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 [...]
Farewell Fairburn: Persimmon boss asked to leave after £75m bonus backlash November 7, 2018 The fate of under-fire Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn was finally sealed this morning, with the chief executive resigning in the wake of one of the most heated corporate pay rows since the financial crash. Fairburn, who was the UK’s highest paid boss in 2017, is to leave at the end of the year “at the [...]
Truce or dare: A Trump stunt, or the end of the US-China trade war? November 6, 2018 Last Thursday, Donald Trump took to Twitter to tell the world that trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping were “moving along nicely”. His words prompted a rise in Asian stock markets; the Shanghai Composite index climbed by almost 2.7 per cent during trading on Friday, and the Hang Seng surged by about 4.2 per cent, [...]
King & Wood Mallesons’ City boss on rebuilding after the UK’s largest-ever law firm collapse November 4, 2018 When King & Wood Mallesons’ (KWM) European arm filed for administration on 17 January 2017 it was the culmination of a slow-motion car crash that had kept the UK legal market agog for months. Less than two years on the new London managing partner of what has been dubbed KWM 2.0 is not keen to [...]
Trump: ‘I think we’ll make a deal with China’ November 3, 2018 President Donald Trump looked to quell market jitters over escalating tariff war tensions with Beijing last night, after telling reporters that a trade deal between the US and China is getting nearer. “China very much wants to make a deal…We’ve had very good discussions with China, we’re getting much closer to doing something,” Trump said. [...]
Belfast has big plans to become the home of the Titanic and a top TV shooting location. But will that help the property market? November 2, 2018 A couple of weeks ago, a consortium of hedge funds clubbed together to raise $19.5m to buy bric-a-brac from the bottom of the ocean. At first glance, these 5,500 items bore no relation to each other; a bowler hat, the sleek curves of a bronze angel, a steel door. Their immense value derives solely from [...]
Opinion: This Budget showed that Phillip Hammond, and by extension the Conservatives, have given up on the housing crisis November 2, 2018 Housing is arguably the second biggest political hot potato for this Government after Brexit. Getting it as wrong as they currently are will surely lead to defeat at the next election. This will be a defeat fuelled by an angry generation of resentful aspirants, whose home-owning dreams have been shattered by an administration’s failings to [...]
New homes: Our pick of the new builds going on sale in London this weekend November 2, 2018 New developments on the market this week So Resi, Sydenham From £130,000 for a 25 per cent share of a two bed New homes in south east London with excellent commuting times have been released on a part-buy part-rent basis. Prospective homeowners can buy a share of a one, two or three bedroom apartment in [...]