The government’s high-profile Help to Buy scheme has come under fire because extra financial support cannot be used towards deposits August 20, 2016 A government scheme to support first-time buyers has been blasted by political rivals because a so-called "top-up" on savings cannot be used towards the deposit on a new home. Revealed in the pre-election 2015 Budget, the Help to Buy ISA provided a government boost to savings at a rate of 25 per cent. So a saver [...]
UK house prices: Is this the return of the first-time buyer? April 23, 2015 As UK house prices have risen, so has the story of the death of the first-time buyer. New data suggests this despair may have come too soon, however. A third of people feel better placed to move home than they did 12 months ago, despite wage growth lagging far behind house price inflation. The figures [...]
Focus On Holloway: How the area went from “no-go area” to a thriving hotspot for independent businesses October 17, 2016 Holloway may be one of the oldest neighbourhoods in north London, but it hasn’t always been popular. Londoners who weren’t Arsenal fans might only pass through to get on to the M1 and its infamous women’s prison on Parkhurst Road hardly does wonders for its reputation. For a long time, its only cultural claim to [...]
Focus On Earl’s Court: Around 7,500 new homes and a brand new high street coming to west London by 2033 October 7, 2016 Best known for its (closed) Exhibition Centre, Earl’s Court is not the sort of place you’d expect to attract million-pound investment. But it’s currently undergoing its biggest upheaval in over a century and this west London outpost is set to be a very different place in a couple of decades. The last huge change in [...]
Bank of England steps up to push along Co-op Bank rescue plans, amid worries buyers might be shying away from the struggling lender March 19, 2017 The Bank of England's regulatory team has begun making plans of its own for Co-op Bank, as they become increasingly impatient with the troubled lender's sale. The Co-op Bank, which is currently 20 per cent owned by the wider Co-operative Group, revealed last month it was looking for a buyer for the whole of the business. [...]
Wanted: A bold government housing strategy that delivers for the young rather than the old December 6, 2016 If Brexit wasn’t dominating British politics, then one other issue would be: the lack of housing. If you know someone under 30, living in London and able to afford their first home, then your friend belongs to the country’s richest percentile. For most people, even for those on what used to be a decent median income, owning [...]
Focus On Herne Hill: House prices rise 12 per cent year-on-year in Brixton’s genteel neighbouring town October 21, 2016 Without a doubt Brixton’s greener neighbour, Herne Hill is also seen historically as Brixton’s more genteel neighbour. In the mid-19th century, this well-heeled south London suburb was home to mainly large, upper class “country” estates and revered members of high society – such as art critic John Ruskin – grew up there. These days, past [...]
New homes on sale in “mini-Manhattan” London City Island, marketed as the capital’s would-be culture hub September 1, 2016 London City Island, Leamouth Peninsula From £365,000 The final and tallest building in the London City Island development will go on sale on Saturday. The marketing suite on the Leamouth Peninsula site will throw a party with ice pops and a juice bar from 10am to 5pm to entice buyers to invest in studio to [...]
Nearly half of young people to use lifetime Isa to save for retirement August 1, 2016 Nearly half of younger Britons will use a the lifetime Isa to save for retirement instead of taking out a pension plan a survey outlined today. A YouGov poll said that 44 per cent of Britons between the age of 18 and 39 would favour using the government’s new lifetime Isa in order to put [...]
It’ll take young Londoners more than a decade to save for one of David Cameron’s starter homes May 27, 2016 The government's new starter homes initiative has come in for a lot of flack – but this may be its most damning criticism yet. Yep: new figures by property services giant JLL show if the average young couple in the capital started saving now, they wouldn't get their hands on a starter home until 2028. That's more than [...]