Housebuyers struggle to get loans in London September 8, 2011 HOUSEBUYERS across the country were buoyed by higher levels of purchase approvals in August, the surveyors’ group E.surv said yesterday. Approvals were up 4.3 per cent on August 2010 and hit a 15-month high. However, Londoners missed out on the boost, with approvals dropping by 10 per cent compared with July’s figure. That is because [...]
Taylor Wimpey says housebuilding bouncing back September 19, 2011 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said sales rates in recent weeks have been encouraging, as the industry has benefited from a seasonal surge in home buying activity, and added it is on track to deliver on margin targets. The country’s second largest builder by market value said net sales rates so far in the second half are [...]
Banks line up for more cheap cash as ECB offers new loans February 26, 2012 BANKS are set to line up for more easy money on Wednesday when the European Central Bank offers an unlimited volume of cheap loans for the second time in as many months. Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland have both said they are attracted by the so-called three-year Long-Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO) because [...]
The pain in Spain has put its banks back on the rack April 12, 2012 WITH a sense of inevitability the spotlight has landed on Spain. Though the headlines proclaimed that the Eurozone crisis has returned with a vengeance, the truth is it never left. Spain is not Greece, but, many of the market fears surrounding the economy are still both well-founded and expected. There are three major causes of [...]
A Spice Girls revival is more likely than a Nokia one April 11, 2012 CAST your mind back to 1997. Tony Blair’s New Labour had won a landslide election, Britannia was cool and Channel 5 was going to save the television industry. For some, it is a Spice Girls song that best evokes the era or, for those with better taste, a Radiohead tune. For me, it has to [...]
Nuclear group Urenco attracts potential buyer October 14, 2012 FRENCH nuclear company Areva is thought to be examining a bid for British atomic fuel producer Urenco. Areva, which failed to make a bid for the Horizon nuclear new-build project by last month’s deadline, is now weighing up Urenco, according to the Sunday Times. The firm, which denied in January that it was interested in [...]
Nuclear group Urenco attracts potential buyer October 14, 2012 FRENCH nuclear company Areva is thought to be examining a bid for British atomic fuel producer Urenco. Areva, which failed to make a bid for the Horizon nuclear new-build project by last month’s deadline, is now weighing up Urenco, according to the Sunday Times. The firm, which denied in January that it was interested in [...]
British mortgage sales decline across the board August 31, 2011 MORTGAGE sales in the year to April sank to their lowest rate since the Financial Services Authority (FSA) began gathering the figures in 2005, it emerged yesterday. “Overall, mortgage sales declined by seven per cent from 2009-10 to 2010-11,” the FSA said. The decline was across the board, with sales of mortgages to first-time buyers, [...]
Entrepreneurs finally fighting back February 29, 2012 BUSINESS people have a tendency to run scared of political debate. They rarely want to criticise politicians on the record (though they are often extremely outspoken in private). They very rarely agree to give interviews to discuss controversial subjects. This is a great tragedy: capitalists are failing to speak up for capitalism, allowing those who [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU THINK HOME OWNERSHIP IS DECLINING? August 30, 2011 MARCUS KUM | INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED SHIPBROKERS “People will always buy houses rather than rent because it’s a personal achievement: the only problem is the affordability. Renting is cheaper because of the deposit when buying, causing a decline in house ownership.” CHRIS COPPING | UNITED INSURANCE BROKERS “Yes, but I’m not sure how long it [...]