Most British people want to protect the green belt from new housing developments August 3, 2015 Two-thirds of British people want the green belt area surrounding London to remain protected from new housing developments, according to a survey by Ipsos Mori. Read more: London will only solve its housing crisis if we face up to Green Belt myths By asking 845 people whether they thought the protected countryside should be [...]
London property sales account for almost half of stamp duty revenue August 2, 2015 Almost half of all stamp duty revenue across England and Wales is collected from property sales in London, according to data showing the impact of last year’s rise in rates for the most expensive homes. Research by estate agent Knight Frank shows London accounted for just 13 per cent of all property transactions for the [...]
Stephen Greenhalgh: “Buy to leave” investors are pricing Londoners out of the property market – this is how I’d tackle it July 31, 2015 Often it is the non doms in London who are given a really bad press for inflating the property market. However I believe that it is the "non res" rather than the non dom that London should really worry about. The global non resident super rich see London residential property as a holiday home [...]
London house prices: First-time home buyers face nightmare market as deposits soar and supply lags July 31, 2015 We all know how tough the housing market is for first-time buyers, and one of the main reasons is lack of supply. Much has been said about how the government is looking to tackle this problem by encouraging housebuilders to ramp up construction of new builds. But figures out this morning show that far from [...]
Canary Wharf Group launches registration for 800 riverside homes at former Shell Centre July 30, 2015 Fresh from its takeover by the Qatari sovereign wealth fund, Canary Wharf Group has launched registration for homes at its first-ever non-Canary Wharf development – Southbank Place, formerly known as the Shell Centre. The company is planning a £1bn renovation of the 27-storey site, which will include 868 homes, 530,000 sq ft of office space [...]
As David Cameron vows to crack down on corrupt foreigners buying London properties, can PM lift the shroud of secrecy? July 30, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron grabbed headlines this week when he said: “There is no place for dirty money in Britain.” Vowing to remove a “shroud of secrecy” surrounding luxury London properties owned by offshore holding companies, the Prime Minister said in a speech in Singapore that the UK “must not become a safe haven for [...]
OntheMarket will fizzle out before its first birthday because unlike Zoopla and RightMove it serves the middlemen, not home buyers and sellers July 29, 2015 Years ago, estate agents used to sell properties via traditional marketing campaigns, from listings in a shop window to double page adverts in the local newspaper. Times have certainly changed and these days nearly all property buyers head to Zoopla or Rightmove to find their next property. This week marks the six-month birthday for [...]
The National Association of Estate Agents: Number of house hunters hits an 11-year high July 29, 2015 The number of people hunting for a new home in Britain hit an 11-year high last month amid a dwindling housing stock and sky-high prices. Figures released today by the The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) showed around 439 house hunters were registered to each estate agent branch in the UK last month. This [...]
Foxtons upbeat about second half after pre-election jitters slowed property sales July 29, 2015 Blood on the residential street? Revenues at London estate agent Foxtons have dropped in the first half, as property sales slide. The figures: Group revenue at the agency fell 2.3 per cent to £71.1m for the six months to 30 June, while property sales fell 10.9 per cent against 2014, when the market was operating [...]
Time to move to Chatham? Best value commuter towns cut thousands off London house prices July 29, 2015 A one hour commute can knock around £450,000 off the average price of a house, according to new research published today by a major UK bank. Towns which are an hour’s commute from central London, which include Crawley, Newbury, Colchester and Chatham have an average property price of £272,000 – a significant contrast to the average [...]