City Views | Have you bought a new car this year? September 6, 2012 HANNAH DISS SNR DENTON I will probably in the next 2-3 years but at the moment I can’t. Fuel duty and road tax are huge costs and I don’t think the government is doing enough for the consumer, especially first-time buyers like me. ANDY TAYLOR I’m Australian and haven’t bought a car in the UK [...]
How to plan for the Autumn Statement December 2, 2012 WITH so much focus on tax in the past few months, it would be no surprise if this week’s Autumn Statement sets taxpayers up for a long and cold winter. Its contents are as yet unknown, and George Osborne has vowed to keep his silence ahead of Wednesday’s Statement. That, however, should not prevent taxpayers [...]
Renters can’t afford to buy July 16, 2012 Prospective first time buyers in the UK are being squeezed out of the property market, according to a survey released yesterday. Over four in 10 (42 per cent) of renters are unable to save for a deposit, while just under a third (31 per cent) are spending over half their post-tax income on rent, the [...]
Affordable housing rules dropped to boost builders September 6, 2012 HOUSEBUILDERS and business organisations yesterday welcomed the government’s decision to temporarily relax planning laws as Downing Street announced it would scrap the requirement for private developers to build affordable housing in an attempt to kick-start a construction boom. Under existing rules builders are required to designate a set percentage of every development either for housing associations [...]
What does the chancellor’s budget mean for you? December 5, 2012 Catherine Gannon, 50 Managing director of law firm Gannon Having started her own business 10 years ago, she earns around £100,000, though says this is getting more difficult to achieve, and while she has a share portfolio, she doesn’t have much in the way of a pension plan. Lives with her two children aged 10 [...]
Equistone exits UK energy firm at a premium February 18, 2013 EQUISTONE, the private equity group, yesterday exited its majority stake in oil and gas company Hydrasun after selling it to a Bahraini-listed investment company. The sale, which comes over five years after Equistone backed a management buyout of the firm, represents more than a 2.5x premium to the firm’s original money investment of £38m. The [...]
House prices to remain below peak until 2024 July 11, 2012 UK house prices may not return to their peak until well into the 2020s, claimed a report from PwC yesterday. House prices reached a peak in 2007 that they may not reach until 2017 in cash terms, and 2024 relative to consumer prices, the report said. Average prices are expected to plateau for the next [...]
Boris needs to be innovative to get the private sector building houses August 16, 2012 THE Mayor of London owns 530 hectares of land and is the largest public landowner in London. He is responsible, with the London Boroughs, for addressing the needs of the 350,000 Londoners on the housing waiting list, for planning for the future housing needs for the capital, and for a budget of around £3bn to [...]
Mortgage lending jumps ahead of Funding for Lending Scheme August 20, 2012 MORTGAGE lending jumped sharply in July, according to industry data published yesterday, with the government’s new Funding for Lending Scheme expected to boost loans further through August. Gross lending rose eight per cent to £12.7bn in the month, reversing the fall to £11.7bn in June, the Council of Mortgage Lenders revealed. However, analysts warn the [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 16, 2012 Building problems [Re: London homes still horribly expensive for first time buyers, yesterday] Unfortunately, policy-makers are stuck in a house building dilemma. If they supply more homes to help first-time buyers, the price of the average home will drop – therefore moving many existing homeowners into negative equity. Stephen Bishop Private sector contractors are certainly better [...]