Put your house on it …price boom ends October 8, 2014 HOUSE price growth slowed in September, an influential report from Halifax showed yesterday, adding to evidence that activity in the UK’s rampant property market was moderating. Prices rose 0.6 per cent last month and 9.6 per cent in the past year. But this still-substantial growth marks a continued slowdown from the annual growth of 10.2 [...]
Housing market surge spreads through the UK March 3, 2014 HOUSE prices rose across the largest proportion of the UK on record this February, shooting up at the fastest pace recorded for a single month, according to Hometrack’s latest assessment of the rapid recovery in the property market. Last month, 51.1 per cent of postcodes saw price increases, according to the research, released today. Only [...]
Chancellor hopes for 200,000 new homes as a result of budget measures March 19, 2014 George Osborne has announced the government will be providing support to small housebuilding firms, with £150m used for new build housing. The construction of a new garden city at Ebbsfleet was also confirmed. The chancellor said the measures taken in the budget would support over 200,000 new homes, with 120,000 built as a result of [...]
UK house prices see biggest jump since summer 2010 March 25, 2014 House prices rose 6.8 per cent compared with a year earlier – the biggest increase since August 2010 – and up from 5.5 per cent in December, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. A Bloomberg poll revealed analysts expected a rise of 6.6 per cent. London led the increase, with prices up [...]
UK residential building enjoys strong February March 20, 2014 HOUSING construction ballooned over the 12 months to February, up by nearly three quarters from the same month last year, and surging back towards pre-crisis levels. According to Barbour ABI, a firm that provides data on the construction sector, house building is the runaway success story of the last year. Though all construction work has [...]
Shock February drop in lending for mortgages March 31, 2014 MORTGAGE lending dipped during February, according to surprising official figures from the Bank of Lending, marking the first monthly drop in a year. There were 70,309 mortgages approved by financial institutions in February, down by more than 6,000 from January’s figure, which was the highest in six years, going back to the onset of the [...]
From Quindell and Gotham City to Uber and the LDTA – five of the biggest business battles to watch out for in 2015 December 22, 2014 Rival camps have banded together, the lines are drawn, battle armour is on and adrenaline is running high. All that's left for spectators to do is grab some popcorn and watch from the ringside. From rival estate agents, to a business targeted by a Batman styled US fund and an influx of tiny new banks [...]
Swelling house prices continue into February March 6, 2014 UK HOUSE prices surged in February according to a major index of prices, jumping 2.4 per cent in the month alone, and up 7.9 per cent from February last year. The monthly change is the fastest that Halifax has recorded since the first half of 2009, and February saw the 11th month-on-month increase in the [...]
The war on drugs began 100 years ago today: Let’s hope it doesn’t last another century December 16, 2014 One hundred years ago today, President Woodrow Wilson approved the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, the US’s first national legislation designed to control the manufacture, import and supply of opium and cocaine. Francis Burton Harrison, a Democrat representative, did little more than give his name to the law. The heavy lifting was done by Dr Hamilton [...]
Indivior IPO: Reckitt Benckiser splits off addiction unit November 17, 2014 Addiction treatment firm Indivior is set to join the FTSE100 as parent Reckitt Benckiser yesterday said it would float the business as a separate entity. However, the drug business may not remain listed in London for long – 80 per cent of its revenues come from the US, and its chief executive Shaun Thaxter expects [...]