Millennials should receive £10,000 from the government to tackle generation gap says commission May 8, 2018 The government should introduce a £10,000 “citizen’s inheritance” for all 25-year-olds as part of a bid to boost millennials’ prospects, according to a commission bringing together top business groups and trade union bosses. The Intergenerational Commission will also propose a new £2.3bn National Health Service levy on pensioners’ earnings, a progressive property tax to replace [...]
London’s iconic Burlington Arcade in Mayfair sold to billionaire brothers Simon and David Reuben for £300m May 7, 2018 Billionaire brothers Simon and David Reuben have bought the iconic Burlington Arcade for £300m from New York property group Thor Equities and European private equity firm Meyer Bergman. The Mayfair arcade was bought by Thor Equities and Meyer Bergman for £104m back in 2010. Read more: Mayfair landlords are no longer mostly aristocrats in rental [...]
New government bill could save tenants £240m, but London estate agents worry it could spark ‘housing crash’ May 3, 2018 A new government bill to ban letting fees across England has ignited fierce debate in the property sector, with tenants and real estate agents drawing battle lines on either side. The government says its Tenant Fees Bill, introduced to parliament yesterday, is designed to “save tenants millions of pounds and make the market fairer and [...]
How Gin took over the world: It’s selling in record numbers with little sign of slowing down, but could the bubble be about to burst May 3, 2018 From Dalston dives to The Rivoli at the Ritz, people are drinking juniper-flavoured ethanol in record numbers. Last year more than 50m bottles of gin were sold in the UK for the first time, with £1.2bn in sales, up from £600m in 2011. That’s more than a billion gin and tonics. And while the best-selling [...]
nHouse founders Nick Fulford and Richard Hywel Evans on the need for modular housing in the UK May 2, 2018 While we all know what disruptive tech looks like, what does disruptive housing look like? By almost universal consent, three problems need to be addressed in the current market – affordability, sustainability and quality – and whoever conquers all three will seriously shake up the UK market. Yet architect Richard Hywel Evans thinks he, along [...]
UK construction rebounds in April led by strong house building recovery May 2, 2018 The UK construction sector has bounced back to a five-month high, led by a strong performance in house building, according to the latest IHS/Markit purchasing managers’ survey. The seasonally adjusted index came in at 52.5 for April, a sharp upturn from the 20-month low seen in March of 47.0, due largely to the winter storm [...]
James Brokenshire has no time to waste in fixing the capital’s housing crisis May 2, 2018 As James Brokenshire takes up his new role as housing secretary, his top priority must be to fix the capital’s broken housing market. It is no exaggeration to say that London is in the midst of a housing crisis. Demand far outstrips supply; while we have built 200,000 new homes over the last decade, London’s [...]
Opinion: Why Gibraltar is a rock solid investment, despite being caught in Brexit’s cross-hairs April 30, 2018 Lesser known than some of its European counterparts, the British overseas territory of Gibraltar has hit the headlines recently. A few weeks ago, the British government guaranteed Gibraltar’s access to UK financial markets until 2020 – with a framework being developed to take it beyond that against the backdrop of Brexit. Earlier in January, Gibraltar’s [...]
Salisbury spy poisoning exposes insurance gap around chemical and biological attacks April 30, 2018 The head of Pool Re, the government-backed terrorism reinsurance pool, has called for a debate on the insurance industry’s reaction to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents following the attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury last month. A report published today by Pool Re highlighted the risk to [...]
Investing in funds the basics unit trusts OEIC Investment Trust discount premium gearing how to choose ETFs ETPs similarities differences April 26, 2018 Some investors are highly active and enjoy researching and choosing individual shares, bonds and other investments. However, this ‘hands-on’ approach can have disadvantages. For instance, it can be difficult to obtain sufficient diversification without incurring high transaction costs, and it can be a challenge to devote enough time to monitoring a portfolio consisting of many [...]