David Cameron defends Right to Buy scheme after Harriet Harman attacks housing policy June 3, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron defended his government’s housing policies in the first Prime Minister’s Questions session of the new parliament yesterday. Acting leader of the opposition Harriet Harman attacked the Prime Minister’s plan to extend Margaret Thatcher’s “Right to Buy,” scheme, which will allow housing association tenants to buy their homes at a discount of [...]
Japan recession: Has Abenomics failed? not quite November 17, 2015 The latest data from Japan revealed that the world’s third largest economy slipped back into recession in the past quarter, at least technically. Has Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “three arrows” plan to revive the Japanese economy – Abenomics – failed in spectacular fashion? Well, yes and no. MIXED PICTURE Let’s start with the economy. [...]
Persimmon bucks summer slowdown with profit jump August 19, 2015 PERSIMMON yesterday became the latest housebuilder to boast an impressive jump in first-half profits as would-be homeowners regained confidence following the outcome of the General Election. The York-based housebuilder said profit before tax rose 31 per cent to £272.8m in the six months to 30 June, compared with £208.9m last year on revenues up 11 [...]
UK house prices: The average cost of a home for first-time buyers increased £138 a day in June July 27, 2015 Despite all George Osborne's efforts, it looks like first-time buyers are bearing the brunt of the increase in house prices again, after new figures showed the average price of a first-time buyer home leaped by £4,150 in June. That's £138 a day. Read more: Thinking of leaving London? These are the best commuter towns to move [...]
What does the Autumn Statement 2015 mean for you? November 26, 2015 THE SINGLE PARENT CATHERINE GANNON, MANAGING PARTNER OF GANNONS LAW FIRM Gannons Commercial Law continues to perform extremely well as profits and earnings increased on last year. She is commercially savvy and has restructured the business from an LLP to a Limited Company due to the recent legislation covering LLPs. This illustrates that Catherine is [...]
Cala Homes targets £1bn sales by 2020 after record profits September 7, 2015 Upmarket housebuilder Cala Group delivered a record number of house sales last year as part of a major expansion drive that will see it reach £1bn sales in the next five years. The Edinburgh-based group, which was sold by Lloyds Banking Group to Legal & General and private equity firm Patron Capital a year ago, [...]
London house prices: This is how frenzied demand for London’s super prime homes became between 2007 and 2014 October 13, 2015 London's super-prime residential market may have cooled somewhat over the last year since tougher stamp duty rules came into force earlier the year. But new research seen today by City A.M. reveals just how frenzied the sales of £10m-plus homes in the capital’s golden postcodes surrounding Hyde Park has become since the financial crisis. Read [...]
George Osborne starts £2bn Royal Bank of Scotland sell-off August 4, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne has kick started the government's first sale of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) today, a sale likely to raise £2bn for the government. UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the agency which holds the government's 79 per cent stake in RBS, announced its intention to sell about 600m shares, representing 5.2 per [...]
Autumn Statement 2015: George Osborne’s speech transcript in full including stamp duty, business rates and corporation tax announcements November 25, 2015 Mr Speaker, this Spending Review delivers on the commitment we made to the British people that we would put security first. To protect our economic security, by taking the difficult decisions to live within our means and bring down our debt. To protect our national security, by defending our country’s interests abroad and keeping our [...]
Turkish Delight: a culinary journey through one of the world’s most diverse nations November 13, 2015 When most people think of Turkish food, they imagine kebabs and Turkish delight. In reality the food of this vast nation is among the most vibrant and diverse in the world, drawing influences from the olive-scented villages on the Aegean coast to the dusty towns near its border with Syria. The epic landscape – the [...]