Focus on Notting Hill property: Prices may have fallen, but is it all down to stamp duty reform? May 19, 2016 Notting Hill hasn’t been having the best of weeks, if truth be told. On Tuesday, a report from estate agent Stirling Ackroyd revealed that average house prices had fallen in several prime central London locations. In W11, they’ve gone down by 10 per cent from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of [...]
Property of the Week: Poet and critic Ezra Pound’s house in Kensington has doubled in price in three years May 19, 2016 A few times a week, a crowd of tourists gather outside this house on Kensington Church Walk to have their pictures taken with the English Heritage blue plaque outside. Set in a quiet cobbled courtyard, this Victorian townhouse was the home of ex-pat American poet and critic Ezra Pound between 1909 and 1914 and it [...]
One in three UK mortgage holders don’t know their interest rate, survey finds May 19, 2016 One in three UK mortgage holders do not know what interest rate they are on, according to a new study. YouGov and digital mortgage broker Habito, which launched last month with the mission of bringing the market into the "21st century", surveyed more than 1,200 mortgage owners. Some 33 per cent did not know what [...]
EU referendum: Brexit risks compromising plans to build hundreds of thousands of new homes May 19, 2016 If Britain votes to leave the EU it risks sparking a chronic construction skills deficit, compromising plans to build hundreds of thousands of new homes. According to new research, a Leave vote could lead to a cut in the construction workforce, which would in turn jeopardise plans to expand the UK's housing stock that would otherwise ease [...]
Foxtons shareholders just voted through a 19 per cent wage hike for its chief executive – despite a fall in share price May 18, 2016 More proof that 2016's so-called shareholder spring is more of a trickle of dissent? Foxtons shareholders have voted through a 19 per cent payrise for chief executive Nic Budden – despite the fact shares have plummeted in the last year. In a statement this afternoon, the estate agent, which focuses on properties in central London, said [...]
UK house sales and purchases set to jump by a fifth by 2020 – but will still be below 2007 levels May 18, 2016 UK housing transactions are set to jump by a fifth by 2020, but this will still be eight per cent lower than pre-financial crisis levels, according to a new report today. Conveyancing services provider My Home Move predicts that the number of annual property transactions will rise from the 1.23 million recorded last year to [...]
The Netherlands is the most lucrative buy-to-let property hotspot in the EU according to study from World First UK May 16, 2016 You might have thought it would be somewhere coastal on the Mediterranean, or a country better-known for its second home culture such as Italy or France. But the most lucrative buy-to-let market in the European Union turns out to be the modest, not-so-hilly, tulip-saturated Netherlands. With the EU's highest rental yield rate in April, at [...]
Surprise: Asking prices have jumped to new record highs of £308,151 across England and Wales May 16, 2016 In what seems now to be an ongoing trend, asking prices in England and Wales jumped to a new record high of £308,151 on average in May. The "eye-watering" increase is a rise of £1,118 on the previous month, property website Rightmove said in figures released today. The price uplift has come despite a flurry to [...]
Housebuilder Crest Nicholson’s share price rises as it rides the house price wave May 16, 2016 Brexit threat? What Brexit threat? Crest Nicholson proved this morning that housebuilders continue to be on a high – despite market uncertainty. The figures In a trading update this morning, the housebuilder said it completed 1,206 homes in the six months to the end of April, up seven per cent from last year's 1,124 homes. Sales rate per outlet rose four per cent on [...]
British Land confident in resilience ahead of Brexit vote May 16, 2016 British Land said it remains confident of having a good 2016 despite uncertainty over the global economy, EU referendum and new London mayor Sadiq Khan. The FTSE 100 property giant today reported an increase in underlying profit in the year to 31 March 2016. The figures The company’s underlying profit was £363m, up from £313m in [...]