Q&A: BUYING May 27, 2010 Camilla Dell MANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q.Dear Camilla, Hips were originally introduced to protect buyers, now that they have been abolished what protection do buyers have? A. HOME Information Packs (Hips) were initially put in place to help buyers find out important information about the properties they were buying and to stop sales falling [...]
Tax rises hit the price of luxury homes March 29, 2010 ANTICIPATION of increased taxes and lower bonuses has resulted in prices for London’s luxury homes increasing at the slowest rate for a year. According to Savills, the UK estate agent, prices for houses and apartments worth over £1m increased in the first quarter by only three per cent, compared with 4.6 per cent in the [...]
HOW THE AGREEMENT AFFECTS THE CITY May 20, 2010 BANKING • The coalition has agreed to impose some kind of levy on the banking industry, although its exact form has yet to be decided. The Tories want to introduce a fee on banks’ wholesale funding, while the Liberal Democrats would prefer a tax on profits. • There is a vague commitment to tackle “unacceptable [...]
2010 is the year of the big move to the country March 25, 2010 MANY who earn their crust in London dream of living in the country, and there are good reasons to make 2010 the year to make the move. While the property markets in the desirable parts of London have now fully recovered, with prices similar to those achieved in the 2007 peak, the same isn’t true [...]
Miller Group eases losses March 17, 2010 Miller Group, the UK’s largest privately-owned housebuilder, reported reduced full-year pre-tax losses yesterday in another sign that the housing market is picking up. The Edinburgh-based group saw its pre-tax losses for 2009 decline to £72.4m, from a £170m loss in 2008. The firm saw its sales fall 25 per cent to £783m. Miller’s house-building business [...]
Cadbury cafe chain to be launched April 9, 2010 CADBURY is set to launch a high street cafe chain under new owners Kraft. Up to 60 new outlets called Cadbury Cocoa Houses are to be set up across the UK, serving hot chocolate, afternoon tea and novelty chocolate gifts. The outlets will be up against the likes of Starbucks in the high street cafe [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES PRINCE ANDREW’S TRADE ROLE DEFENDED Buckingham Palace defended Prince Andrew’s globetrotting role promoting British business on Sunday after a newspaper sting appeared to show his former wife selling access to him for £500,000, offered by a reporter posing as a tycoon. Both the royal household and the government said the Duke of York’s [...]
Taylor Wimpey upbeat despite losses March 3, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Taylor Wimpey has suggested that its prospects are improving despite posting sizeable full-year losses for 2009. The FTSE 250 company posted full-year losses of 640.6m, following on from a deficit of £1.97bn the previous year and saw its revenue slip to £2,595m from £3,467m in 2008, but said “improving conditions” had led to a [...]
Taylor Wimpey upbeat despite large 2009 loss March 3, 2010 TAYLOR Wimpey posted full-year losses of £640.6m yesterday but said there were signs that the house-building market is on the up. The results were an improvement on last year when it recorded a deficit of £1.97bn. However, its revenue for 2009 slipped to £2.5bn from £3.4bn in 2008. The company said “improving conditions” had led [...]
BlueCrest to move its HQ to Guernsey April 8, 2010 BLUECREST Capital Management, which recently said it would open an office in Geneva, is continuing to move out of the UK by re-locating its headquarters to Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Michael Platt, the founder of the blue chip hedge fund, told investors in a letter that regulation was a factor in his decision to [...]