House lending bounces as regulation squeeze eases July 29, 2014 Lending for house buyers is bouncing back after a knock from new regulations, as figures yesterday confirmed the biggest increase in mortgage approvals since 2008. There were 67,196 mortgages for house purchases approved in June, according to the Bank of England – a rise of more than 5,000 from May, and the fastest for five [...]
City Moves for 20 October 2014 | Who’s switching jobs October 19, 2014 Secure Trust Bank The bank, a subsidiary of Arbuthnot Banking Group, has appointed Neil Clinton as regional sales director. He joins from Barclays, where he was head of its UK large corporate asset based lending team. Clinton has over 30 years’ experience in banking and invoice finance. Investec Wealth & Investment The wealth management firm [...]
CNBC Comment: Why Germany risks a property bubble August 18, 2014 HEAR the words “London property”, and “bubble” is rarely far behind. House prices in the capital rose by 20 per cent in the year to May – although last week’s Rics indicator showed that the market is now pausing for breath, as it responds to warnings over tougher mortgage standards and the expectation of higher [...]
Volution has its fans in new building surge August 12, 2014 A UK engineering firm backed by the Prime Minister reaped the benefits of an increase in housebuilding last year to bolster sales by nearly a fifth. Volution Group, which makes ventilation equipment for new houses, made £121m in revenue for the year ending July – an 18.2 per cent increase – thanks to acquisitions and [...]
Optimism in London …steady as we go or has it stalled? – Brand Index October 1, 2014 IN his speech to the Conservative conference in Birmingham this week, George Osborne stated: “Britain is the fastest-growing, most job-creating, most deficit-reducing advanced economy on earth.” Whether voters feel these statistics in their wallets will be a key issue for politicians in the weeks and months leading up to the general election on 7 May [...]
London house prices swell by a fifth in a year July 16, 2014 House prices jumped by more than a 10th across the UK in the year to May, and more than one fifth in the capital’s frothy housing market, with little suggestion that new regulations had slowed price growth. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed yesterday that house prices in London had risen by 20.1 per [...]
Canary Wharf sets its sights on becoming residential landlord July 24, 2014 The boss of Canary Wharf Group said yesterday that government attempts to pour cold water on the housing market would do little to ease the UK’s housing crisis as the group prepares to make a push into residential. Sir George Iacobescu said that while the Bank of England had “tightened the screws on finance…it doesn’t [...]
London property market in graphs: Where is the easiest place to sell a house? July 18, 2014 We all know London house prices have been skyrocketing, and a 20 per cent rise in the last 12 months shows a market where demand is high and supply is low. But where is the easiest place in London to sell a house? Data from property website Rightmove shows how long a house stays on [...]
Netflix poised to scoop another 6m European users in five years August 25, 2014 Europe could bring another six million subscribers to Netflix by the end of 2018, as the online streaming video service prepares to launch in six new European countries next month, according to researcher IHS. Netflix, which has 50m subscribers globally, is not just disrupting distribution – putting traditional players like Sky and BT in the [...]
Builders boom with record rise in job creation August 4, 2014 THE CONSTRUCTION industry is still roaring ahead in the UK, according to a major market survey, with no sign of any slowdown as the second half of the year began. Building firms were more confident than expected in July, according to Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which came in at 62.4, only slightly down from [...]