London should embrace new technology to make car ownership pointless April 8, 2015 London could lead a revolution in car use and car ownership over the next decade, by divorcing the two. It may soon be unnecessary to own a car to secure the full benefits of car ownership, due to a combination of continued improvement in public transport, the surge in app-based car hire services, and the [...]
Mapped: The most unaffordable places to get a mortgage in the UK January 8, 2015 Last year the bar was raised for first-time buyers hoping to get a mortgage, as the Bank of England introduced new rules limiting the amount banks and building societies can lend. For the first time, the amount mortgage customers can borrow has been capped at 4.5 times their income. If you're looking to buy that [...]
London property market boom loses steam as it enters the new year January 29, 2015 LONDON house prices finished 2014 growing more slowly than they had done earlier in the year, but still at rates far above the average for England and Wales. The average price of a residential property in the capital was £464,936, according to figures released yesterday by the Land Registry. The average London price was 16.3 [...]
What to do in London this Easter weekend April 1, 2015 The long Easter weekend is almost upon us and here’s what London has to offer. 500 Years of Hampton Court Palace Historic Royal Palaces is throwing a birthday bash for King Henry VIII’s former residence. Visitors during the day will be greeted by five royal carriages, specially created for the occasion, while William Shakespeare and [...]
New property website has to conquer Google – Bottom Line January 28, 2015 ONTHEMARKET.com, the new property website from the Agents’ Mutual group of estate agents, launched this week with an apparent threat to the “duopoly” of Rightmove and Zoopla. Zoopla, as the less well-visited of the two, seemed in danger as one of the requirements of OnTheMarket.com meant participating agents could only list on one other rival. [...]
Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur ban selfie sticks from the Emirates Stadium and White Hart Lane January 7, 2015 Selfie sticks certainly don’t please everyone and now the narcissistic gadget has fallen on the wrong side of two of London’s biggest football clubs. Fans have been banned from using the popular device used to take photos from further away at Arsenal and Tottenham’s football grounds. Match-goers will not be able to take the sticks [...]
Londoners set to benefit most from parking ticket “grace period” March 6, 2015 Driving in London is often described as something akin to a nightmare – from traffic jams, to sky-high parking prices and pushy motorists. But there's finally a bit of good news for the capital's understandably frazzled drivers. Drivers will get a ten-minute window after a council parking ticket runs out before they can be fined [...]
Tube closure, rail disruption and roadworks: Everything you need to know about the Easter bank holiday London travel disruptions at Euston, Paddington and Liverpool Street March 30, 2015 It looks like this weekend is set to be another classic London bank holiday, with miserable weather and even more miserable transport. As well as the usual weekend Tube closures and roadworks – which run from Friday until Monday – works are due to take place at many of the capital's main stations. Remember National [...]
First-time buyer sales up by 22 per cent last year January 6, 2015 HOUSE sales to first-time buyers rose by 22 per cent last year with 326,500 taking their first steps onto the property ladder. The rise in new buyers means sales at this end of the market are back to 2007 levels, at the start of the financial crisis. The figures, published by lender Halifax, show that [...]
London house prices: Unseasonable heat in the capital’s housing market January 19, 2015 After a muted end to 2014, London house prices grew 0.9 per cent in January, compared to just 0.2 per cent in the first month of 2014. 10 of the 32 boroughs surveyed by Rightmove reported asking prices having dropped in January, with the positive score for the region pushed up by some top performers. [...]