PROPERTY NEWS November 10, 2011 BABY NUMBER TWO IS VERY EXPENSIVE A new HSBC survey found that London is the most expensive place to house a second child. The average additional cost of baby number two nears £60,000. The average property upgrade typically needed to house a second child is 38 per cent, 1.6 times the UK’s annual household income. [...]
Mortgage lending rises October 20, 2011 Gross mortgage lending rose four per cent on the year to £12.9bn in September, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said, although it said the level of housing market activity was subdued. The CML said gross lending in the third quarter of this year to £38.6bn, up 15 per cent from the second quarter, and two [...]
Balfour Beatty sees US offset weak UK November 10, 2011 Balfour Beatty, Britain’s largest contractor, said cost-cutting remained a priority in its construction unit during the third quarter with a slight lift in US orders offsetting a weak UK market. Balfour, which recently handed over the Aquatics Centre for the London 2012 Olympics, said its order book had remained flat since August at 15.5 billion [...]
Living – if you dare – in a Halloween home October 27, 2011 WITH Halloween weekend here, some people cannot resist the excuse to look at a haunted house. Strangely enough, there are buyers for whom a distinguished relationship with the dead makes a property all the more attractive. “Haunted houses are a funny one,” says veteran estate agent Kevin Allen of John D Wood & Co. “It [...]
No chance of a Christmas rest as markets stay under pressure December 18, 2011 AFTER failing to break above resistance at 5,600 (the 61.8 per cent Fibonacci Retracement of this year’s May-to-August sell-off) last week, the FTSE100 pulled back sharply. Sentiment turned negative following another botched EU summit. While the UK has been labelled the villain for vetoing treaty changes, the fact is that EU policymakers remain unwilling to [...]
No chance of a Christmas rest as markets stay under pressure December 18, 2011 AFTER failing to break above resistance at 5,600 (the 61.8 per cent Fibonacci Retracement of this year’s May-to-August sell-off) last week, the FTSE100 pulled back sharply. Sentiment turned negative following another botched EU summit. While the UK has been labelled the villain for vetoing treaty changes, the fact is that EU policymakers remain unwilling to [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 13, 2011 Crest Nicholson The house builder has appointed Trevor Selwyn as managing director of a newly formed London division. The new division will have an annual turnover of £100m, developing mid-range sites in and around the capital. Selwyn was formerly at Countryside Properties, and spent his last seven years there as land director for subsidiary Copthorn [...]
Stats hint at a drop in UK house prices October 31, 2011 MORTGAGE lending slipped for the second straight month in September, the Bank of England revealed yesterday, while a separate study released this morning exposes dwindling confidence in the likelihood of house prices holding up. More people expect house prices to fall over the next year than those expecting any rise, a survey by the Halifax [...]
Economic worries prevent houses coming to market October 10, 2011 ECONOMIC concerns are causing house-owners to hold back from placing their properties on the market, a new survey reports today. Supply to the housing market fell last month, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said. Five per cent more surveyors reported that supply of property fell rather than rose, in September. Yet despite a [...]
Great deals meet a good cause in the Red Cross Christmas Market November 24, 2011 WHAT better way to get your Christmas shopping done than tying it in with a good cause – and a nice dose of history. Next week, the Red Cross Christmas Market at London’s Guildhall provides a fabulous, multi-dimensional chance to get the best out of the season, whether it’s art, craft or other goodies – [...]