Britain’s decarbonising its transport but it’s losing the race against time July 20, 2021 Dozens in Germany and Belgium have died in flooding. This month Canada recorded its three warmest days ever. The planet is warming, provoking more extreme weather, disrupting fragile ecosystems, threatening planetary catastrophe. We need action quickly to meet the targets the global community has set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Mayor of London wants London [...]
UK house prices: First-time buyers £27,000 better off than renters – and more than £50,000 more privileged in London February 17, 2018 Britons are pouring thousands of pounds in the pockets of landlords each year by renting their home rather than buying it. UK first-time buyers are an average of £27,000 better off than renters over a mortgage term, Halifax said today. And in London, the savings are even greater. Homeowners in the capital save an average [...]
UK housing transactions slump in January as lockdown implemented February 23, 2021 UK housing transactions slumped last month due to the impact of national lockdown restrictions, according to the latest figures. HM Revenue and Customs data showed the provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of UK residential transactions in January was 121,640, a drop of 2.4 per cent compared to the previous month. The month-on-month drop is a typical [...]
UK Prime Minister Theresa May heads to Wokingham to promote stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers January 3, 2018 The Prime Minister will today head to Wokingham to promote her government’s decision to cut stamp duty for first-time buyers. In the Autumn Budget, Philip Hammond scrapped stamp duty for first-time buyers purchasing homes worth up to £300,000. In London, first-time buyers also receive a stamp duty holiday for the first £300,000 on purchases worth [...]
UK construction industry sees biggest rise in orders since 2014 – PMI December 4, 2020 By David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s construction industry grew faster than expected last month, boosted by the strongest orders since 2014 amid a boom in house prices, a survey showed on Friday. The IHS Markit/CIPS construction Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 54.7 in November from 53.1 in October, its strongest since July and [...]
Stamp duty abolished for first-time buyers on purchases of up to £300,000 November 22, 2017 The government has used the Autumn Budget to abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers on purchases of up to £300,000. First-time buyers will also receive a stamp duty holiday for the first £300,000 on purchases up to £500,000. Read more: Come again? Two-thirds of Nimbys are worried about rising house prices Launching the policy, the [...]
Stamp duty is making the housing crisis even worse May 8, 2019 There is no silver bullet to fixing the nation’s housing crisis, short of the obvious but politically challenging solution of building a lot more houses. Nonetheless, certain taxes and regulations make an already flawed market even more distorted and act as additional barriers to those seeking to buy and sell homes. And in the case [...]
Renegade wine made in Bethnal Green – with YOUR face on it June 24, 2021 Warwick Smith is Bethnal Green’s first and so far only winemaker, and probably the only one that puts his customers’ faces on the bottle. “We ask people to put themselves forward every year and we pick a selection. The idea is that the wines stay with the people. If we make the same wine in [...]
Prospective buyers eye up London housing market July 11, 2019 Prospective house buyers are eyeing up the London property market as enquiries rise for the first time this year. Net first time buyer enquiries reached the highest number since 2016 last month in a sign that the London sales market is settling down. Read more: Investor enthusiasm for UK commercial property slumps In June, 23 [...]
Edinburgh Festival to go ahead this year with outdoor venues April 13, 2021 The Edinburgh International Festival will go ahead this year as an in-person event, with performances moving outside to conform with coronavirus safety measures. Organisers have drawn up a plan for the iconic arts festival to run between 7 and 29 August in the Scottish capital. A number of covered stages will be set up across [...]