General Election 2015: Labour bids to woo first time buyers with stamp duty pause April 27, 2015 Labour will today announce that it would scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers on properties worth up to £300,000, for the first three years it is in government. The move is seen as a bid to win over younger voters and pull ahead of the Conservatives, as polls continue to show the two parties neck-and-neck [...]
K&C REIT IPO: London house fund set to list April 27, 2015 A group of City veterans is looking to raise £6m on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) to kick start a fund which will invest in the central London property market. The K&C REIT (real estate investment trust) issues its intention to float document today, notifying investors of its plans. It hopes to raise £6m at [...]
Sunday Times Rich List 2015: London has more billionaires than any other city in the world April 26, 2015 There are more billionaires in London than any other city in the world, with 80 of them calling the capital home, cementing its status as a playground for the super-rich. London is home to 80 of the UK's 117 billionaires, who hold a combined wealth of £325bn, accounting for 59 per cent of the entire rich [...]
General Election 2015: Rent controls pledged by Labour to woo “generation rent” April 26, 2015 Ed Miliband is seeking to woo a generation of voters priced out of the property market with a promise to stop landlords making significant increases to rents. The Labour leader has pledged to cap rent rises at no more than the rate of inflation over the term of a three-year tenancy if elected at the [...]
London house prices: Kensington and Chelsea is now growing more slowly than Bristol April 24, 2015 London has lost its housing crown: for the first time since 2005, central London price growth is being outpaced by cities across the UK. According to data from HomeTrack, the triple-threat of electoral uncertainty, mansion tax fears and affordability issues have conspired to slow growth in the country’s most-valuable areas. Boroughs such as Chelsea and [...]
St Modwen founders sell April 23, 2015 ONE OF the founding families behind St Modwen Properties has sold around £100m worth of shares in the company, sending shares down two per cent yesterday. The New Covent Garden Market developer said the Leavesley family have sold 2.5m shares, equal to a 1.1 per cent stake at 440p per share. The sale leaves the [...]
High season at Ten Trinity Square: Architect Suzette Vela Burkett on restoring a grand Tower Hill landmark April 23, 2015 One of the city’s finest buildings, Ten Trinity Square, is set to re-open at the end of 2016 as a Four Seasons Hotel, with luxury residences on top. It was opened by Prime Minister David Lloyd George in 1922 as the Port of London Authority and it took 11 years to build. It also hosted [...]
London barometer: Home buyers and sellers shrug off General Election uncertainty April 23, 2015 It appears that buyers and sellers are getting bored of political uncertainty and this is reflected in the consistent flow of properties coming to the market. Perhaps this will come as a surprise to many people, but the number of offers being agreed is what we’d usually expect at this time of the year. [...]
London house prices: Could the General Election outcome send the wealthy packing? April 23, 2015 London has a unique property market. Prime and emerging-prime areas of London are driven by people who move to larger and “better” located properties not because they really need to, but because they want to. Nothing soothes a burgeoning ego more than an SW3 postcode. Political rhetoric aimed at plundering this – apparently under-taxed – [...]
Interior designer Lisa-Marie Mosca on bringing Gatsby glamour to London in Sophia House April 23, 2015 SOPHIA HOUSE, ELLERTON ROAD, WIMBLEDON, £6.95M On a quiet private road bordering the Royal Wimbledon Golf Course, there’s a pocket of 1920s Parisian glamour. Opulent light fixtures and plush upholstery welcome prospective buyers to Sophia House, one of two six-bedroom family houses recently built by luxury developer Newcourt Residential. From the outside, it looks [...]