Finance boss at Countryside leaves housebuilder to head to rival Barratt June 29, 2021 Mike Scott has resigned from housebuilder Countryside in order to take up the role of chief financial officer (CFO) at UK rival Barratt Developments. Both UK housebuilders simultaneously announced the move this morning, which sees Scott end a seven-year stint at Countryside, in which he oversaw the group’s IPO in 2016 and acquisition of Westleigh [...]
Stamp duty holiday pushes 1.8 million houses into higher land tax bracket in Treasury win June 29, 2021 Intense market activity driven largely by the stamp duty holiday has pushed nearly two million UK properties into a higher stamp duty bracket in a win for the Treasury. Thanks to feverish market activity in the last 12 months, of all UK homes, 940,000 additional properties will now attract some level of stamp duty at [...]
Cost of buying first home in London more than doubles over last half century June 26, 2021 Today’s first-time-buyers in London have to pay two and a half times as much for their first home as they did five decades ago, according to new research. A report published by the Resolution Foundation today shows the cost of purchasing a first home with a mortgage in the capital was £212,000 in 1974 – [...]
Record number of homes selling for the asking price or above June 25, 2021 A record number of homes that completed in January 2021 sold for their asking price or above, and those that didn’t missed the mark by only a small amount. More than a third (37%) of homes in England and Wales achieved their asking price or more in January 2021, while those that didn’t achieved on [...]
Homeowners could still sue for damages amid leasehold ground rent reforms June 24, 2021 Even though Persimmon Homes and Aviva have agreed to change the way they operate in regard to leaseholds and ground rent charges, homeowners could still be entitled to compensation, according to legal experts. Following a recent investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), house builder Persimmon will allow its leaseholders to buy the freehold [...]
Twerk from home: OnlyFans helps users onto the housing ladder June 24, 2021 Forget the bank of mum and dad, OnlyFans, a social media site popular with sex workers, has helped thousands onto the housing ladder this year. The team at Online Mortgage Advisor has received just over 1,500 enquiries in the past 12 months where one or more parties per enquiry declare themselves as self-employed, citing OnlyFans [...]
Her Majesty’s pleasure: Wind farm windfall sends Crown Estate value soaring June 24, 2021 A raft of new wind farms has sent the value of the Queen’s property holdings up 7.5 per cent over the last year, the Crown Estate announced today. The portfolio, which comprises London’s Regent Street, the seabed and half of the foreshore around England and Wales, is now worth £14.4bn. The marine division saw its [...]
Blackstone sweetens buyout offer for property developer St Modwen by £50m June 24, 2021 Private equity firm Blackstone has offered to pay £50m more for property developer St Modwen, bringing its total takeover offer to £1.25bn. The 560 pence per share cash offer for St Modwen is the final offer, the companies said today, adding that Blackstone could make another proposal if another suitor for St Modwen emerged. Last [...]
Booming property market helps housebuilder Crest Nicholson swing to profit June 24, 2021 Soaring house prices and a flurry of activity in the market helped Crest Nicholson move from a loss to a profit in the six months to 30 April. Profit before tax at the housebuilder for the first half of 2021 stood at £36.3m, up from a loss of £51.2m a year earlier. Revenue in the [...]
London property: Hong Kong buyers flood Canary Wharf, Kensington and Mayfair June 23, 2021 London’s property market is seeing an increasing number of Hong Kong residents looking to buy or rent a home in the capital, with Canary Wharf, Kensington, Covent Garden and Mayfair being particularly popular. Sales enquiries from Hong Kong buyers have risen by 20 per cent over the past 18 months whilst demand for rental properties [...]
