Landlords make last minute dash to beat buy-to-let stamp duty hike deadline March 31, 2016 Landlords and agents were scrambling to complete last-minute purchases of second home and buy-to-let properties today ahead of stamp duty hike which comes into effect at midnight. George Osborne's clampdown on buy-to-let properties was announced in November's Autumn Statement as part of a raft measures designed to tackle the housing crisis and help more first-time buyers on the property [...]
Equity crowdfunding investors: Five key tips before you take the plunge March 31, 2016 The most recent figures from innovation charity Nesta show that equity-based crowdfunding is one of the fastest growing models of the alternative finance sector. Since 2014, it has grown by 295 per cent to £332m. Equity crowdfunding is not only providing investment for startups, early-stage growth companies and even those already eyeing a flotation on the [...]
Earning a crust: With Centrica, Rolls Royce, BHP Billiton and others cutting their dividend, where should investors look for income? March 31, 2016 As central banks have pushed down interest rates, income has become ever harder to find. While returns on cash savings have remained low, dividend-yielding stocks have looked like a source of stability. But now, trouble in the global economy is forcing reliable dividend payers such as Centrica and Rolls Royce to slash their payouts. Companies [...]
Five reasons to think twice before investing in buy-to-let March 31, 2016 You hear it all the time. A relative or a friend has just inherited some money. They want to make it work for them. So they make what seems like an ironclad financial decision: they invest in buy-to-let. Why is this so common? After all, property ownership is a relatively recent trend. Well, rental properties [...]
UK house prices: Sales to first-time buyers pause in February despite year-on-year rise March 31, 2016 The number of first-time home buyers rose by seven per cent in the year to February despite a slight drop in activity since the start of the year, new data today shows. First time buyer sales stood at 21,000 last month, which was 6.6 per cent ahead of February 2015’s figure of 19,800, according to Your [...]
Prime central London house prices are being outpaced by outer boroughs, says Savills March 30, 2016 Prices of prime London residential properties dipped in the first quarter of the year, as uncertainty around the economic outlook and the EU referendum largely offset any investor or second home buyer rush to beat the buy-to-let stamp duty hike deadline. Values across the whole of prime London slipped by an average of 0.3 per cent in [...]
London is leading a second post-crisis boom in house prices March 30, 2016 House prices across the country continue to surge. Data published by the Land Registry this morning shows the average UK property price was £190,275 in February, a 6.1 per cent climb on the same month last year. London leads London house price growth continued to outpace the rest of England and Wales. The average price [...]
Invest down under: Why Australia’s an overlooked investment opportunity – and it’s nothing to do with oil and mining March 30, 2016 Australia has the enviable honour of avoiding recession for nearly 25 years. It’s well known for having plentiful natural resources and a thriving oil and mining sector, and its proximity to China made it the chief supplier of commodities to the Asian giant during its manufacturing and construction boom. But the abundance of stuff to [...]
EU referendum could explain “exodus from investment funds”, says analyst as new figures show February outflows of £399m March 30, 2016 The EU referendum vote has been blamed for an "exodus from investment funds". New figures from the Investment Association show the industry saw net outflows of £399m from UK authorised investment funds last month. Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the figures came as a "surprise". He added: "One possible reason behind the poor numbers is [...]
Bank of England stress tests: Berenberg warns Lloyds Banking Group could be hit hard by 2016 stress tests while Standard Chartered and HSBC could fare better than in recent years March 30, 2016 Lloyds Banking Group is "particularly vulnerable to larger stress test losses" in 2016 compared to Britain's other big banks, analysts at Berenberg have warned. The Bank published its plans yesterday for this year’s stress test of Britain’s biggest banks, saying it would test to see how lenders would fare in a scenario where global growth falls 1.9 [...]