Londoners are now spending 70 per cent of their income on rent and bills June 8, 2016 Londoners are now shelling out a staggering 70 per cent of average income on their rent and essential bills, new data shows. Analysis from Portico London estate agents shows that for three and a half days of a Londoner's working week earns them enough to pay for rent, as well as taxes, housing costs and [...]
Rental supply fell in May as stamp duty hike scared buy to let landlords from the market June 8, 2016 The government's stamp duty hike on second homes started to take its effect on the rental market in May as buy to let landlords were put off from buying, reducing the number of properties available to rent. There was a 15.4 per cent drop in new rental property listings in May compared to April, according to [...]
The rental market is starting to cool off a bit June 8, 2016 The rental market cooled slightly over the past few months as the rate of increase in prices slowed – although rents still rose in the three months to May 2016. Rents agreed on new tenancies in the UK over the past three months were up 4.4 per cent compared to the same period last year, [...]
Estate agents Belvoir have revealed plans to buy-up Northwood for up to £22m June 7, 2016 Estate agents Belvoir have revealed plans today to buy-up Northwood for up to £22m. The acquisition is partly being funded by a placing of new ordinary shares in Belvoir at the price of 112p per share, hoping to raise £2.5m. The placing is being done through an accelerated bookbuild process to be launched immediately. Cantor Fitzgerald Europe is [...]
Are Sadiq Khan’s planning reforms viable? June 6, 2016 After just two weeks in office as the new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan revealed his plans to deal with the capital’s housing crisis and said the previous mayor had “left the cupboard bare” when it comes to delivering affordable housing. Khan says he will be working with the government to actively identify surplus public [...]
More money for proptech: HouseSimple raises £13m from Carphone Warehouse boss June 6, 2016 More money is flowing into up and coming property technology (proptech) companies, with the founder of Carphone Warehouse leading a new multimillion pound investment in online estate agent HouseSimple. Sir Charles Dunstone lead the £13m funding in the firm which ditches the high cost of traditional agency fees, along with his business partner Roger Taylor. An institutional investor [...]
Housebuilders are busy in the Home Counties as Londoners flee the capital’s ridiculous house prices June 6, 2016 Housebuilding is on the up in the home counties as Londoners flee outrageous house prices in the capital. There was an 11.3 per cent increase in residential planning approvals over the last year, up to 12,010 in 2015 from 10,793 the year before, according to commercial law firm EMW. The greatest increases in housing applications from [...]
BlackRock agrees to sell Singapore office spot to Qatar Investment Authority for $2.5bn June 6, 2016 BlackRock announced today that it had agreed to hand over the keys to an office complex in Singapore to sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority for $2.5bn (£1.7bn). Asia Square Tower 1 consists of 43-storeys of space and more than 1.25 million square feet of area that could be let out. Citibank, one of the building's most notable tenants, has been in [...]
Gazumping is a go! This is how many property purchases fall through June 3, 2016 Some would-be homeowners are learning the hard way that, even if the ink's dry on the contract, it doesn't guarantee they'll be moving in any time soon. More than a quarter (28 per cent) of homebuyers have had a house purchase fall through after they've had an offer accepted, research out today has found. The [...]
Now Savills has got into online estate agency with its latest investment June 3, 2016 Savills has jumped into the online estate agent market with both feet, after it ploughed "a substantial amount" into "hybrid" estate agency Yopa. Yopa said today that it had raised £16m, including investment from Grosvenor Hill Ventures, Savills' proprietary investment arm. Yopa, which was only launched at the beginning of this year, allows people to [...]