Property tech start-up bags £1.2m of funds September 7, 2014 BETFAIR co-founder Ed Wray and private equity veteran Jon Moulton are among a handful of investors to back a £1.25m investment into a new property investment website. Property Partner, the trading name of London House Exchange, has secured a new round of funding led by the venture capital arm Octopus Investments, in a bid to [...]
City Moves for 7 October 2014 | Who’s switching jobs October 6, 2014 Brooks Macdonald International (BMI) The investment manager has appointed Darren Zaman as chief executive of its offshore business. He was chief executive of DPZ Capital, a wealth management firm acquired by BMI in April. Zaman has also held roles at HSBC Investments and Le Masurier James and Chinn. BTMU Masato Miyachi has been promoted to [...]
Focus On… The City: residential is finally taking off in the Square Mile September 5, 2014 When it comes to residential developments, the Square Mile has a bit of an image problem. The ancient financial heart of the City of London has been abuzz with business for 1,000 years and it’s still graced by some of the capital’s most impressive architecture. Around 370,000 people go there to work every day, but [...]
How Ukraine’s unrest will affect prime London property prices March 4, 2014 World shares, particularly in banks, insurers, miners and energy stocks, have been hit as a result of the political tension and unrest in Ukraine. But what would be the cost of an economic fallout or any potential sanctions by the West against Russia have on the London property market? Joshua Raymond, chief market strategist of [...]
10 Soho Square: Bringing glamour back to London’s film land October 3, 2014 It has always been desirable to live off one of London’s garden squares. These traditionally fashionable addresses – such as Chester Square, Hanover Square and Eaton Square – are known in the popular imagination as the homes of the aristocracy and elder statesmen. Eaton Square is probably today’s most illustrious example, but back in the [...]
London property market: Why a mansion tax could be disastrous for government coffers September 10, 2014 The threat of a mansion tax still looms large over the prime London housing market – despite the fact it could end up cutting the amount of tax paid to the government, according to research from property consultancy Savills. A mansion tax has been suggested by both the Liberal Democrats and Labour, and has proven [...]
The George Clooney effect: Venice’s Palazzo Molin del Cuoridoro is a rare medieval masterpiece November 13, 2014 Two months ago, Paris was overshadowed as the romance capital of the world by Venice. This had everything to do with George Clooney, Hollywood’s smoothest eternal bachelor, choosing the city to host his wedding to British human rights barrister Amal Alamuddin. The world’s media swooped on the waterlogged cultural hotspot and it received some [...]
UK house prices soar as lack of homes fuels cost of living crisis September 22, 2014 House building in the UK has been in a continual state of decline since the 1970s, making it harder to own a home and to pay rent, according to a report released yesterday. In the several years preceding the financial crisis, just under 200,000 houses were completed per year – half the number that [...]
Canary Wharf’s shopping malls boost Songbird Estates September 18, 2014 Songbird Estates, the listed property giant behind London’s Canary Wharf Group, said the value of its shopping centres had reached a record £1bn in the first half of the year as the company pushed ahead with a new mall above its planned Crossrail station. The company is building 115,000 square feet of retail [...]
Bank of England backs move for greater powers over mortgage lending as it warns over financial instability posed by housing market October 2, 2014 The Bank of England has warned that the UK housing market represents a continued risk to financial stability, backing government calls for greater powers to cap mortgage lending for homes and buy-to-let properties. The BoE's Financial Policy Committee has come out in support of George Osborne's suggestion, which was initially put forward over the summerand reiterated [...]