Further solid rise in house prices confirmed July 16, 2013 UK HOUSE prices are rising strongly, ticking up by 2.9 per cent in the year to May, the Office for National Statistics announced yesterday. The release showed the fastest year-on-year growth in prices yet seen in 2013. London contributed most to the increase, with a 6.6 per cent rise, soaring above average wage growth. In [...]
Q and A July 25, 2013 Director, Douglas & Gordon Q I’m very confused about the Government’s Help to Buy scheme. Does the fact that I have owned a property before affect my eligibility? A You do not need to be a first time buyer to take advantage of the Help to Buy scheme, merely unable to afford to buy (they [...]
US politicians need to grow up before growth is shut down October 1, 2013 IT is time for Americans to decide: do they want to be a social democracy, Eurozone style, with high levels of tax and public spending, or do they want to be a small state society, with low taxes and low levels of public spending? The partial government shutdown and the political warfare between Barack Obama [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 24 February 2014 February 23, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Deutsche Bank plans to cut US assets Deutsche Bank has for the first time laid out its plans to slash its US balance sheet as it seeks to allay concerns over how it would deal with tough new rules imposed by the Federal Reserve on foreign banks. The lender aims to reduce assets [...]
Fewer deals on offer for first time buyers August 22, 2012 THE MORTGAGE market has tightened up over the past six months, but remortgage lending has bounced back, according to reports. The number of high loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages has plummeted, with a collapse in 90 per cent and 95 per cent mortgages offered, MoneySupermarket said yesterday. Its data shows that 95 per cent mortgage availability has [...]
4 reasons now is the right time to get excited about gold March 21, 2014 With last year's 28 per cent price crash – suffering its sharpest fall in 30 years – it wasn’t just gold bugs and mining companies who have had to endure gold’s bumpy road, as its crashing popularity signalled a shift in economic confidence, upping the favour of paperless assets. This year, things have started to [...]
Governor stands firm on plan for UK interest rates August 28, 2013 INTEREST rates could stay at rock bottom even after unemployment falls below seven per cent, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said yesterday. In a bid to convince sceptical markets he really is serious about keeping rates down for the next three years, Carney said he would look for a wide range of evidence that [...]
Osborne freezes fuel duty until the 2015 election September 30, 2013 GEORGE Osborne yesterday vowed to freeze fuel duty for the next two years, ensuring the chancellor will go into the 2015 election without ever raising tax on petrol. In a surprise announcement, the chancellor told the Conservative party conference in Manchester that, providing other savings can be found, he will ensure motorists are untouched. “Conservatives [...]
Down to a Fine Art March 23, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks to Patrick van der Vorst, the ex-Sotheby’s art expert who used a £100,000 investment from Dragons Den to build online valuation service Value My Stuff THE INTERNATIONAL art market is having a ball, as investors flock to the perceived safer asset. A Sotheby’s sale last month totalled £163m, with demand coming from [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 06 March 2014 March 5, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Church defends hedge fund plan The man responsible for the Church of England’s £6bn endowment has defended plans to increase its investment in hedge funds, arguing that not all of the industry has “devil’s horns”. Andreas Whittam Smith, first church estates commissioner, told the Financial Times that the Church’s own ethical watchdog sanctioned [...]