Entrepreneur David Johnson is building an empire in the British Virgin Islands to rival Richard Branson’s Necker April 30, 2015 When Sir Richard Branson arrived in the British Virgin Islands, he was sufficiently smitten that he bought his own island, Necker. It’s easy to see why. This Caribbean tropical paradise enjoys a sunny season stretching to 10 months of the year, while gentle waves from a clear blue sea lap the BVI’s many sandy beaches. [...]
Countrywide blames General Election uncertainty for first quarter slowdown April 29, 2015 Britain’s biggest estate agency Countrywide warned that market transactions would be “significantly below” last year’s levels, because of uncertainty over the outcome of the election causing prospective buyers to put their plans on hold. The company, which owns estate agencies including Hamptons, Blundells and John D Wood, said total income dropped by two per cent [...]
City Moves for 30 April 2015 | Who’s switching jobs April 29, 2015 ADS Securities London The brokerage has appointed Marco Baggioli as chief operating officer. He was previously global head of FX prime brokerage at BNP Paribas. Baggioli has over 23 years’ experience in the sector, and has also held roles at Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, and MonteTitoli. Michelmores The law firm has appointed Patrick [...]
Romanian superfund Fondul Proprietatea lists shares in London April 29, 2015 Fondul Proprietatea, one of Europe’s biggest trusts, yesterday launched a secondary listing in London in a move designed to boost the profile of Romania’s stock market. The fund, which has $3.1bn (£2.01bn) of assets, will list global depositary receipts (GDRs) on the specialist fund market of the London stock exchange. Emerging market guru Mark [...]
Only 43 homes listed for sale in London are “affordable” for the average family April 29, 2015 Just 43 homes listed for sale in London are classified as "affordable" to the average family, new research has suggested. That's 0.1 per cent of the market – and it includes houseboats and a mobile home. The study, by housing charity Shelter, found 34 of those properties has "incorrect information" in their listings, were likely [...]
Nationwide House Price Index: UK house prices hit a new record high April 29, 2015 UK’s house price growth rose by an annual rate of 5.2 per cent in April, a small rise from March’s figure of 5.1 per cent. This put the average cost of a house in the UK at £193,048, the highest since records began. The figures According to data from Nationwide, UK house prices rose one per [...]
Grosvenor’s bet on calling top of London luxury market pays off April 28, 2015 GROSVENOR Group, the property firm owned by the Duke of Westminster, enjoyed its highest total return last year since the start of the financial crisis after calling the top of the London luxury market and selling huge swathes of property. The company, which has owned most of London’s upscale Mayfair and Belgravia districts since 1677, [...]
London house prices: West End buyers shrug off stamp duty rise and mansion tax threat as sales rise April 27, 2015 The West End residential market saw no let up in activity over the first quarter of the year, figures show, despite changes to stamp duty and the threat of Labour’s proposed mansion tax. Property advisory firm CBRE said sales transactions jumped by 33 per cent on last year as it agreed sales on £54.7m worth [...]
Quantitative Easing to boost European real estate market April 27, 2015 THE European Central Bank’s (ECB) €1 trillion quantitative easing (QE) programme could “significantly boost” flows into European real estate, with property likely to become even cheaper for investors outside of the Eurozone. M&G Real Estate said yesterday it had compared the impact of earlier QE on the commercial property markets in the US, UK and [...]
Miliband’s disappointing stamp duty pledge won’t make the tax less stupid April 27, 2015 Housing, and its affordability crisis, is a bigger issue at this election than in any other for decades. Sadly, that hasn’t translated into policies that could effectively solve the problem, and yesterday’s announcements by Labour leader Ed Miliband will not change that. Labour plans to introduce a three-year stamp duty exemption for first time buyers, [...]