Prime time: Property prices soar for London’s most expensive homes August 10, 2018 Prices for central London’s most expensive properties have risen at their fastest levels in almost three years, amid signs that confidence is starting to return to the capital’s high-end residential market. Central London’s prime house prices rose 1.2 per cent over the second quarter of the year, marking the highest annualised growth since autumn 2015. [...]
Housebuilder share prices are being pushed lower for the second day: Redrow, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and Berkeley Group drop November 9, 2017 Shares in housebuilders tumbled for the second consecutive day this morning, after a double whammy of bad news from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and housebuilder Redrow spooked investors. On the FTSE 100, Persimmon was the biggest faller, dropping 2.6 per cent, but Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and Berkeley Group all slid lower. On [...]
Focus On Harrow: Why this north west London suburb is popular with families and first time buyers June 24, 2016 The north west London suburb of Harrow is all too often synonymous with the prestigious boys’ boarding school with which it shares its name. Certainly, the school has influenced the growth of central Harrow through the centuries; following a big expansion of the school in the 19th century, housing was built for its staff resulting [...]
Let’s embrace No Deal and get planning for life after Brexit November 13, 2018 There is an anecdote doing the rounds at the moment where an acquaintance of a civil servant jests “I suppose you’re doing your best to stop Brexit!”, to which the official, not knowing that his friend voted Leave and was pulling his leg, replies “You bet I am, and every one of us too”. True [...]
From bottling in Battersea to viniculture in Tooting, you barely have to venture outside your house to find a winemaking scene December 19, 2018 There are many ways people imagine exploring wine country. In a Fiat 500, driving across the hills of Tuscany with sunglasses on noses and Alanis Morissette in ears; touring the Languedoc by train, sipping crisp Saumur from Tours all the way to Paris. And these days, back home in England, where from Kent all the [...]
Autumn Budget 2017: Treasury understood not to be planning “radical” Budget October 16, 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond might be coming under pressure to unveil a “radical” – and vote-winning – Budget, but anyone expecting “big, bold” announcements could yet be disappointed. Hammond, who has in the past said “fiscal” is the best word to describe him, is currently canvassing the opinion of hundreds of MPs and other groups, sifting through thousands of submissions [...]
Focus On Vauxhall: Donald Trump might not be keen on it, but international investors dig these skyscrapers south of the river February 2, 2018 Vauxhall got dragged through the mud by no less a figure than the President of the United States recently. The US Embassy’s much touted move to the “off location” was supposedly the reason behind Donald Trump’s cancelled visit to the UK, even though the new building has its own moat. Clearly, tech behemoth Apple didn’t [...]
UK mortgage lending is (almost) at its highest level since April 2008 September 26, 2017 Mortgage lending rose to its second highest level since April 2008 in August, new figures have shown. The figures, by UK Finance, showed total gross lending rose to £24.2bn in August, up 6.4 per cent from last month. The figure is the highest since March 2016, when an impending hike to stamp duty on buy [...]
New homes: What’s on sale this weekend, in Croydon, Highgate, Ealing and Uxbridge November 23, 2017 New developments on the market this week Westgate House, Ealing From £299,000 New homes are being added to this development in west London due to high demand. Developer Galliard Homes will apply next month to build two more floors on top of its building on Hangar Lane, a “growth zone” in Ealing. This would up [...]
Can you compare tulips to Bitcoins? Central banks think so November 28, 2017 “Bitcoin is a sort of tulip”. So said European Central Bank (ECB) Vice President Vitor Constancio in September. For many that might sound like an odd statement to make, but those that know their history – and specifically the history of the stock market – will instantly know what Mr Constancio is talking about. For [...]