Greece is the word for luxury villas abroad October 3, 2014 Holidays in Greece generally fill three niches; historical, package and, recently, luxury resorts, such as Mykonos and Santorini. Meanwhile, quietly going about its business providing a happy medium is Kefalonia. Despite being the largest of the Ionian Islands, its population remains a modest 35,000. Its lushness is ensured by the heavy rainfall during the winter [...]
Most of London’s mansion tax properties are flats October 2, 2014 Three quarters of London properties which would fall into the so-called “mansion tax” bracket are flats or terraced houses, according to Knight Frank figures. The property consultants analysed sales data to see what type of “mansions” would fall into the £2m plus category Labour leader Ed Miliband would target if his party came to power. [...]
Stop bashing the super rich: You’ll make us all poorer October 2, 2014 FOR ALL their wealth, ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals are a tiny minority, with little clout at the ballot box. Labour’s proposed mansion tax on homes worth over £2m is just the latest assault on the super rich, who have become an easy target for politicians; the top 1 per cent of earners already [...]
Sol Campbell may join Tories in battle against Labour’s mansion tax October 2, 2014 Sol Campbell may join the Tories to fight against Labour's mansion tax. The former England football player recently made his opposition to the tax known via Twitter but has gone into even further detail about the problems with the policy advocated by both the Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Speaking to the Telegraph, he slammed [...]
Bank of England backs move for greater powers over mortgage lending as it warns over financial instability posed by housing market October 2, 2014 The Bank of England has warned that the UK housing market represents a continued risk to financial stability, backing government calls for greater powers to cap mortgage lending for homes and buy-to-let properties. The BoE's Financial Policy Committee has come out in support of George Osborne's suggestion, which was initially put forward over the summerand reiterated [...]
Optimism in London …steady as we go or has it stalled? – Brand Index October 1, 2014 IN his speech to the Conservative conference in Birmingham this week, George Osborne stated: “Britain is the fastest-growing, most job-creating, most deficit-reducing advanced economy on earth.” Whether voters feel these statistics in their wallets will be a key issue for politicians in the weeks and months leading up to the general election on 7 May [...]
Property trusts and merchants group clinch trio of acquisitions October 1, 2014 MCKAY Securities, LondonMetric Property and Grafton Group each added to their respective portfolios yesterday in a clutch of deals. McKay Securities, the only real estate investment trust specialising entirely in the south east and London office and industrial markets, announced the off-market freehold acquisition of The Planets in Woking for £8.75m. The property is adjacent [...]
City Moves for 2 October 2014 | Who’s switching jobs October 1, 2014 Gibson Dunn & Crutcher The law firm has announced two appointments to its London office. Charlie Geffen (pictured) joins as a partner and chair of its London corporate practice from Ashurst, where he was senior partner. Mark Sperotto also joins as a partner from Ashurst. EY Phil Dunne has been appointed partner to lead the [...]
Save money on your international transfers October 1, 2014 Moving money abroad in a digital world should be one of the easiest things you can do, especially with the cost savings you would expect a global marketplace to offer, yet choosing the wrong service to send your funds overseas, can leave you paying more than you’d expect. Most people head straight to their bank [...]
Crossrail will send London property prices soaring by 60 per cent October 1, 2014 Crossrail’s high-speed rail service will not only provide millions with increased connectivity into the capital, but it will send house-prices along its route skyrocketing, new figures show. The £15.8bn Crossrail project has already had a profound effect on properties in London, with the prices of those near the large-scale Tottenham Court Road development rising [...]