Michael Green as non-executive director. He joins the business following 40 years’ experience in leadership roles across the retail and property sectors. Most recently, he was the first appointed chief executive of the [...]