Auto Trader off to a flyer after shares zoom up March 19, 2015 Online car auction site Auto Trader roared off the forecourt yesterday in the biggest ever UK market debut by a private equity-backed group. Shares in the company, previously owned by UK buyout house Apax, rose 16.5 per cent from their listing price of 235p in early trading before settling to close nine per cent higher [...]
UK property prices: Three quarters of homes sold for less than their asking price in January February 26, 2015 Here's another sign the UK's property market is losing some of its pizzazz. A new study has found three quarters of homes sold for less than their asking price in January. That's 17 percentage points more than during the same period last year. The January housing market report, by the National Association of Estate Agents [...]
Mayfair now and then: 30 years ago this £4.25m apartment sold for £285,000 February 12, 2015 Remember 1985? The first UK mobile phone call was made – by Ernie Wise, of all people – the Brixton riots took place, and Rick Astley spent five weeks at the top of the charts. It was also, according to research by upmarket estate agent Peter Wetherell, possible to buy a Mayfair apartment for as [...]
Tory pledge lays foundations for rise in homebuilder shares March 2, 2015 SHARES in residential building companies were given a boost yesterday, after David Cameron pledged to build 200,000 new affordable homes by 2020. The homes will be sold at a 20 per cent discount, achieved by removing levies and regulation on brownfield site properties. Shares in Berkeley were up 1.45 per cent at the close, Bellway [...]
City fund Haversham has shares suspended on takeover talks March 16, 2015 Shares in Haversham Holdings were temporarily suspended this morning after the fund confirmed it was in "advanced" takeover talks without naming its potential target. Aim-listed investment fund Haversham, which is backed by City fund houses such as Aviva, Schroders, Invesco and Artemis, said it was in "very advanced discussions which might lead to a transaction". This [...]
Adnams toasts to hopping good year after record beers sales March 25, 2015 ADNAMS sold a record number of pints last year thanks to Britain’s love affair with craft beer and the company selling its products to a bigger range of pubs. The Suffolk brewer, which also has more than 50 pubs, 12 shops and three hotels dotted around East Anglia, said operating profits rose 14.7 per cent [...]
At your service: Meet the concierges who run the lives of London’s elite homeowners June 25, 2015 The humble bowler-hatted doorman was once a tell-tale sign of a prestigious London address. But he’s quickly being replaced by a tenacious new breed of concierge. The industry travels with the global super-rich, arriving at whichever city blossoms into the darling of the international property market. Multilingual, persistent and well-connected, London’s hard-working concierges are on [...]
A place in the sun: Your guide to buying a home in Spain October 5, 2015 Many Londoners have a hankering to buy a second home abroad, and Spain ranks as one of the most popular places to own one. There are officially 750,000 British people living in Spain, and thousands more who own property but live in the UK. Spain’s economy was hit hard by the financial crisis, and [...]
In charts: Are UK house prices suffering from pre-election blues? March 25, 2015 The housing market could be facing a case of pre-election blues. The customary January demand-surge just never arrived. But is this cause for concern or just the market stabilising? The figures Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that the rate of house price growth in the UK slowed to 8.4 per cent in the [...]
David Cameron set for double trouble over plain cigarette packaging and defence spending March 9, 2015 Disgruntled Tory backbenchers are set to defy David Cameron over two controversial issues this week, intensifying pressure on a Prime Minister who faces growing criticism for refusing to accept invitations to TV leaders debates. Around 100 Conservative MPs will vote against the government’s proposals to force cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging on Wednesday. [...]