Galliford buoyed by private home sales July 10, 2012 Homebuilder Galliford Try sold more homes at higher prices in its private housebuilding segment for the full year, largely benefiting from its focus on the south of England, and said the UK housing market has been stable. Completions including those from joint ventures rose 40 per cent to 3,039 units during the year. Of these, [...]
House prices edge up, driven by London and the south east December 18, 2012 HOUSE prices increased 1.5 per cent in the year to October with more than half of the growth driven by London and the south east, official figures revealed yesterday. The latest monthly survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that prices rose by 0.2 per cent in October compared with the previous month [...]
Flawed government policy is wiping out struggling savers January 30, 2013 ONE of the government’s daftest policies is its underpinning of bank lending, a nationalisation of credit in all but name. The biggest losers from the funding for lending scheme have been savers. The effective average savings rate for new deposits has collapsed from 2.75 per cent in September to a miserable 2.11 per cent in [...]
Crack down on the high cost of living or growth suffers January 22, 2013 THE emergence of competitive economies in the East is a well-known phenomenon. But less understood is the challenge this poses to the West. First, the rising East will squeeze traditional markets (albeit while creating new ones). Secondly, it will turn the terms of trade for primary products against us. We are not powerless, however. Emerging [...]
London house prices up £28k through 2012 December 20, 2012 HOUSE prices across the UK crept up through 2012, according to data out yesterday from property website Zoopla, with London leaping further ahead. Mortgage lending increased again in November, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed, with the first signs that the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) may be having an effect. Home purchase loans [...]
Markets cheer bumper profits at Hargreaves February 6, 2013 FINANCIAL adviser Hargreaves Lansdown was the FTSE’s biggest blue chip riser yesterday after reporting record revenue and profit for the second half of last year. However it warned a new government initiative to boost lending would compress revenue margins for the outfit over the rest of this year. The company, co-founded by Peter Hargreaves and [...]
London offices enjoy strongest spend in years February 5, 2013 THE CENTRAL London office market enjoyed its strongest year for investment since 2007 last year, thanks to a record level of purchases by foreign investors, according to data published yesterday by Knight Frank. The property specialist said total investment turnover for central London was £13.8bn in 2012, up from £9.6bn in 2011 and higher than [...]
City Moves for 13 February 2013 | Who’s switching jobs February 12, 2013 RBS The bank has announced the appointment of Jonathan Barrow as regional director for the east of England in its corporate and institutional banking coverage team. Barrow joined RBS 17 years ago, and has worked in various regional corporate locations in the UK, as well as at RBS’s New York office. Smith and Williamson The [...]
FTSE 100 punches through 6,000 mark January 2, 2013 The FTSE 100 smashed through the 6,000 barrier in trading today, as investors were heartened by the US fiscal cliff deal. The UK’s leading share index closed up 2.2 per cent today at 6,027, driven primarily by large rises in mining and financial shares, and mirroring sharp gains on global markets. US Congress backed the [...]
Invest in the new Canning Town February 22, 2013 New development Vermillion is helping Canning Town become a thriving new area, says Naomi Mdudu CHARLES DICKENS may not have spoken favourably about the area in the mid-nineteenth century, but Canning Town is undergoing considerable changes. This month saw the launch of two new penthouse apartments in the luxury block, which span the top two [...]