Mortgage borrowing rises in January as landlords race for stamp duty deadline March 17, 2016 Would-be landlords made a mad dash to secure mortgages in January as new rules on stamp duty for buy-to-let homes loomed, new figures show. Data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) shows landlords borrowed £3.7bn in January, up nine per cent from the month before – but a whopping 42 per cent year on year. New [...]
UK house price growth drops to 4.1 per cent in March as slowdown in London continues , according to data from the Office for National Statistics May 16, 2017 Average UK house prices increased 4.1 per cent in the year to March 2017, down from 5.6 per cent in the year to February 2017. New data from the Office for National Statistics shows the general slowdown in the annual growth rate seen since mid-2016 continues. House prices in London recorded the second-lowest annual growth [...]
UK home-buying stays solid in November but consumer credit rises by highest amount since 2005 says the Bank of England January 4, 2017 British house purchase numbers stayed flat in November, but still remained steady above pre-referendum levels, while UK consumer borrowing increased by the most since March 2005. UK banks approved 67,505 mortgages in November, compared to 67,371 in October, according to the Bank of England (BoE), but remortgaging levels rose to the highest levels since October [...]
First-time home buyers are being priced out of UK cities – Countrywide October 12, 2015 Renters are looking further afield for their first property as housing affordability in cities begins to bite, research from the UK’s largest estate agency group reveals this morning. To get on the first rung of the housing ladder, 36 per cent of London renters end up buying outside the M25, up from 21 per cent [...]
Housebuilder Crest Nicholson’s shares fall – despite rebuffing Brexit blues June 14, 2016 Nothing can dampen the profits of a housebuilder, not even Brexit – housebuilder Crest Nicholson this morning posted healthy results despite the uncertainty about the outcome of the UK's upcoming referendum. The figures In its half-year report this morning, Crest Nicholson announced pre-tax profits at the firm were up 26 per cent in the six months [...]
The new housing crisis is upon us – and it’s those who already own property that should be worried June 18, 2016 We hear an awful lot about the "housing crisis" in the UK and – particularly – in the capital. At one end of the ladder, rents are rising faster than wages and house prices are going up quicker than people can save for a deposit. At the other, new taxes and regulations on second homes [...]
The Body Shop attracts buyout bidders in £850m sale February 12, 2017 Potential buyers are emerging in the $1bn (£850m) sale of ethical beauty brand The Body Shop. Apax Partners, a high-profile backer of companies including Karl Lagerfeld and Orange, has registered its interest, The Sunday Times reported yesterday. Current owner L’Oréal put the iconic British store up for sale last week, saying it wanted to “give it [...]
Focus On Bayswater: Why Notting Hill’s overlooked neighbour is the next big central London investment opportunity January 6, 2017 Around any piece of prime central London, you’ll find a forlorn district on the outskirts whose fortune has improved immeasurably in recent years. Priced out of premium areas, buyers are increasingly moving to these formerly unpopular areas in search of space and affordability – and changing these areas in the process. Bayswater is a prime [...]
First-time housing market booming in the UK despite fall in purchases over the Christmas period January 29, 2016 THE NUMBER of first-time home buyers in the UK fell in December due to the traditional Christmas period slowdown, but showed healthy growth over the year, new data has shown today. First-time buyer numbers fell by 1,300 or 4.7 per cent month-on-month due to the “traditional winter cooling” period, according to the first-time buyer tracker [...]
Dip in house price growth “caused by weak consumer confidence”, says Halifax – but others think it could be the Brexit effect May 9, 2016 UK house price growth actually dipped last month, with economists blaming weakening consumer sentiment for a slowing in annual increases. According to the Halifax House Price Index, average house prices fell 0.8 per cent in April to £212.321. This meant the annual change had slowed from 10.1 per cent recorded in the year to March to 9.2 per cent. [...]