Bellway on track for jump in profits after selling homes at record high prices February 10, 2016 Housebuilder Bellway has kept its shareholders happy. The company said it was on track to deliver a significant rise in sales and earnings for the first half building more homes and selling them at record prices. The family-owned company, which builds homes across the country, completed 4,188 homes in the first half of the year to 31 January, up 11.6 [...]
UK house prices: Ministry of Defence names new sites for thousands of home as it releases land in London, Essex, Kent and Hampshire March 24, 2016 The Ministry of Defence is to release enough land to build 7,000 new homes around the country, including parts of London, Hampshire and Kent. The MoD believes this tranche of land – the "vast majority of which" will be released in time to contribute towards the government's target of 160,000 by 2020 – will generate around £140m, which [...]
CME reportedly eyeing up London Stock Exchange after ICE said it was considering a bid amid Deutsche Boerse merger talks March 6, 2016 CME Group, the operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, is reportedly considering making a bid for the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE), in just the latest move by a rival financial exchange to snatch up the London operator. Multiple news outlets reported over the weekend that CME – the world's largest financial exchange – is looking [...]
Another sign London’s ultra-high-end homes are losing their sparkle, as One Hyde Park designer Candy & Candy falls into a loss April 8, 2016 When the first homes were sold in 2012, its gleaming towers became the centre of a storm of criticism: now the interior designer behind controversial uber-prime residential development One Hyde Park have slumped into a loss. Figures filed with Companies House yesterday show interior designer Candy & Candy, which designed the communal areas and many of the apartments [...]
UK house prices: Why Help to Buy, Starter Homes and other government initiatives won’t boost housebuilding in the UK February 9, 2016 There's nothing like a target to focus the mind. Last year, the newly elected Conservative government set themselves several in an attempt to tackle the housing crisis and get more new homes built over the course of this parliament. The numbers are ambitious. The government says it wants a million new homes built in England [...]
Mount Anvil profits hit new record high as residential developer targets 1,000 new homes April 20, 2016 London property developer Mount Anvil posted a 25 per cent jump in pre-tax profits to reach a new record of £25m last year, after partnering with other developers to deliver nearly 500 new homes across the capital. The private company, which is redeveloping Keybridge tower in Vauxhall as well as Dollar Bay in the Isle of Dogs, said [...]
Travis Perkins’ share price pushed higher despite a disappointing summer and an impairment charge over its plumbing business March 3, 2016 Building material supplier Travis Perkins has posted a 7.6 per cent rise in core profits and forecast a better year than last in 2016, after warning earnings would be at the lower end of expectations in October. Pre-tax profits in 2015 were down 30 per cent to £224m, negatively impacted by a £141m impairment charge to its plumbing business due to “challenging market conditions”. [...]
Google tax row: It’s high time MPs grew up February 12, 2016 The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has become a vehicle for grandstanding, showboating and political profile-building over recent years. It was perhaps unsurprising, then, to see the latest cohort of MPs on the much-feared PAC sink to a new low during yesterday’s questioning of Matt Brittin and Tom Hutchinson, Google’s EMEA president and vice president responsible [...]
The £18 million view: designer Martin Kemp on overlooking the Tower of London May 5, 2016 Of course the money shot is the view,” says interior designer to the world’s squillionaires, Martin Kemp, pointing out the vista of the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the Thames at close quarters. I can spare a glance out of the window, but turn back to the job at hand of stroking my way [...]
UK house prices: Prime central London rents are polarising between east and west, says Knight Frank April 6, 2016 London's prime rental market is becoming more polarised. Prices in the east are accelerating faster than those in the west as financial services tenants move closer to the City in search of cheaper rents, new research shows. Annual rental value growth in prime central London fell by one per cent in March – the lowest rate since May 2014, according to [...]