What will the new government do to build more affordable homes? May 13, 2015 Housing charity Shelter says 250,000 new homes need to be built in England each year to keep up with population increases. But current housebuilding rates are nowhere near those levels. According to the department for communities and local government, just under 120,000 homes were completed last year. On the campaign trail, the Conservatives made a [...]
Farmfoods sees surge in annual sales and profit June 7, 2015 FROZEN food discounter Farmfoods has reported a surge in annual sales and profits as Britons increasingly searching for ways to cut spending on their weekly grocery shop. The supermarket, which is owned by the publicity shy Herd family, said pre-tax profits jumped by 38 per cent to £20.8m in 2014 compared with £15.1m the previous [...]
Roland Duchatelet’s project at Charlton is failing – and the appointment of Karel Fraeye will only alienate fans further October 29, 2015 A decade ago, Charlton Athletic were English football's first point of reference for what a medium-sized club could achieve if run sensibly. They were the fourth best-performing side in 2005 in London, finishing behind only Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. Since then there have been a litany of failures, misjudgements and relegations but now, under the [...]
London barometer: House offers on the rise after General Election uncertainty May 21, 2015 Despite the crippling effect of election uncertainty, offers received in April were up 15 per cent on last year indicating a strong appetite among vendors and applicants to do business. After a fiercely contested and unpredictable campaign period, figures show that the market lost patience waiting for a political outcome. As forecast in previous [...]
Housing market goes in reverse over August September 10, 2014 A fall in both house sales and mortgage approvals in August has backed growing evidence that the booming property market is at last slowing. A Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey showed the number of agreed house sales in August fell for the first time since September 2012, and new buyer enquiries fell for [...]
General Election nerves and a lack of supply causing property sales to flatline April 15, 2015 An uncertain General Election, combined with supply constraints, has led to flatlining property sales and enquiries. The latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows that London saw a decline in both enquiries and sales for the 11th month in a row. Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: “Anecdotal evidence does suggest [...]
What private client FX offers entrepreneurs – Investec Comment: August 9, 2015 Most businesses with vulnerability to foreign exchange risk – whether they’re exporters or have subsidiaries overseas – will have arrangements in place to mitigate their exposure to sharp currency moves. But what about you as an individual? As business owners and entrepreneurs become more globally-mobile, they are more likely to have overseas investments, or [...]
Will British house buyers learn to love apartments? June 25, 2015 With space running out in the city’s most prestigious districts, developers are desperate for Londoners to embrace the apartment building. But buyers have clung to their period townhouses around neat garden squares for centuries and not everyone is finding the transition to lofty glass towers so easy. But the team behind this penthouse at [...]
As the first homes go on sale in Canary Wharf: Is this the death of the commute? June 25, 2015 Since its inception in the 1980s, Canary Wharf has come to epitomise modern business. But until this week, no one could live there. The Canary Wharf Group, the development company responsible for the entire estate, has unveiled its first show home this week – and City A.M. has exclusive pictures of what’s inside. So whether [...]
End of mansion tax threat lifts top tier of London’s property market May 25, 2015 The higher end of the London housing market is seeing market volumes return following Labour’s defeat in the General Election, ending the threat of a proposed mansion tax on properties over £2m. The number of properties over £2m listed on Getagent.co.uk, an estate agent comparison site, more-than doubled in the weeks after the national vote, [...]