Rugby World Cup 2015: All Black is the colour as first match England v Figi kicks off tonight September 18, 2015 For the first time in 24 years, New Zealand have arrived for a Rugby World Cup as champions, finally able to bat away the ‘choking Kiwi’ tag that has haunted them for almost three decades. While England are a tempting bet at 9/2 with Sportingbet, it appears that the only chink in the formidable [...]
Sunderland v Tottenham: Spurs ready to pick up first win of the season at Stadium of Light September 10, 2015 Odds-on for relegation in September, Sunderland’s time in the top flight looks to be coming to an end after years of struggle. We’re only four games in to the campaign but this particular projection doesn’t seem premature. Already bottom of the table, the Mackems look woefully short on quality and the signings they made in [...]
Retired workers should be allowed to sell their pensions to the highest bidder, says minister Steve Webb January 4, 2015 Retirees may soon get the right to sell off their savings for a lump sum, according to pensions minister Steve Webb. Liberal Democrat Webb said that he wanted to go further than the reforms outlined by George Osborne at the last budget, which, from this April, allow workers to trade their pension savings for [...]
UK house price lull could be over as lending picks up December 11, 2014 The recent slowdown in house price growth may have already ended, a new set of data shows. House price growth accelerated to 11.3 per cent in November from 11 per cent in October, according to figures released today by LSL property services. The growth rates were lifted by London and the south east. “After a [...]
House price growth slows but could be boosted by tax reform December 4, 2014 THE HOUSE price boom continued to cool in November, data from a UK mortgage provider shows. House prices climbed 8.2 per cent year-on-year in November, down from 8.8 per cent in October, figures released yesterday by Halifax show. Although still high, year-on-year house price growth has fallen for the past four months after peaking at 10.2 [...]
Autumn cooling for the capital’s housing market December 16, 2014 UK HOUSE price growth slowed in October, official figures revealed yesterday, with the cost of housing in London falling compared to earlier in the year. Prices in the capital were 1.9 per cent lower than in August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The average residential property in London still costs in excess of [...]
Pearson in talks to sell Economist Group stake after FT Group sale July 29, 2015 Publisher Pearson is said to be in talks to sell off its 50 per cent stake worth about £400m in the Economist Group to other shareholders. A source told the Financial Times that a deal should be wrapped up at some point this summer and potential buyers include families such as Schroders, the Cadburys and the [...]
London property focus on North Greenwich: Affordable homes by the riverside September 4, 2015 Fancy a night out in North Greenwich? No, not that one with the market, the chapels, the observatory and the ship. The other one with the O2 Arena and… not much else. It’s a hard sell, truth be told, so imagine how much harder it must be to convince someone to live there. Once a [...]
London drives frenzy of global property deals August 18, 2015 INVESTMENT activity in commercial property rose sharply in the first half of the year, new figures show, with cities, including London, New York and San Francisco, continuing to steal the spotlight. Global investment in commercial real estate reached $318bn (£204bn) at the end of June, 15 per cent higher than the same time last year, [...]
Help-to-buy sees high use October 30, 2014 JUST under 34,000 homes have been bought using the government’s Help-to-Buy scheme, requiring £1.42bn of loans from the Treasury. The scheme provides a loan to first-time buyers of new builds. The loan can be up to 20 per cent of the house price with only a five per cent deposit needed. The homes most commonly bought [...]