Stamp duty cliff edge knocks £10,000 off thousands of homes December 2, 2013 THOUSANDS of home owners have had to slash the price of their house to below £250,000 to get a sale because of the impact of stamp duty, according to a report out today from London Central Portfolio and the Cass Business School. Stamp duty jumps from one per cent to three per cent at the [...]
House building rises at fastest rate since 2008 November 21, 2013 The last three months have seen the fastest rate of house building since 2008, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). 32,230 homes were started between July and September of this year. Over the past 12 months, housing starts rose 16 per cent compared to the previous year, from 101,280 to 117,110. [...]
UK shoemaker pumped up by sole investor January 20, 2014 HOTTER Shoes, the UK’s biggest shoe manufacturer, has been sold to Electra Private Equity in a £200m deal giving buyout house control of the company. The 55-year-old business, captained by founder Stewart Houlgrave, has been owned by rival private equity firm Gresham since 2007, expanding from five to 56 stores during that time. Listed fund [...]
The rise of the London Village January 16, 2014 IT SEEMS these days everyone wants their slice of village life, even if they live and work in the heart of the city. The Big Smoke has always been made up of distinct neighbourhoods with their own character and lifestyle, but the idea of the London Village has really taken hold in the public imagination [...]
Help to Buy lifts Persimmon new sales past 3,000 November 6, 2013 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon said yesterday it has sold over 3,000 homes under the government sponsored Help to Buy scheme, in yet another sign of rising confidence in the housing market. Chief executive Jeff Fairburn said that while 90 per cent of sales were to first-time buyers, growing market confidence was prompting more second and third-time buyers [...]
Woodford goes boutique with new fund plans December 19, 2013 THE UK’s most powerful investor Neil Woodford will swap his role running £33bn of cash next year to join serial entrepreneur Peter Dubens’ low key private equity venture. Woodford, who owns major stakes in a host of FTSE 100 firms, will join boutique outfit Oakley Capital when he quits his current role at fund giant [...]
InBev buys back Korean brewery in $5.8bn deal January 20, 2014 ANHEUSER-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has agreed to buy back South Korea’s Oriental Brewery Company (OB) for $5.8bn (£3.53bn) from KKR & Co and Affinity Equity Partners in what is the biggest ever exit by a private equity firm in Asia. Yesterday’s deal more than triples the original $1.8bn investment by the firms that [...]
Council house sells for record £2.96m October 28, 2013 A COUNCIL house near London’s South Bank was sold at auction yesterday for a record £2.96m, making it the most expensive ever sold in the UK. The Grade II-listed property at 21 and 23 Park Street near Borough Market was put up for sale by Southwark Council, to help fund the building of new council [...]
Private equity firms shun big ticket deals for British business December 5, 2013 PRIVATE equity firms’ investment in British businesses fell 30 per cent this year, despite signs of an uptick in the economy Buyout firms spent £13.9bn buying UK firms between January and November, down on the £20.4bn spent in the same period in 2012. The figures, from Mergermarket, reflect a trend for smaller individual deals, given [...]
Housebuilders pledge to end advance sales of homes overseas December 18, 2013 A TOTAL of 11 housing developers have signed a pledge to market their properties to UK buyers first, or at the same time, as marketing abroad. Concerns about properties being sold to foreign investors who then choose not to live in them have led to claims that many London streets are unoccupied while demand in [...]