George Osborne’s Big Red Book is securing UK prosperity while Maoism gathers dust November 30, 2015 George Osborne set out last week how this government is fulfilling its manifesto promises: delivering financial security on the back of economic growth, and national security in an uncertain world. Coupled with plans to make markets work better for families and firms – like increasing competition so bills come down – he spoke to the [...]
Stamp duty was already a bad tax – the buy-to-let surcharge makes it even more stupid November 30, 2015 Petty, shallow and stupid. That pretty much sums up the government’s new 3 per cent stamp duty surcharge on additional properties, announced by the chancellor in the Autumn Statement last week. Beyond the naked appeal to the public’s envy of second home owners and buy-to-let landlords, there is almost nothing to recommend this measure on [...]
China’s yuan clinches membership of the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights basket November 30, 2015 In a much expected move, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has included China's currency, the yuan or RMB, in its elite currency basket. The yuan joins the yen, pound sterling, US dollar and euro in the IMF's special drawing rights – which acts as the IMF's own currency. While the move has little immediate practical significance, it is [...]
Focus On Dalston: Why City workers still dig it November 30, 2015 Dalston may have become a byword for a certain type of bearded hipster in recent years, but there’s much more to the area than meets the eye. While Hackney has been through a tremendous change, Dalston has probably seen the greatest amount of it next to Shoreditch. There are now too many hot bars and [...]
Top tips for first-time buyers in London November 30, 2015 Getting on the property ladder is hard work, especially if you’re looking to buy your first home in London. According to Savills, the average deposit for a first time buyer is currently 68 per cent of their household income, but that rises to 177 per cent in London. But with a couple of helpful announcements [...]
Mortgage lending and individual borrowing rose in October according to the latest Bank of England credit report November 30, 2015 The number of mortgages approved in October rose to 69,630, just up from September's 69,012 figure and higher than the 68,099 average over the last six months, Bank of England figures published today showed. The value of new mortgage approvals hit £12.2bn. The October total was just shy of the 70,000 figure forecast by analysts and up 17.2 per cent year-on-year, from 59,423 in October [...]
Peer-to-peer lender LendInvest on track to back £1bn of new properties by 2016 November 30, 2015 Peer-to-peer (P2P) property lending and investment firm LendInvest said it has doubled the number of properties it has supplied finance to over the last year, as developers scramble to keep up with demand for more homes. The alternative lender, which aims to plug the funding gap left by high street banks, has backed 1,222 new [...]
New initiative rakes in £300m from stamp duty avoidance clampdown November 30, 2015 HMRC has raked in over £300m in one year through clamping down on stamp duty land tax (SDLT), according to new research released this morning. The government’s new Counter Avoidance Directorate (CAD) collected £301.8m from the tax applied to property and land transactions in the 12 months to March, data from law firm Collyer Bristow [...]
In a city where property is in short supply, why do buildings still lie derelict? November 27, 2015 From the top floor the Royal Docks’ Millennium Mills there’s a stomach-churning, 10 storey hole in the floor. It used to house a Rube Goldberg-esque flour-processing helterskelter back in the building’s heyday in the first half of the last century. Now it’s little more than a skeleton, stripped back to brick and concrete. The 1933 [...]
Autumn Statement 2015 buy-to-let advice for landlords: After the chancellor’s stamp duty hike, what should investors do? November 27, 2015 The chancellor's announcement of a three per cent stamp duty levy on non-primary residences – specifically buy-to-let investments and second homes – caught many by surprise. This change is an incredibly blunt instrument to deal with a complex set of housing market issues. In principle, it will reduce the competition between first-time buyers and investors for many [...]