Classic Golf GTIs: driving Volkswagen’s hot hatch icons January 11, 2021 The Volkswagen Golf GTI has been the benchmark hot hatch since 1975. We drive the first three generations – which is the best of the breed?
Lending rises for remortgages but falls for UK house buyers at end of 2018 March 12, 2019 Mortgage lending was up for remortgaging and down for house purchasing in Britain in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to a year earlier, new statistics by the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have shown. The proportion of high loan-to-income (LTI) loans, those greater than four times the value of annual income [...]
Bitcoin Regulation Stalls Rally! Is Now A Good Time To Buy Bitcoin? December 11, 2020 After an incredibly volatile week, Bitcoin heads into the weekend with great uncertainty over the price. There are many bullish events happening in the markets at the moment but one major bearish event is overshadowing them all. New legislation in the USA? As Donald Trump gears up to leave the White House, one of his [...]
DEBATE: Are falling house prices in London a good thing? January 18, 2019 Are falling house prices in London a good thing? Daniel Hegarty, founder and chief executive of digital mortgage broker Habito, says YES. Provided it stops at a pricing correction and doesn’t go further, the drop in house prices is good news. London’s sky-high prices have left the average 34-year-old first-time buyer needing to borrow 13 times [...]
UK house prices: Post-election surge breaks records January 20, 2020 The decisive result of the General Election sparked a record-breaking surge in UK house prices in December and January, in the latest sign that the UK housing market has been revitalised by a “Boris bounce” There was a 2.3 per cent monthly surge in the average price of property coming to the market between 8 [...]
Coronavirus: What to do if your house is on the market, and how prices might be affected March 27, 2020 The spread of Coronavirus has taken us all by surprise, with the unprecedented UK-wide lockdown posing a whole host of questions about how life’s milestones should be handled. Today, the government published guidance stating that people should avoid conducting viewings and delay moving house, even if the contracts have been exchanged. But what can you [...]
The pros, cons and incentives behind the SPAC-craze sweeping markets April 14, 2021 There have been 378 initial public offerings (IPOs) in the US in the first three months of 2021. That’s more than in any full calendar year between 2003 and 2019. The $139 billion raised so far this year is more than two and a half times the yearly average over this period. They already have [...]
UK mortgage approvals fall as Brexit uncertainty bites March 26, 2019 Mortgage approvals in the UK have fallen year-on-year as homebuyers put off their decisions amid political uncertainty, new data has revealed. The number of mortgages approved by the main high street banks in February was 2.2 per cent lower than the same month in 2018, the finance and business services body UK Finance said today. [...]
Trading the covid commodities contango May 26, 2020 In the last 12 years, the oil market has thrice collapsed and twice recovered. But this latest downturn, driven by a covid-tainted drop in demand and a Russo-Saudi price war, has analysts scratching their heads. Can the market rebound from this? The price of US oil turned negative for the first time in history last [...]
Stamp duty holiday: Housebuilder and estate agent stocks jump July 8, 2020 Housebuilders and estate agent stocks jumped this afternoon after the chancellor announced a stamp duty holiday in a bid to get the UK property market moving. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the stamp duty threshold would increase from £125,000 to £500,000 until March next year to boost activity after the coronavirus lockdown. He said it [...]