The Treasury could be about to return £17bn of Bradford and Bingley assets to private ownership January 6, 2016 A sizable part of the Bradford and Bingley (B&B) mortgage book could be about to be sold off in what could be the biggest ever sale of financial assets by a British government. The government is reportedly working on plans to offload a £17bn tranche of the bailed out mortgage lender. A spokesperson for UK [...]
PMQs today: Jeremy Corbyn skips asking about Syria, focuses on climate and women’s safety November 25, 2015 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn used his six questions at today's Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) to probe Prime Minister David Cameron on the government's policies surrounding climate change and violence against women, rather than ask about proposals for further military action against the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria ahead of an expected parliamentary vote on the issue [...]
George Osborne is playing a dangerous game with the new Help to Buy London February 1, 2016 George Osborne is playing a dangerous game with the new Help to Buy London Back during the Autumn Statement, George Osborne announced with great pleasure that he would be introducing a London-specific Help to Buy scheme. The government are going to give a hand to struggling homeowners, to get on the first rung of a [...]
Markets will remain subdued after Paris attacks – eToro Tips & Picks November 16, 2015 Friday's horrific scenes in Paris will undoubtedly have an economic impact, and although it seems trivial to talk about financials and markets at a time of such horror and pain for so many people, the events will nevertheless leave their mark. Investors gravitated towards gold as a relative safe haven after a mixed start [...]
Decision on City’s tallest skyscraper One Undershaft pushed back until Autumn July 19, 2016 A decision on giving the go-ahead for what would become the square mile's tallest skyscraper was delayed this afternoon. One Undershaft – nicknamed the Trellis – is pitted to soar more than 300m just next to the Cheesegrater, but its construction has been put on hold for a few more months as the final kinks in the planning [...]
Housebuilder Persimmon shrugs off Brexit vote but says it’s staying cautious November 2, 2016 Housebuilders' shares were among the hardest hit after the Brexit vote – but it seems investors may have been over-cautious, after Persimmon reported a 19 per cent jump in sales. The figures In a trading statement this morning Persimmon, the UK's biggest housebuilder, said since it reported its half-year results at the end of August, sales have [...]
London house prices: Buyers need an average deposit of £179,248 December 3, 2015 The average down-payment for a house in London rose five per cent in October compared with September, according to new figures released by a mortgage broker today. Prospective London home buyers need to scrape together an average £179,248 for their deposit, the Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) said. The second biggest deposits are in the South East [...]
CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn says apprenticeship levy will inevitably lead to job losses as new poll shows 5 in 6 businesses think levy is the wrong approach December 21, 2015 The government's apprenticeship levy could lead to “significant” job losses, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director-general Carolyn Fairbairn has warned, as a new CBI survey shows just one in six businesses think the new tax is the right approach. Chancellor George Osborne first announced the apprenticeship levy in July’s summer budget, and revealed in last [...]
Earnings season tails off as City awaits Osborne – London Report November 22, 2015 THE WEEK will be dominated by the chancellor’s Autumn Statement on Wednesday as companies wait on tenterhooks to see how expected cuts to the budget could affect them. In the meantime there are still plenty of companies reporting results as we near the end of the third quarter earnings season. This morning FTSE 250 outsourcer [...]
New initiative rakes in £300m from stamp duty avoidance clampdown November 30, 2015 HMRC has raked in over £300m in one year through clamping down on stamp duty land tax (SDLT), according to new research released this morning. The government’s new Counter Avoidance Directorate (CAD) collected £301.8m from the tax applied to property and land transactions in the 12 months to March, data from law firm Collyer Bristow [...]