Budget 2017 UK predictions: What you can expect from the chancellor’s Spring Budget March 7, 2017 It's that time of year again: the chancellor is getting set to dust off his little red box and deliver the Spring Budget. It's the last one we'll see at this time of year, as Philip Hammond decided to move the major announcements to an Autumn Statement schedule. It's likely to be a more staid [...]
UK house prices: More than three quarters of homes are selling below asking price June 27, 2017 More than three quarters of homes sold for less than asking price in May, new figures have shown – as the number of homes for sale rises. Some three per cent of properties sold for more than asking price in May, a report by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) showed, down from seven [...]
One in three homeowners disappointed with their progress up the housing ladder September 3, 2016 A third of homeowners are disappointed with their progress up the housing ladder, new research has found. Some 33 per cent expected to have advanced further than they currently have, according to a Lloyds Bank survey of around 1,000 homeowners. The figure increases among first-time buyers, 43 per cent of whom said they are lagging [...]
All I want for Christmas is… an ultra-hard Brexit (and nine other pro-growth policy wishes) December 22, 2016 Here is my Christmas wish list for Santa. Ten policy measures which, if implemented, would make future growth prospects truly joyous, with Christmas every day of the week. But these are also economic policy measures Santa won’t be too familiar with, as he boards his sleigh somewhere north of the Nordic economies. I don’t pretend [...]
UK house prices were flat in October November 2, 2016 House prices were flat in October, as the housing market struggled to regain the momentum it lost following the EU referendum. According to data from Nationwide, there was no house price growth month-on-month in October. House prices increased 4.6 per cent year-on-year, down from an annual growth of 5.3 per cent in September. Read more: [...]
Bank of England interest rate rise threat sends first-time buyer sales to a pre-recession high August 28, 2015 The threat of a rise in borrowing costs led first-time buyers to look through increased deposit costs and indulge in a "summer of white-hot activity" with completed transactions hitting a pre-recession high. Monthly first-time buyer sales rose 4.9 per cent to 29,700 in the month to July, according to an index by estate agents Your Move and [...]
Nationwide pulls out of commercial real estate lending as it reports falling profits November 18, 2016 Nationwide announced plans to pull out of commercial property lending as it reported falling profits today. The figures Statutory profit for the six months to September came in at £696m, down from £802m. And underlying profit was reported at £615m, down from £801m. Nationwide said gross mortgage lending was up 17 per cent to £17.5bn [...]
New £2.3bn housing infrastructure fund announced in Autumn Statement November 23, 2016 A new £2.3bn housing infrastructure fund has been announced in the Autumn Statement to unlock new land for house building in high demand areas. The chancellor Philip Hammond also said there would be a £1.4bn fund to be spent on building 40,000 new homes. He announced a £3bn homebuilders' fund for 200,000 new homes and £2bn to build [...]
House sales forecast to stay flat as buyer interest drops for first time in over a year – RICS May 12, 2016 Interest from UK house buyers has dropped for the first time since March 2015, as uncertainty plagues the market, according to the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Residential Market Survey. Following the buy-to-let rush that preceded the 1 April tax rise deadline, and with continued uncertainty caused by the EU Referendum, interest from [...]
Last Week in the City: Trump threatens trade war March 2, 2018 This week US President Donald Trump threatened a trade war, a number of famous high street names, including Toys R Us and Maplin, got into serious trading trouble and upbeat assessments of the US economy from central bankers helped the US dollar to rally, reversing its recent trend. The FTSE 100 fell 0.2 per cent [...]