London estate agent Foxtons returns to market as house prices soar August 27, 2013 London estate agent has announced that it will return to market, after being purchased six years ago for £360m. Now it hopes to raise £55m as it goes public (release). Now for sale itself, the firm will seek to rid itself of debts as the property market swells. Nowhere else is the surge in UK [...]
British extended warranty firm sold to CVC Partners for £750m August 13, 2013 PRIVATE equity firm CVC Capital Partners yesterday bought Domestic & General (D&G), a provider of extended warranties, from rival Advent International in a deal thought to be worth around £750m. D&G offers breakdown cover on household appliances such as television and white goods and claims to have 15m customers producing sales of over £600m a year. Rather than [...]
Housing starts and building permits increase below expectations August 16, 2013 The US housebuilding industry improved again in July, with more housing starts and building permits awarded on a monthly and annual basis. Housing starts in the month hit 896,000 in the month, up 5.9 per cent (±14.5 percentage points) from an upwardly revised 846,000 the month before and 20.9 per cent (±12.9 percentage points) above [...]
Buyers flock to market but supply shortage hits sales August 18, 2013 IN THE year to July, the number of first-time buyers in London rose by an astonishing 109.1 per cent. According to information released today by estate agent Haart, there has been a 27.9 per cent rise in new buyers across the country, and a 60.3 per cent increase in London alone. Despite this surge in [...]
Letters to the editor – 18/09 – Banking reform, Best of Twitter September 17, 2013 Banking reform [Re: We should replace Fed monetary superheroes with rules-based policy, yesterday] A bigger concern is that central banks themselves have been given superhero status. There is now a belief that they can solve any economic woes, and this is then transmitted to whoever is in charge. Central banks should do less, and leave [...]
Have a right royal time in Fergie’s former apartment October 24, 2013 Sarah Ferguson’s old flat in Battersea, where she reputedly entertained Princess Di, goes on sale for £1m CAST yourself back to London in 1985 at the height of Thatcher’s reign, ill-judged perms and Dead or Alive’s music career. Partying away in a two bedroom flat around the corner from Clapham Junction and the Battersea Arts [...]
Locals buying up riverside apartments in Wandsworth September 26, 2013 Borough bucks international buyer trend OVER the past couple of years a large majority of luxury properties in London have been snapped up by international investors. But the Wandsworth Riverside Development is hoping to buck the trend by creating property aimed at and marketed to south west Londoners. Dr Stanley Quek, chief executive of Frasers [...]
London Report: More details of Carney’s policy change are due August 11, 2013 AFTER Bank of England governor Mark Carney’s landmark forward guidance announcement last Wednesday, documents released this week should provide more clues as to how the new policies were agreed. The minutes from the monetary policy committee’s latest meeting, due on Wednesday, are likely to hint at a divide among the members over how comprehensive the [...]
Countrywide awaits second housing boost August 1, 2013 COUNTRYWIDE is anticipating another boost from the government’s Help to Buy scheme when the second phase comes into force next year, the UK’s largest estate agency said yesterday, as it posted a jump in half-year profits. Countrywide’s core business is in second hand home sales, which is not covered by the first part of Help [...]
Live with your head in the clouds September 26, 2013 Booming demand for residential property causes developers to reach for the sky LONDON has lifted its head firmly into the clouds in recent years as more gargantuan skyscrapers have sprouted up around the city. The Shard, the Heron Tower, the Walkie Talkie and their contemporaries have pierced the skyline and made a similar hole in [...]