Britain is falling badly behind in the entrepreneurship stakes July 29, 2013 ONE OF Britain’s great advantages is that we are meant to be a much more entrepreneurial nation than most of our major competitors. We do, indeed, create more companies than some other wealthy countries but as a study by RSM reveals, we are hardly covering ourselves in glory. In fact, we are ranked a pathetic [...]
Italian PM calls for new steps to hike growth May 2, 2013 ITALY’S new Prime Minister yesterday vowed to emphasise growth as well as austerity in a new effort to relieve some of the pain facing the struggling country. Enrico Letta is likely to abandon a sales tax rise planned for the summer, scrap Mario Monti’s housing tax and shake up the welfare system. Parliamentarians approved the [...]
The changing skyline of Aldgate June 4, 2013 Aldgate is fast becoming a hub for mixed-use developments offering the best in modern living. Naomi Mdudu investigates. The east end isn’t the only area under major regeneration. Aldgate, which lies within the City Fringe, a transitional area between the financial district and east London proper, is quickly becoming a prime residential spot and is [...]
House prices edge down in January February 6, 2013 UK house prices inched down 0.2 per cent in January following rises in November and December, according to the latest Halifax house price index. On an annual basis, house values rose by 1.3 per cent, marking the first rise in 27 months, according to the lender. “Market activity has also improved with sales in 2012 [...]
Bosses at Bank of England row over ringfence November 22, 2012 SENIOR BANK of England policymakers were at loggerheads in a parliamentary hearing yesterday, arguing over how the incoming banking ringfence should work and where it should be placed. Governor Sir Mervyn King, his deputy Paul Tucker – the frontrunner to take the top job next year – and director Andy Haldane revealed they disagree over [...]
First-time buys up to five year high in London February 26, 2013 FIRST-TIMERS rushed back to the London housing market in 2012, with first-time sales up to their highest since 2007. London housing transactions involving first-time buyers rocketed up 15 per cent between 2011 and 2012, from 32,400 to 37,300, according to Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) figures out yesterday. And the figure continued to rise through to the [...]
Whitbread says rivals will step up their game February 26, 2013 WHITBREAD warned yesterday that it expected a more competitive environment this year as two of its biggest rivals “get their houses in order” and recover from recent setbacks. The FTSE 100 group has performed well over the past year as customers trade down to its more affordable Premier Inn hotel rooms and Costa Coffee expands [...]
UK house prices propped up by lending scheme February 6, 2013 THE HOUSING market has sprung back to life in recent months, Halifax said yesterday, while citing the UK government’s lending initiative. Prices dipped 0.2 per cent in January when compared to December, the company said. Yet a three-monthly measure of house prices – used to iron out month by month fluctuations – rose at its [...]
Sales fall again in depressed housing market June 11, 2012 HOUSE prices fell everywhere except London last month, according to an industry survey out today, while the number of sales remains very low. A net balance of 16 per cent of surveyors reported prices falling in May, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a slowdown from 19 per cent in April. The [...]
Boris wants to keep property tax in London February 5, 2013 BORIS Johnson will tonight call on the government to let London retain the tax charged on property sales in the capital, so he can use the money to stimulate housebuilding in the capital. The Mayor will tell the Chartered Institute of Housing that if City Hall took control of all the stamp duty receipts raised [...]