Days of soaring London house prices ‘are long gone’, says UBS September 30, 2019 The capital’s real estate market has moved out of bubble-risk territory for the first time in four years amid cooling London house prices, according to a new UBS report. An end to London’s housing boom has pushed the capital down a UBS index that ranks the cities with the biggest real estate bubbles in the [...]
Space race: Boeing invests $20m in Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic as it prepares public listing October 8, 2019 Boeing is to invest $20m in Sir Richard Branson’s space-tourism venture Virgin Galactic, meaning it will have more money to take on rivals such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in the commercial space race. Branson founded space venture Virgin Galactic in a bid to cash in on rising demand for space travel. He is [...]
Aston Martin is hoping next year’s James Bond movie will boost sales November 7, 2019 The chief executive of ailing luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin hopes next year’s James Bond movie will give the firm a financial boost. Shortly after announcing the company had fallen to a £13.5m loss in the third quarter of the year, Andy Palmer said the series usually gives Aston Martin a lift in China, a [...]
Is there any justification for keeping Help to Buy? September 7, 2018 Is there any justification for keeping Help to Buy? David Campbell, group sales and marketing director at Telford Homes, says YES. Help to Buy is a wonderful policy that has enabled around 246,000 people to get onto the property ladder – 81 per cent of whom were first-time buyers. Many of these buyers would not have [...]
The government is finally turning its attention to the housing crisis, but what’s missing? November 8, 2018 There's no question that the housing market is in need of drastic reform. So it was welcome news last week when the chancellor announced that the government was turning its attention to reforming the supply side of the market through a £500m Housing Infrastructure Fund and British Business Bank guarantees for SME house builders. In broader terms, there seems to [...]
Will Hammond’s Autumn Budget help the government hit its target of delivering 300,000 new homes a year? October 30, 2018 Buoyed with revised forecasts from the OBR, the chancellor certainly had more wiggle room on Budget day than many expected, but there are questions over how his Despatch Box announcements will impact on the delivery of much needed new housing. An extension (albeit a temporary one) of Help to Buy and the roll-out of backdated [...]
London property market drags down UK house prices June 19, 2019 UK house prices were dragged down by subdued demand in London last month, as buyer caution continued to linger in the capital during April. London witnessed the lowest annual growth out of any region, with prices falling by 1.2 per cent over the year to April 2019, up from a fall of 2.5 per cent [...]
Focus on London Fields: The attractive Hackney suburb buyers don’t want to leave August 2, 2019 Homeowners who bet on London Fields 20 years ago are some of the canniest in the capital. Then, homes in the leafy-for-Hackney neighbourhood were worth 17 per cent more than the London average, according to Hamptons International – but today that has jumped to a huge 52 per cent, translating to £240,000. “Once an unloved [...]
OneSavings lifts loan growth forecasts but warns of weaker Buy-to-Let mortgage market August 23, 2018 Specialised lender OneSavings Bank raised its expectations for loan growth today, despite pressure on profit margins amid a weaker Buy-to-Let mortgage market. The FTSE 250 firm’s loan book grew 11 per cent to £8.1bn during the first six months of 2018, with full-year targets for net loan book growth upgraded to high-teens percentages from an [...]
French Connection extends sale deadline June 28, 2019 French Connection has extended the deadline to complete a sale as the retailer confirmed it was in talks with a number of interested parties. The fashion brand had expected to close the deal in the first half of this year but has now pushed the date back to September. Read more: Sales fall again at [...]