Rentokil profit increase boosts shares July 31, 2019 Pest control and property care firm Rentokil’s shares have risen 4.5 per cent this morning after it posted a 12.4 per cent rise in profit in the first half of the year. Read more: Rentokil set to continue acquisition spree The figures The firm’s revenue grew by 8.5 per cent to £1.3bn in the first [...]
Growth falters as UK house prices stuck in ‘Brexit limbo’ July 31, 2019 UK house prices’ rate of growth slipped in July, falling to a “modest” 0.3 per cent annual rise to stay below one per cent for the eighth month in a row, according to Nationwide’s latest data. However, the 0.3 per cent month-on-month growth outstripped June’s 0.1 per cent to leave the average UK home worth [...]
UK house price growth in southern cities hits seven-year low July 30, 2019 House prices in the UK’s southern cities grew at their slowest rate in seven years last month, according to new data released this morning. Average house price growth across southern cities is running at the lowest level recorded since January 2012, Zoopla has found, with values rising by just 0.7 per cent over the 12 [...]
Foxtons sales suffer in London property market downturn July 26, 2019 Sales at estate agents Foxtons suffered in the first half of the year due to a downturn in the London property market. The figures Group revenue declined by 3.5 per cent to £51.1m and losses deepened from £2.5m in the first half of 2018 to £3.2m this year. Revenue in Foxton’s letting business was flat [...]
Demand for retail property in London falls as sector’s woes continue July 25, 2019 Demand for retail property continued to fall across London in the second quarter of the year and is now approaching financial crisis-level lows, according to a new survey. Read more: UK retail industry battles ‘toughest ever’ trading conditions Meanwhile, demand from overseas investors has also continued to drop as Brexit looms, showed the latest commercial [...]
The most divisive tower blocks in the country, the Barbican Estate, have reached their half century July 24, 2019 Rising from the literal ashes of World War 2 bombs, the Barbican Estate has always been far more than a housing development. Designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, it was envisioned as a utopian blueprint for post-war British living – a tower block that wasn’t just about cramming in as many people as possible, [...]
Trisara hotel review: Foraging needn’t be at the expense of luxury July 24, 2019 Foraging is all the rage but, despite its fashionable foodie status, it does rather bring to mind getting grubby at the bottom of the garden, thrashing around with a set of secateurs, or simply pretending to be a badger. Surely there’s a more glamorous way to liven up lunch? So, off to Trisara in Thailand [...]
Naked houses: Unfinished homes give buyers a discount price – but are they practical? July 24, 2019 In case you hadn’t noticed, Britain is in the grip of its worst housing crisis since the 1940s. The verdict, delivered in a recent report from the Centre for Policy Studies, will be endorsed by anyone who has endured the vagaries of the London rental market, where a ‘cosy one-bed’ can be a garage with [...]
The bigger they come: The amazing story of Wentworth Woodhouse, the largest home in England July 24, 2019 You’ve heard of Chatsworth, and Castle Howard, that Brideshead dream. You’ve heard of Blenheim Palace, the Duke of Marlborough’s monumental home. But what about Wentworth Woodhouse, the biggest house in England? Wentworth Woodhouse, the former seat of the Earls Fitzwilliam, could have been a house lost to history. Five miles from Rotherham, it sits in [...]
London’s Indian summer: How a new generation of restaurants shook up the food scene July 24, 2019 You could spend a year’s worth of Friday nights eating out at London’s upmarket Indian restaurants and still have a few left over to carry into January. The capital is crammed so full of Kashmiri morels and quail naans there’s barely room for kulfi. The last couple of years have seen critical and popular success [...]