As David Cameron vows to crack down on corrupt foreigners buying London properties, can PM lift the shroud of secrecy? July 30, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron grabbed headlines this week when he said: “There is no place for dirty money in Britain.” Vowing to remove a “shroud of secrecy” surrounding luxury London properties owned by offshore holding companies, the Prime Minister said in a speech in Singapore that the UK “must not become a safe haven for [...]
Car review: Mercedes-AMG puts the OMG into the GLE Coupé July 6, 2015 Shy and retiring types need not apply. The Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S Coupé is not a car for those who put discretion and subtlety high on their list of priorities when looking for a new car. Almost everything about this SUV coupé reeks of vulgarity and excess. At first glance the SUV coupé looks [...]
Perfect timing August 23, 2015 Harriet Green talks pub food, capitalism and the importance of shiny things with Watchfinder’s Lloyd Amsdon When I ask Lloyd Amsdon’s seven year-old step-daughter if she knows what an entrepreneur is, she draws a blank. It may be age-related, but there’s no reason why she would have heard the word. “I’m only an entrepreneur when I’m [...]
Maximum excitement on Man U v Spurs March 12, 2015 TOTTENHAM will fancy their chances up at Old Trafford on Sunday, as they cling on to their hopes of finishing in the top four. Louis van Gaal is under serious pressure now and he’ll surely be placing emphasis on defence with United’s attack looking rather toothless. Sporting Index allow punters to bet on the time [...]
How shared ownership can help get Londoners on the housing ladder October 22, 2014 The Scottish Parliament has set out plans to levy its first tax since 1707. In an effort to support first time buyers, it proposed reforming stamp duty into a marginal – rather than a “slab” – tax, meaning that house sales in Scotland will no longer incur the highest rate on the whole price. These [...]
Treasury to sell £1.5bn of Royal Mail June 4, 2015 CHANCELLOR of the exchequer George Osborne announced plans for a £13bn round of privatisations yesterday, as he added the sale of £1.5bn of Royal Mail to the £11.8bn sale of Lloyds Bank currently underway. And if he brings forward plans to sell down the government’s holdings in bailed-out bank RBS, he could add tens of billions of [...]
Number of first time buyers up by 45 per cent September 5, 2013 THE NUMBER of first time buyers has swelled as the housing market begins to rebound, with LSL Property Services suggesting a 45 per cent increase in the 12 months to July. There were 26,100 people buying homes for the first time in July, up by over 8,000 through the year, with LSL’s figures suggesting that [...]
Independent shops are bringing some much-needed cool to London’s housing schemes June 11, 2015 There was a time when retailers were an afterthought to housing developers. But increasingly sophisticated homeowners, used to an urban village life among coffee shops and boutiques, are demanding more. “Ideally, you want to bring the commercial side in as soon as you can,” says John Anderson, chairman of developer Berkeley Homes, East Thames. [...]
How to save up for a house deposit September 9, 2014 With property prices surging in recent years – by 19.3 per cent in London in the 12 months to June, according to ONS data – the amount needed for a house deposit has shot up. The latest figures from LSL Property Services show that the average first-time buyer put down just over £30,000 for a [...]
These are the most valuable brands in the world: Apple, Google, Microsft and IBM dominate in BrandZ 2015 ranking as tech triumphs May 27, 2015 Apple has overtaken Google as the most valuable brand in the world, reassuming the top spot in an annual ranking in which technology dominates. The value of the Apple brand grew 67 per cent, with an estimated worth of more than $245bn. The stellar performance of Apple over the past year pushed Google into second [...]