Don’t like new build homes in glass towers? We round up the best conversion homes in characterful period buildings November 12, 2018 You want to buy a new house, but you don’t want to live in a soulless shell. There’s good news: the historic conversion market is continuing to boom, with London’s ancient buildings being scaffolded as we speak. Hampstead Manor, at the heart of which is white-stucco mansion Kidderpore Hall, is one such development. It’s being [...]
New homes: Our pick of what’s going on sale in London this week November 12, 2018 New developments on the market this week Aviator Place, Acton From £150,000 for a 40 per cent share of a one bedroom apartment Get onto the property ladder a share at a time by purchasing one of these Shared Ownership homes going on sale in west London tomorrow. Acton is an up-and-coming part of Zone [...]
Top of the class: London retailers post best results in Europe to push Paris into second place November 12, 2018 London’s West End has weathered problems on the high street to keep its position as the top of the European retail league, while seven of the top 10 shopping centres are in the UK. Shoppers spent almost €10.4bn (£9.1bn) on and around Oxford Street, Knightsbridge and Kensington for the year ending November, a 12 per cent [...]
Break the chain: Spotify backers fund estate agent Nested November 11, 2018 An estate agent that helps homeowners buy their next property chain-free has received £120m from the backers of Spotify, Betfair and Revolut. Nested gives homeowners a cash advance of up to 94 per cent of their property’s value, allowing them to buy a new home before completing a sale. The rest of the value is [...]
Thousands of stores fall off high street as retail woes worsen November 9, 2018 Fresh evidence of the retail woes facing Britain’s shopkeepers emerged this morning, with more than 2,500 stores vanishing from the high street over the first six months of this year. Some 14 stores have closed every day in the first half of 2018, as stiffer competition and higher costs make the retail struggle for survival [...]
Beazley hit with $105m hurricane costs November 8, 2018 Lloyds of London insurer Beazley today said it expects costs of roughly $105m after a series of natural disasters in the US and Asia. Beazley said the payouts following hurricanes Florence and Michael and typhoons Jebi and Trami are in line with expectations. But the insurer, which covers a range of areas including kidnapping and [...]
The government is finally turning its attention to the housing crisis, but what’s missing? November 8, 2018 There's no question that the housing market is in need of drastic reform. So it was welcome news last week when the chancellor announced that the government was turning its attention to reforming the supply side of the market through a £500m Housing Infrastructure Fund and British Business Bank guarantees for SME house builders. In broader terms, there seems to [...]
Mind your own business and stay out of Persimmon’s bonus scheme November 8, 2018 The news that Jeff Fairburn has been asked to leave Persimmon in the wake of the furore over his £75m bonus should not come as a surprise. There is a febrile atmosphere of media scrutiny when it comes to such matters, and shareholders had already branded the long-term incentive scheme pay-out as “grossly excessive”. Unfortunately, [...]
London house prices set to slide as caution lingers in the UK property market November 8, 2018 Fears of flat activity in London’s housing market were underlined by a new closely-followed survey this morning, which suggested property prices will continue to sink as buyer caution looms over the capital. According to data released today from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 41 per cent more respondents have predicted a further fall rather [...]
UK house price growth slows to weakest rate in five years November 7, 2018 House prices slumped to their lowest rate of growth in more than five years last month, as sales remained flat in the latest sign of subdued activity within the UK property market. Prices in the three months to October were 1.5 per cent higher than in the same three months a year earlier, marking a drop from 2.5 [...]