Britain’s creative industries can be even greater – if we learn to understand their true value November 2, 2015 The Oscar-winning film producer Lord Puttnam recently warned of a “worrying fall in investment” in the arts, news and drama on television. This comes at a time when the future of both the BBC and Channel 4 is under debate and public sector funding of the arts is threatened by yet another round of cuts. [...]
Royal Bank of Canada picks Brookfield’s 100 Bishopsgate for its new UK headquarters November 2, 2015 Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has signed a pre-let deal with Brookfield Property Partners to move its UK headquarters to the developer’s 100 Bishopsgate tower. The bank, which has been on the hunt for a new head office for a year, will take the first seven floors of the 37-storey tower in the City, equal to [...]
Focus On Acton: Ealing’s up-and-coming neighbour in London’s property market November 2, 2015 For years, Acton has been seen as the poor relation of more affluent or trendy neighbours like Chiswick or Ealing. But it’s a place of mixed perceptions that’s only going to go up in the world. The name comes from the old English for “oak farm”, alluding to the time it was a rural part [...]
Visa Inc share price down as it agrees to buy former subsidiary Visa Europe for €21.2bn November 2, 2015 Visa Inc announced this morning it has reached a deal to buy its former subsidiary Visa Europe for as much as €21.2bn (£15bn). The consolidation of Visa Europe's 500 million card accounts, worth more than €1.5 trillion, will create a single global payments company. The upfront payment comprises of €11.5bn in cash and €5bn-worth of preferred stock (which pays fixed dividends, taking [...]
UK house prices: The most popular properties in the UK according to Zoopla November 2, 2015 There's a lot more to the housing market than what's in offer in London, according to research by property website Zoopla. Read more: Land Registry – London house prices hit half million-pound mark Using data compiled from Zoopla's tool which allows users to search by "most popular", the company found a list of the five most popular properties in [...]
UK’s rising population will support the housing market, says Moody’s November 2, 2015 The UK and Ireland’s expanding population combined with both countries’ housing supply shortage and “robust” economic growth will support demand and property prices, Moody’s Investors Service has said this morning. Moody's research comes amid warnings from UBS economists last week that London's property market is on the verge of bubble that could pop soon after [...]
Association of British Insurers calls for better flood-risk information for UK homebuyers November 2, 2015 Nine out of ten people think flood-risk information should be included in material about properties for sale, an Association of British Insurers (ABI) survey has revealed today. The ABI also criticised property search websites and marketing materials for new builds for lacking flood-risk information. In light of the survey, the ABI is calling for more [...]
Prime residential London rents post sharpest annual fall in two years November 2, 2015 PRIME central London residential rents reported their steepest monthly decline in two years in October, research out today claims. Knight Frank’s latest monthly index released today shows rental values fell by 0.5 per cent compared with the previous month and slowed to 1.5 per cent growth year-on-year. That compares with May’s three-year high of 4.5 [...]
Horrifying house prices (and other scare stories) – here’s what got us talking this week October 30, 2015 It was a week in which we discovered that two teenagers were suspects in the TalkTalk hack (but that "significantly" fewer people were affected. We learned that all MPs earn a lot more than their constituents. And we discovered that the UK's population is growing much quicker than previously thought. Here's what got us talking this week [...]
UK house prices: Combined wealth of UK property investors rises 40 per cent in a year, hitting a record £306bn October 30, 2015 The UK's real estate investors are richer than ever before, with £306bn of wealth – a new record. That's according to the Estates Gazette Rich List, which said this was the first year the figure had risen above £300bn. It's a 40 per cent jump since 2014, when the total figure was £218.3bn. What's surprising is [...]