Dell Park in Englefield Green is a polo fanatic’s dream on part of the Candy brothers’ former estate in Surrey June 25, 2015 The British polo season has got off to a galloping start, but for some fans of the equestrian sport, viewing it from the sidelines just isn’t good enough. That was certainly the case for the private European owner of Dell Park in Englefield Green, Surrey, who set out 10 years ago to build a contemporary [...]
Drinking at home: An in-house bar is the latest must-have for London’s super-rich June 25, 2015 There are a few base-level requirements if you’re planning on a selling a London property for upwards of £10m. Gyms are essential, as are home cinemas. If there’s a roof, it must be terraced. If there’s a basement, there must be a wine cellar. A recent addition to the ever-lengthening list of must-haves [...]
Two graphs that show how expensive living in the UK is – rents are double the continental average June 24, 2015 Private rents in the UK are the highest in all of Europe, analysis by the National Housing Federation shows. Getting a tough ride compared to European counterparts, rents in the UK also take up the largest chunk of people’s salaries, while they are also the least secure. UK rents, according to the analysis, average at [...]
Northern powerhouse project: Finance, science, and tech industries creating two-speed housing market, could boost north June 24, 2015 A big boost for the northern powerhouse project? Areas that have embraced the science, technology and finance industries have enjoyed disproportionately high house price growth, according to research from Savills. The fillip given to areas with a large number of companies in key industries suggests encouraging growth in such industries in the north could lead [...]
UK house prices: Mortgage approvals rise to their highest in 14 months June 24, 2015 Mortgage approvals continued their inexorable rise last month, figures published this morning showed, suggesting growth in UK house prices is unlikely to abate anytime soon. The figures, from the British Bankers' Association, showed mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 42,530 last month, up from 42,020 in April – and way up on a 20-month [...]
Crown Estate returns £285m to public purse after record year June 24, 2015 The Crown Estate today announced another year of record profits thanks to the regeneration of its vast estate at the heart of London’s shopping district plus its growing offshore wind business. The Crown Estate’s net profit, which goes into the Treasury’s coffers, rose to a record £285.1m in the year to 31 March – up [...]
UK property prices: Property sales tick up in May – but the outlook is uncertain June 23, 2015 The number of UK residential properties sold climbed in May, new data show. A total of 98,540 properties changed hands, according to figures released by HMRC yesterday. It marks a rise on April’s 97,610. However the market is slower than it was a year ago when 101,710 properties were sold. The figures translate to a [...]
Retailers send George Osborne their budget wish list June 21, 2015 British retailers are calling on the chancellor to eschew the living wage and introduce new measures to boost productivity in next month’s emergency budget. In a new submission to chancellor George Osborne, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that it wants the government to “work with the retail industry to ensure that employees are [...]
Ninth man sentenced for “subtle and cruel” £4.3m fraud investigated under Operation Cotton June 19, 2015 A ninth man has been sentenced for his role in a multi-million pound fraud. Adam Hawkins has been given six years and nine months for his involvement in running an unathourised fund at companies called variously Plott UK, European Property Investments and Stirling Alexander. The men were found to have conned £4,3m out of [...]
UK house prices: Home ownership falls for first time in over a century as renting soared June 19, 2015 The UK experienced its first fall in home ownership in a century between 2001 and 2011, according to data from the Office of National Statistics. Some 64 per cent of the 23.4m households in England and Wales were owner-occupied in 2011 – down from 69 per cent in 2001. Rented households accounted for 36 per cent [...]