Watchdog with power to prosecute property developers for safety failures to be set up July 5, 2021 A new watchdog will be set up with the power to prosecute property developers who fail to meet safety standards. The decision to create a new regulator is designed to prevent a repeat of the Grenfell Tower disaster, which killed 72 people in 2017. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government [...]
Exclusive: Sub-let workspace market shrinking in win for office culture July 5, 2021 The rate at which occupiers are seeking to dispose of their office space is showing strong evidence of decline, in a win for office culture. At the end of January 2021, almost 500,000 square feet of sub-let space was made available, according to global real estate advisor CBRE. Since then, the amount of space becoming [...]
‘Busiest six months in 57 years’: Stamp duty holiday causes pandemonium in property sector July 1, 2021 The last week has seen chaos for buyers trying to beat the stamp duty holiday deadline, and long hours and stress for all other parties involved in the process. This week homebuyers were in a race against time to beat the deadline on the most generous stamp duty holiday, which ended at midnight last night. [...]
Civitas Social Housing raises target dividend following portfolio growth June 30, 2021 Civitas Social Housing has raised its target dividend by nearly three per cent after the real estate investment trust (REIT) performed well in the last year despite Covid-19. The REIT has raised its target dividend to 5.55 pence per share for 31 March 2022, up from 5.4 pence per share in the 2021 financial year. [...]
House prices: Growth rates surge across UK, with London homes averaging £509,000 June 29, 2021 UK house prices: Growth rates surge across UK, with London homes averaging £509,000
Property investor Kennedy-Wilson buys £177.5m London office building June 29, 2021 American company Kennedy-Wilson Holdings has bought an office building in London for £177.5m, betting on a rebound in workspace demand after the pandemic and Brexit hit property valuations in the city. The U.S.-based real estate investment firm’s purchase of One Embassy Gardens, a 156,000-square-foot building in Nine Elms district, follows its recent sale of a central [...]
Private equity firm CC Capital refutes claims it plans to bid for IWG June 29, 2021 CC Capital will not make a takeover bid for office space provider IWG, the U.S. private equity firm said, following a Sky News report of deal talks between the two. IWG shares jumped as much as eight per cent on hopes of a bid, which claimed CC Capital and IWG were in talks that would value the [...]
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 – [...]