UK house prices: Tony Pidgley’s Berkeley calls for Britain to stay in the EU as housebuilder’s profits rise 42 per cent June 17, 2015 London-centred residential property developer Berkeley Group announced a 42 per cent increase in full-year profits today, but warned a British exit from the EU would be bad for the capital's property market. Read more: How can the UK build more houses? In preliminary results for the year to the end of April, Berkeley stressed that the [...]
Don’t get blue – get into The Grays: New homes in the legal heart of London July 23, 2015 What do you call the area between St Paul’s and Oxford Street? Holborn? An extension of Clerkenwell? Or simply the legal heart of London? Well, estate agents and developers have other ideas that involve turning this Zone One no man’s land into a residential hotspot. The name they’ve chosen for the area is “Midtown”, which [...]
UK house prices: Growth dips to 8.8 per cent as mortgage cooling measures take their toll November 6, 2014 "Cooling measures" introduced by the Bank of England earlier this year have taken their toll on house prices. Annual growth slid to 8.8 per cent in October, figures by Halifax showed this morning, down from 9.6 per cent in September. The quarterly figure painted an even gloomier picture, with growth of just 0.8 per cent [...]
Former Marks & Spencer boss Lord Stuart Rose backs Select Property Group August 24, 2015 There is a new new retail club in town and it’s called Select Property Group. Former Marks & Spencer chairman Lord Stuart Rose has emerged as a surprise backer in the privately-owned developer, which operates a swathe of student housing and is about to launch its first block of serviced flats in Manchester. He has [...]
Sunlight Mews: A stunning mix of old and new in Fulham May 21, 2015 A mews used to mean one thing – bijou homes in boroughs such as Notting Hill or Chelsea that once served as stables and staff quarters for Britain’s wealthy. Built in the 1800-1900s, mews houses were typically nestled away at the back of much larger, grander houses and lined two sides of a cobbled lane. [...]
Supermoon, Uber’s drama and Jeremy Corbyn’s 80s flashback: Here’s what got us talking this week October 2, 2015 It was the week in which everyone saw red – from water on the red planet to the rare super-blood moon to a sudden surge in the popularity of Donald Trump Halloween wigs. And, of course, the Labour Party conference. In fact, the only one not wearing rose-coloured glasses was Burger King, which unveiled a [...]
Mansion House speech: George Osborne kicks starts £60bn sell-off with RBS stake June 10, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne last night kicked off a £60bn sale of state-owned financial assets, announcing he will sell a stake in bailed-out bank RBS in the coming months. The enormous wave of privatisations includes the sale of a remaining £11.5bn holding in Lloyds, while bidders including Goldman Sachs compete to buy £13bn of mortgage assets [...]
Slip in consumer confidence despite retail sales growth – London Report May 25, 2015 DATA on GDP growth, consumer confidence and house prices are due out this week, and today sees the release of the CBI Distributive Trades Survey. The CBI’s research is expected to show robust retail sales growth in May. GDP growth in the first quarter is likely to be revised up to 0.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter [...]
Cook up a storm in Barnes: Scarth House is a rare period property with kitchen space for four ovens April 23, 2015 London is fortunate enough to have a multitude of Victorian and Georgian houses that are still in a good enough condition to be a decent family home. But you don't hear so much about houses that were built in the reign of William IV, who was king for only seven years between 1830-37. But [...]
Government hires Goldman to advise on sales of bank shares June 18, 2015 Goldman Sachs will advise the government on the sale of its remaining stakes in Britain’s banks. Goldman was hired as the privatisation adviser to UK Financial Investments (UKFI), a holding company tasked with managing the taxpayer stakes in businesses across the economy, Sky News first reported last night. Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne [...]