Liberty Living pulls London IPO due to market concerns June 26, 2014 Liberty Living has scrapped its plans for a listing on London’s main market less than a month after announcing its intentions, citing adverse market conditions. Liberty is a brand of the Dublin-listed student property fund Brandeaux, which was forced to suspend its shares last summer after it was overwhelmed by redemption requests by investors. “This [...]
Dish of the Day: The Noodle House’s Pad Thai August 21, 2014 The Noodle House opened on Shaftebusry Avenue in April. Ambitious head chef Dariusz Dziadkiewicz aims to give customers a taster of the diverse food of South East Asia, from curries, to noodles to spicy broths. The restaurant serves seven different types of noodle and 17 blends of herbal tea. I joined The Noodle House [...]
April regulation clips lending to housing market May 27, 2014 THE NUMBER of mortgage approvals for house purchases in the UK fell for a third month in April, despite the overall recovery of the housing market during the last year. There were 42,200 mortgages approved last month, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). The figure is down from 45,000 in March, and has fallen by [...]
Nationwide sets mortgage cap and tough new stress test for home buyers July 22, 2014 Nationwide has announced it is capping all new mortgages at 4.75 times the income of the borrower, and setting a tough new stress test to ward off concerns over interest rate rises. The bank will impose a new 6.99 per cent stress test, an increase on the existing rate, although a spokesperson would not reveal [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: Reactions to George Osborne’s announcement – from the City economist to the property expert December 3, 2014 THE BUSINESS GROUP Confederation of British Industry director general John Cridland Growing firms will benefit from business rates reform. We welcome continued commitment to deficit reduction. “These major changes on stamp duty and business rates will be a shot in the arm for families and growing firms as they look towards 2015. [...]
Carney warns housing is biggest threat to UK recovery May 19, 2014 BRITAIN’S huge shortfall of housing supply is the biggest risk to the UK’s burgeoning economic recovery, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said yesterday. “The biggest risk to financial stability, and therefore to the durability of the expansion, those risks centre in the housing market,” said Carney. He added that the housing market has “deep, [...]
Average UK house price hits record high as Help to Buy fails to take off in London June 3, 2014 UK house prices rose by 11.1 per cent annually last month, according to the latest figures from Nationwide. That takes the cost of an average UK home to £186,512 – overtaking the previous peak reached in pre-crisis October 2007 for the first time. In April, the average cost was £183,577. The building society’s house prices [...]
Could the Commonwealth become more important to the UK than the EU? July 23, 2014 Ruth Lea, economic adviser to the Arbuthnot Banking Group, says Yes. Crystal ball gazing is a risky business. But it’s a useful exercise that can throw up some fascinating, albeit highly provisional, conclusions. The Commonwealth is already a colossus, comprising 53 countries and over 2bn people. In its diversity, the Commonwealth represents the modern world [...]
Housing market boom helps to boosts demand at Topps Tiles July 2, 2014 TOPPS Tiles yesterday posted a jump in third quarter sales, helped by a buoyant housing market pushing more Britons into upgrading their homes. The tiling specialist, which runs 330 UK stores, said like-for-like revenues rose by 6.3 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 June compared with a drop of 1.5 per cent in [...]
City Moves for 13 August 2014 | Who’s switching jobs August 12, 2014 EY The professional services firm has made several appointments. Jay Nibbe has been made global vice chair for tax. He joined the firm in 1985 and was mostly recently the chair of EY’s global accounts committee and deputy area managing partner for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. Uschi Schreiber (pictured) has been appointed global [...]