Lloyds ban on credit card Bitcoin purchases is the right move February 6, 2018 On Monday, Lloyds Banking Group announced it has banned its credit cards from being used to buy Bitcoin. The decision includes Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA credit cards. It follows a similar move by US banks. It’s a hard decision to argue with. Regardless of the inherent volatility in the value of [...]
City analysts say there’s more M&A activity on the horizon May 21, 2018 Equity markets nearing all-time record highs, interest rates still low and a weak pound have created a cauldron for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that analysts anticipate continuing while current market conditions persist. Two FTSE 100 companies have already been acquired this year, a third looks set to go and with two more facing bids, 2018 [...]
Here’s what the property sector is expecting in this week’s Budget – from stamp duty to landlords to luxury homes March 7, 2017 It’s that time of year again: the days are getting longer, the trees are blossoming, and the one-time-only Spring Budget is rapidly approaching – with homeowners and landlords alike steeling themselves for more punishment from the chancellor. The good news is it looks unlikely there will be much to punish homeowners or lower house prices [...]
nHouse founders Nick Fulford and Richard Hywel Evans on the need for modular housing in the UK May 2, 2018 While we all know what disruptive tech looks like, what does disruptive housing look like? By almost universal consent, three problems need to be addressed in the current market – affordability, sustainability and quality – and whoever conquers all three will seriously shake up the UK market. Yet architect Richard Hywel Evans thinks he, along [...]
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 [...]
Ted Baker share plunge fails to attract buyers June 17, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. Despite sinking to prices not seen since 2012, investing in Ted shares remains hugely speculative. Ted Baker (LSE:TED) shares are trading at levels not seen since November 2012 after another profits warning accelerated the de-rating of this former high-flying lifestyle brand. Whereas Ted’s shares had once been reassuringly expensive at around 30 times [...]
James Brokenshire has no time to waste in fixing the capital’s housing crisis May 2, 2018 As James Brokenshire takes up his new role as housing secretary, his top priority must be to fix the capital’s broken housing market. It is no exaggeration to say that London is in the midst of a housing crisis. Demand far outstrips supply; while we have built 200,000 new homes over the last decade, London’s [...]
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 [...]
How much is property in Mayfair? May 11, 2018 Last month, Mayfair knocked Knightsbridge off the top spot as the most expensive place to buy in London for the first time in 10 years. Local agent Wetherells, which commissioned the report from Dataloft, puts this dethroning down to a lack of new homes being built in Knightsbridge, whereas that certainly isn’t the case in [...]
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 [...]