Mortgage approvals to first-time buyers hit highest level in more than a year October 16, 2018 The number of first-time buyer mortgage approvals hit 35,500 in August, reaching the highest level in more than a year. The figure was two per cent more than the previous month and peaked at the highest number since June 2017, according to UK Finance's Mortgage Trends Update. Read more: Foxtons closes flagship Park Lane office New lending to [...]
Civil servants are moving to Canary Wharf in a cost-cutting drive October 16, 2018 Today marks an impressive milestone with the opening of our new Canary Wharf Hub. It’s part of our long-term Civil Service transformation to reduce government buildings from 800 to 200 by 2030. We’ve seen 6,000 civil servants leave Whitehall to come and work in London’s financial centre including those from HMRC, OfGem and the Ministry [...]
London developer Galliard invests £500m in new Birmingham homes October 15, 2018 London property developer Galliard has embarked on a £500m joint venture project in Birmingham amid efforts to expand beyond the capital’s subdued housing market. In its first Midlands project, Galliard has purchased a portfolio of new developments in partnership with regional developer Apsley House Capital, in a bid to tap into Birmingham’s growing popularity among young couples and first-time buyers. [...]
US flexible working startup Knotel shrugs off Brexit as it opens three new London offices October 12, 2018 US flexible working office space provider Knotel has today revealed it has signed three new central London properties into its portfolio, as it seeks to take advantage of Brexit in cementing its UK expansion. The new offices include a 7,480 sq. ft space across two floors on Great Titchfield Street in Oxford Circus, an 8,395 [...]
Nine Elms project One Embassy Gardens put on the market for £160m October 11, 2018 One Embassy Gardens, a flagship Nine Elms office block located next to the new US embassy, is being put up on the market for £160m today, as developers hope to lure in buyers for one of Europe’s largest regeneration zones. Ballymore's planned sale comes 10 months after the developer secured the tenancy of Penguin Random House, with [...]
Prime central London house price growth to stay flat until 2021, thanks to stamp duty and Brexit October 11, 2018 Homeowners hoping to see a recovery in London’s high-end housing market may find themselves waiting a little longer, according to new Savills analysis that suggests growth will not return to the capital’s most expensive properties until 2021. Brexit uncertainty and a newly proposed stamp duty surcharge on foreigners is likely to “temper recovery”, with Savills [...]
Surveyors forecast fall in house prices as house buyers decline October 11, 2018 A renewed decline in the number of house buyers is piling further pressure on London’s strained property market, according to a closely followed survey out today. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has said there was “caution” from buyers last month, as Bank of England governor Mark Carney reportedly warned prices could drop 35 [...]
Softbank mulls majority stake in Wework October 10, 2018 Softbank is reportedly in talks to take up a majority stake in co-working giant Wework, despite the firm tripling its losses last year. Sources told Reuters the pricing and valuation of the deal has not been confirmed, while the Wall Street Journal earlier reported the investment could be between $15bn (£11.4bn) and $20bn from Softbank's Vision Fund. The fund [...]
Telford Homes boss: Negative Brexit commentary will push down house prices October 10, 2018 Shares in Telford Homes plunged more than 13 per cent in early morning trading today as it warned of falling house prices and flat activity in London’s property market over the next 12 months, with Brexit uncertainty weighing on buyer confidence in the capital. The London-based housebuilder said that recent “negative” Brexit commentary and talk of [...]
Insurer Beazley becomes second tenant in City skyscraper Twentytwo October 10, 2018 The City's tallest skyscraper has landed its second major tenant – specialist insurer Beazley – in a sign of the bumper year for insurance take-up in the Square Mile. City PM can reveal the FTSE 250 insurer is set to take 50,000 square feet (sq ft) over two floors at 22 Bishopsgate when construction is finished [...]
