Breaking News
New head office for Zoopla Property Group
Zoopla Property Group (ZPG), the digital media business that owns and operates some of the UK’s most widely recognised and trusted online brands including Zoopla, uSwitch and PrimeLocation announced this week that it has agreed a lease for its new head offices at 1 Courage Yard, Shad Thames SE1, adjacent to Tower Bridge. Since…
Allen Walkey
Alarmingly high cost of renting for First-time-Buyers
The average First-time-buyer will have spent nearly £53,000 on rent in their lifetime before they have saved enough to buy a home, in London that figure rises to almost £70,000, according to new research. According to the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) in its Cost of Renting report, the average first-time buyer will have…
Allen Walkey
Commercial Property Investment in Europe
The latest RICS Global Commercial Property Monitor shows exceptional investment market conditions in Germany and Spain, where investors’ expects strong returns in both prime and secondary assets over the next twelve months. Investment activity is improving markedly in several cities within the euro area, particularly in Madrid, Amsterdam and Berlin, where demand from domestic and…
Allen Walkey
Ardmore wins £80m Canada Water deal
Ardmore has been confirmed winner of an £80m contract to build the first residential and retail phase of Project Light at Canada Water in Southwark. The scheme by Notting Hill Housing and Sellar Developments will deliver a new town centre with 1,030 new homes and a range of commercial and community uses across a seven…
Allen Walkey
Near term pressure on house prices
A steady rise in housing supply is being offset by a dash to invest in homes for the rental market ahead of a tax hike in April, which in turn is driving up house prices, the number of homes up for sale has fallen, down 6% overall, that is according to the Royal Institute for…
Allen Walkey
Interest is high for the Help-to-Buy Scheme
Help-to-Buy is the scheme whereby first or next time buyers can purchase a new-build property, maximum purchase price for elegible properties is at £600.000. Buyers will be contributing a 5% deposit from their own funds while receiving a 40% interest-free government loan for five years, allowing them to take out a mortgage of 55% loan-to-value….
Allen Walkey
Increase in demand for office space.
According to a new report out, Liverpool city centre has seen an increase in demand for all grades of office accommodation, Manchester registered the highest average of all nine cities outside of London that featured in the study. Ian Steele, director at Bilfinger GVA Liverpool, reportedly says: “It is clear that there has been an…
Allen Walkey
London’s rental growth rate slows
New data from the HomeLet Rental Index report for January 2016 reveals rent prices for new tenancies in Greater London are rising at the slowest rate for almost two years. The South East of England and the East Midlands show highest annual rent increases. Average rent in the UK (excl Greater London) is now…
Allen Walkey
NetAnAgent Nets Six Figure Investment:
Netanagent – a free price comparison website for estate agents – is set to enhance its offering to UK customers after attracting a six-figure investment from a South West business angel. Bath-based property developer Chris Bamford has acquired a significant share in Netanagent, which compares estate agents and helps those involved in the selling and…
Christopher Walkey
Self-Certificated Mortgage
Who would have thought we would see the return of the self cerificated mortgage? They were banned by the regulator in 2014, well it appears a loophole has been found whereby a lender operating out of the Czech Republic can offer such mortgages. The regulator has already condemned the tactics of this new business, and…
Allen Walkey
Landlords need to be aware of changes.
No more so than now do Landlords need to be aware of impending changes to their industry, for the past year there has been major changes in the way they should operate and how their profitability should be calculated, most recently are the changes to their mortgage tax relief. The most vunerable of landlords are…
Allen Walkey
Mandatory licensing for landlords
One in five households in Northern Ireland now rent privately for the first time in a generation, at present all private landlords who let property under a private tenancy in Northern Ireland have to register, but there is no binding professional standard or training required to practice as a property manager. In response to the…
Allen Walkey
Demand for property in Marbella, Spain
According to a recent report, demand for property in the glamorous southern Spanish resort of Marbella appears to be oustripping supply, there has been a surge in demand over the last year for this hotspot in the Costa del Sol, it has emerged as having one of the strongest property markets in Spain. Probably the…
Allen Walkey
Upward trend in Construction Activity for Leeds.
Positive news in the commercial construction sector with the Leeds Crane Survey for 2015 showing that the region has achieved a 9 year high for new schemes started with 16 new schemes having started during 2015. Full report can be read here. Once again, with assumptions that residential property values will increase as demand…
Christopher Walkey
Help to Buy ISA’s proving popular
250,000 first time buyers have opened a Help to Buy Isa since the launch, that is one being opened every 30 seconds across the UK, according to an announcement on the Gov.UK website from HM Treasury and Rt Hon George Osborne MP. A quarter of a million first time buyers, more than half of whom…
Allen Walkey