Estate agent Countrywide’s share price tumbles as profits fall by more than half March 9, 2017 Shares in the UK's largest estate agent have tumbled after it admitted pre-tax profit plummeted by close to 60 per cent last year. Read more: Estate agents Savills warns current UK house price growth is unsustainable The figures Countrywide, the company behind high street estate agency brands including Bairstow Eves and Hamptons International, said today its [...]
Budget 2017: Chancellor Philip Hammond delivers boost to FTSE March 8, 2017 Philip Hammond's Budget announcements drove the FTSE 100 into positive territory for the day this afternoon. While no individual companies or sectors appeared to rise or fall too strongly, the FTSE 250 and FTSE 350 indices also edged up after the chancellor spoke. Read more: This is what the Budget had to say about UK [...]
Foxtons results: Another dive in profits thanks to London house prices March 8, 2017 Shares in struggling London estate agent Foxtons took a dive today after it admitted London's cooling market pushed down profits last year. The figures Revenues fell 11 per cent to £132.7m in the year to the end of December, Foxtons said today – while pre-tax profits fell more than half, from £41m in 2015 to £18.8m in 2016. Lettings revenue fell one per [...]
X-ray company Medica Reporting plots £150m-plus IPO as private equity firm CBPE Capital seeks exit March 7, 2017 A private equity-backed x-ray company is plotting a stock market flotation, City A.M. can reveal. Medica Reporting, the UK’s largest remote radiology reporting network, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the company at more than £150m. Read more: London IPO, New York or sale? Sources say Misys is keeping its options [...]
Sterling falls to lowest since before Theresa May’s Brexit speech as Lords vote looms March 7, 2017 Sterling fell to its lowest value since mid-January ahead of the resumption of voting in the House of Lords on the government’s bill on Article 50. The pound fell below $1.22 against the US dollar on Tuesday morning for the first time since 17 January, when Prime Minister Theresa May announced the UK would leave [...]
Here’s what the property sector is expecting in this week’s Budget – from stamp duty to landlords to luxury homes March 7, 2017 It’s that time of year again: the days are getting longer, the trees are blossoming, and the one-time-only Spring Budget is rapidly approaching – with homeowners and landlords alike steeling themselves for more punishment from the chancellor. The good news is it looks unlikely there will be much to punish homeowners or lower house prices [...]
Entrepreneur housebuilders have been crushed: We must bring them back to life March 7, 2017 It's nothing new to say that too few homes are being built in the UK. Fourteen housing ministers in the last 20 years have acknowledged it time after time, just as they have recognised that housing – or the lack thereof – is the UK’s greatest modern economic challenge. Yet the frequency with which these individuals have [...]
TfL just came a step closer to building 400 homes in Kidbrooke March 6, 2017 One of the capital's largest housing associations will help Transport for London (TfL) build 400 new homes on a former RAF base in South East London TfL named Triangle London Developments – a consortium comprised of Notting Hill Housing and U+I – as the partner which will develop homes on a four-acre site close to [...]
Barratt has sold 172 luxury London new-build flats as rental homes, including an entire block at Nine Elms March 6, 2017 Here's an unusual move by a housebuilder: Barratt Homes has bundled together 172 flats at various developments across London and sold them off as rental homes. The housebuilder said it had sold the units to Henderson Park for £140.5m. The portfolio includes 29 units at Aldgate Place, a joint venture with British Land, 25 in Fulham Riverside and all 118 at [...]
Property of the week: Ovington Square proves that vendors are looking for flexible solutions to sell their homes in an uncertain market March 3, 2017 It’s no secret that property prices in prime central London are starting to plateau and, in some cases, fall. We’re all aware of the problems – overzealous estate agents, Stamp Duty increases, Brexit – but how can you make the best of it if you’re selling your house? Prime estate agency Russell Simpson thinks it’s [...]