Nationwide house price index: House prices grew 0.3 per cent in September but growth slowed on an annual basis September 30, 2016 House prices increased by 0.3 per cent in September, according to the Nationwide house price index. Data for the month revealed that annual house price growth slowed to 5.3 per cent, down from 5.6 per cent in August. The rate of price growth in London slowed to 7.1 per cent in the three months to [...]
Crazy London house prices have pushed Aim-listed Formation Group’s revenues up almost 200 per cent January 29, 2016 London’s buoyant property market has helped construction management firm Formation Group report revenue growth of 199 per cent for the year ending 31 August 2015. Group revenues rose to £23.7m over the period, compared with £7.941m the previous year, while profits before taxation were £2.2m from continuing operations, up from a 2014 loss of £99,000. [...]
Landlords make last minute dash to beat buy-to-let stamp duty hike deadline March 31, 2016 Landlords and agents were scrambling to complete last-minute purchases of second home and buy-to-let properties today ahead of stamp duty hike which comes into effect at midnight. George Osborne's clampdown on buy-to-let properties was announced in November's Autumn Statement as part of a raft measures designed to tackle the housing crisis and help more first-time buyers on the property [...]
Got £40m? You could buy Liverpool’s iconic Liver Building October 17, 2016 Liverpool's Royal Liver Building is up for sale and is expected to attract buyers offering more than £40m for the landmark and its Liver Birds. The Grade I listed property is being sold by Royal London Mutual Insurance Society. It is the first time it has been on the market since it was first opened in [...]
Housebuilding is the new black: Persimmon share price rises as profits leap 34 per cent February 23, 2016 Another day, another bit of good news coming out of the housebuilding sector, after Persimmon reported a 34 per cent jump in pre-tax profits. The figures Underlying pre-tax profits rose to £637.8m in the year to the end of December, up 34 per cent on last year's £475m, while full-year revenues rose 13 per cent to £2.9bn. The company said legal completions jumped eight [...]
Six reasons why London’s property market won’t collapse this year April 7, 2016 A recent report by UBS argued that London’s property market in London is exposed to the world's highest bubble risk and many would agree. But the reality is there are several good reasons why prices won't fall anytime soon. Here are just six. 1. Population growth London’s population grows faster than the UK national average and the supply of [...]
Government housing minister Brandon Lewis has admitted defeat in the face of the housing crisis: Generation Rent can’t make a “judgement call” about where they live December 2, 2015 The government has admitted defeat in the face of the London housing crisis. At least, that was the conclusion I drew yesterday when the housing minister told people hoping to stay in London to make “a judgement call about what you can afford and where is right for you”. By being “up front about the [...]
Area guide: Woolwich – why it’s tomorrow’s town April 1, 2016 It’s an unfortunate consequence of over-enthusiastic estate agents that an area described as “up-and-coming” is often, well, getting there but taking its sweet time about it. Woolwich was one such place for a long time, but 2016 is the year SE18 arrives on the property scene. “Woolwich has been touted as up-and-coming for the last [...]
UK house prices: Why Help to Buy, Starter Homes and other government initiatives won’t boost housebuilding in the UK February 9, 2016 There's nothing like a target to focus the mind. Last year, the newly elected Conservative government set themselves several in an attempt to tackle the housing crisis and get more new homes built over the course of this parliament. The numbers are ambitious. The government says it wants a million new homes built in England [...]
UK housing crisis: The next problem area will be retirement homes February 17, 2016 Talk of the housing crisis conjures up images of first time buyers trapped by sky high prices, as their income is syphoned off into rent. But alongside the cash-strapped "generation rent", there's another age group at risk: the next crisis may well be in retirement homes. At the heart of the difficulties in residential care lies [...]