Crest Nicholson cuts 130 jobs as it suffers £51m loss in first half of the year June 24, 2020 Housebuilder Crest Nicholson is looking to axe around 130 jobs after reporting a £51m loss in the first half of the year. The figures Crest Nicholson suffered losses of £51m in the six months to April, compared to a £64m profit in the same period last year. Operating profit sunk 162.1 per cent from a [...]
National Express chief quits to lead housebuilder Persimmon June 24, 2020 Housebuilder Persimmon has this morning announced that Dean Finch will succeed David Jenkinson as the group’s chief executive at the end of this year. Finch joins the FTSE 100 company from transport firm National Express, where he has spent a decade as chief executive. Prior to that, he held a number of senior roles at [...]
UK house prices to fall five per cent this year June 23, 2020 UK house prices will continue to fall and won’t recover those losses until the end of 2022, analysts have forecast. Buyers are likely to be nervous about big purchases and house prices as personal finances come under scrutiny amid the coronavirus pandemic, forcing house prices to drop five per cent this year, the 9–22 June [...]
Wework makes second round of redundancies in the UK June 19, 2020 Wework has triggered a second round of redundancies in the UK as part of its global restructuring efforts, according to reports. The embattled company made over half of its community managers and community leads, around 82 people, redundant earlier this week, according to Wired. There will reportedly be further cuts in the design, IT, sales, [...]
Taylor Wimpey takes a punt on £500m land buying splurge June 18, 2020 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has raised £522m from investors to help it buy up land which has been made cheaper by the coronavirus pandemic. The FTSE 250 company raised funds from both new and existing shareholders in a share placing, where shares were bought at 145p each. This represented a four per cent discount on yesterday’s [...]
Nationwide to triple deposits for first-time buyers June 17, 2020 Nationwide is to triple its minimum required deposit from first time buyers for mortgages, as it steadies itself to avoid a crisis should the economy worsen. The country’s second largest mortgage lender said it would be increasing its minimum deposit from five per cent to 15 per cent, withdrawing loan deals for new customers. “The [...]
Berkeley Group profits fall by a third after coronavirus lockdown June 17, 2020 Berkeley Group, the housebuilder, has pushed back a £455m payout to shareholders by two years because of the coronavirus pandemic. The FTSE 100 company saw sales fall dramatically over April and May, pushing its full-year profit and revenue down more than one-third each. However, shares in the company rose 3.6 per cent this morning as [...]
Robert Jenrick looks to publish documents on ‘unlawful’ planning decision June 15, 2020 Under fire housing secretary Robert Jenrick has said he would seek to publish documents related to his controversial decision to approve a £1bn housing development. Jenrick told MPs today that he would “take advice” from his department’s top civil servant on “what further documentation we might be able to publish”. The housing secretary has come [...]
Robert Jenrick ducks questioning on his role in ‘unlawful’ planning decision June 11, 2020 Housing and communities secretary Robert Jenrick has been criticised for refusing to answer questions from MPs about his part in unlwafully granting planning permission to a £1bn property development. Jenrick instead sent his deputy Chris Pincher to face parliamentary scrutiny about the planning approval, drawing claims from Labour that he was “hiding from scrutiny”. Jenrick [...]
UK house prices gauge hits 10-year low – but signs of confidence ahead June 11, 2020 A gauge of UK house prices hit its lowest level in a decade in May, it emerged today, but signalled confidence ahead as the country emerges from months of lockdown. The figures A survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) released today showed that 32 per cent of estate agents reported a plunge [...]