Six reasons you should care about share buybacks November 15, 2018 Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, recently hit the headlines with the announcement that he plans to spend almost $1 billion buying back shares in his investment company, Berkshire Hathaway. This practice has been increasingly common over recent years, with major implications. Buybacks have fundamentally altered the investment landscape over recent years. However, this is not [...]
Top tips for first-time buyers in London November 30, 2015 Getting on the property ladder is hard work, especially if you’re looking to buy your first home in London. According to Savills, the average deposit for a first time buyer is currently 68 per cent of their household income, but that rises to 177 per cent in London. But with a couple of helpful announcements [...]
UK house prices: More than half of first-time buyers would buy ex-army barracks to get onto property ladder March 2, 2016 Times are tough for first time buyers and more than half would buy just about anything – from a church to a school or ex-army barracks – to get on the property ladder, according to Your Move and Reeds Rains. According to the estate agency’s latest first time-buyer barometer, 57 per cent claimed they were willing [...]
I can’t help but worry about the potential for the mother of all house price crashes January 26, 2017 The year opened with alarming newspaper headlines in The Daily Telegraph on the risk of a global property price crash. How worried should we be in the UK? The ratio of house prices to incomes in the UK is close to the all-time high it reached before the financial crisis. If that ratio mean reverts over [...]
What needs to change about housing policy by UK property professionals ahead of party conference season September 15, 2017 Katherine McCullough, development director at Merchant Land “During the political party season, I would like to see some attention given to reviewing what Osborne’s stamp duty reforms have achieved and ideally, to have them reversed in order to help stimulate the housing market at the top end. It would also be encouraging to hear discussion [...]
Bonus season: If you’re thinking of spending it on property, here are the top London hotspots you should be looking at January 27, 2017 It’s bonus season in the City and now you’ve got the enviable task of deciding what to spend it on. Historically low interest rates means putting the whole lot into an ISA isn’t quite as appealing as it once was. But house price growth particularly in the outer boroughs – Newham, Havering, Brent and Croydon [...]
Here’s how much house prices have increased so far this year January 16, 2017 The housing market has had a robust start to 2017, with house prices increasing 0.4 per cent in January as compared to December. House prices grew 3.2 per cent year-on-year, according to figures from Rightmove. Read more: This is how far house prices will fall in 2017 In London, asking prices increased 1.4 per cent [...]
Alton Towers owner and multi-millionaire Nick Leslau on the “constipated” property market and that rollercoaster tragedy June 12, 2018 Nick Leslau, one of Britain’s wealthiest property entrepreneurs, loves buildings other people would find ugly. “I have a thing for unfashionable buildings that people generally hate,” says the multi-millionaire who turned two sixties office blocks in London into the St Martins Lane and Sanderson hotels. “I like them because of the opportunity they represent and [...]
First-time buyers who purchase a house this year will have already spent £52,900 on rent – or the deposit on a £1m house February 12, 2016 Those who are about to step on to the property ladder this year will have already cashed out £52,900 on rent, according to new research – more than you would spend on a five per cent deposit on a £1m house. And the figures published by the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (Arla) show that [...]
Pinsent Masons tops Acritas legal brands survey alongside DLA Piper, CMS, Linklaters, Allen & Overy, Eversheds Sutherland and Clifford Chance May 2, 2018 An index of the leading UK legal brands has seen law firm Pinsent Masons take the top spot for the first time, beating Eversheds Sutherland into second place. The biggest climber is CMS, which following its three-way merger with Olswang and Nabarro last year, has climbed to fourth in the rankings, from 13th last year. [...]