Four luxury penthouses unveiled at NEO Bankside on the Southbank June 20, 2014 ANOTHER week, another luxury penthouse. No new residential development in London is complete unless it has a £12m monster sitting astride it, while the rest of the inferior apartments peek up at it in envy. Perhaps it’s to create a natural hierarchy in the block, a way of fostering that “keeping up with the Jones’” [...]
Escape the dizzying heights of Dubai May 22, 2014 Discover wild side of the UAE’s lowest new development THE ENDURING mental image conjured by Dubai is one of sparkling steel towers reaching so far into the sky they’re in danger of bothering a deity. The city’s reputation as a paean to Middle Eastern wealth and excess, a hub of consumerism and hotel franchises, means [...]
Furnished with royal secrets May 8, 2014 Two-bedroom flat worth £4.65m reveals hidden tragedy of Earl THE GRAND Georgian terraces of Belgravia are among the most exclusive addresses in London. Its statesmanlike squares and white stucco-fronted mansions have been home to an impressive roll call of the great and the good. From Mozart to Ian Fleming, from Lady Thatcher to Cara Delevigne, [...]
Stamp duty thresholds have lost home sellers £260m since 2012 March 17, 2014 STAMP duty is distorting the housing market, losing sellers over £260m in the past two years, according to analysis from property website Zoopla. Research conducted by the website demonstrates the effect of the “dead zone” for stamp duty. Since the tax rises on the price of the whole property if it edges over £125,000 or [...]
Banco Espirito Santo on red alert as banking crisis hits new depths July 16, 2014 Espirito Santo Financial Group’s (ESFG) debt crisis deepened yesterday, raising questions over whether Rioforte, one of its companies, would be able to repay over $1bn (£580m) in debt to Portugal Telecom. The share price of Banco Espirito Santo (BES), Portugal’s top lender backed by ESFG, closed at just €0.38 (£0.30), down around 70 [...]
Uniqlo owner in talks to buy out Cath Kidston April 14, 2014 THE OWNER of high street fashion chain Uniqlo is leading a pack of suitors hoping to take control of UK homeware company Cath Kidston. Japanese company Fast Retailing, which is listed in Hong Kong and Tokyo, has approached Cath Kidston’s private equity backers TA Associates about acquiring its 65 per cent controlling stake in the [...]
Swelling house prices continue into February March 6, 2014 UK HOUSE prices surged in February according to a major index of prices, jumping 2.4 per cent in the month alone, and up 7.9 per cent from February last year. The monthly change is the fastest that Halifax has recorded since the first half of 2009, and February saw the 11th month-on-month increase in the [...]
How London can smash through the brick ceiling limiting housing supply April 9, 2014 OVER four days, 300 people queued in a field by Heathrow to buy a home. It was 1964, and for £50 people could fulfil their homeowning dream in the soon-to-be-built suburb of Sunbury-on-Thames. The first 187 people did. Those odds don’t feel dissimilar to those faced by Londoners in today’s booming property market. The answer [...]
Shaftesbury snaps up Jaeger’s West End headquarters for £31m March 24, 2014 WEST END landlord Shaftesbury has bought the headquarters of luxury fashion brand Jaeger for £31m just weeks after raising £156.6m to fund its buying spree. Shaftesbury said yesterday it has acquired Jaeger House at 57 Broadwick Street from rival developer Derwent London for £30.75m. The 1970s block sits between Shaftesbury’s two estates – known as [...]
How one London council is cutting tax while improving services April 2, 2014 THOSE touring Hammersmith and Fulham to buy or rent property will often find estate agents mentioning council tax. While other bills keep rising, council tax in the borough, where I am a councillor, keeps coming down. It is due to drop by another 3 per cent in April next year. In 2006, council tax, at [...]