Revenue rises at Rightmove as half-year results reveal 10 per cent increase July 26, 2019 Rightmove said its revenue has increased by almost 10 per cent during the first half of this year after issuing results to its investors this morning. The property portal reported strong results with revenue to the end of June up to £143.9m, from £131.1m last year. It claimed this was largely driven by continued growth [...]
Capco demerges Covent Garden and Earl’s Court businesses July 25, 2019 Property development firm Capital & Counties (Capco) has confirmed it will separate its Covent Garden business from its troubled Earl’s Court development, which has dropped in value. The company announced today that Covent Garden London and EC Properties will stand alone as two separately listed businesses. Read more: Capco investment boss to quit as demerger [...]
The most divisive tower blocks in the country, the Barbican Estate, have reached their half century July 24, 2019 Rising from the literal ashes of World War 2 bombs, the Barbican Estate has always been far more than a housing development. Designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, it was envisioned as a utopian blueprint for post-war British living – a tower block that wasn’t just about cramming in as many people as possible, [...]
Office Space: Step into Sessions House, the courthouse HQ of Ennismore, the company behind The Hoxton and Gleneagles July 24, 2019 From the outside, Sessions House is a slightly menacing proposition. Squat and grimly imposing, it looks mistrustfully out onto Clerkenwell Green, seemingly miles removed from the surrounding buildings. If you’re a frequent visitor to central London, you might recognise its austere, almost gothic facade, all dreary grey brick and prison-bar windows. Upon entering the building, [...]
Naked houses: Unfinished homes give buyers a discount price – but are they practical? July 24, 2019 In case you hadn’t noticed, Britain is in the grip of its worst housing crisis since the 1940s. The verdict, delivered in a recent report from the Centre for Policy Studies, will be endorsed by anyone who has endured the vagaries of the London rental market, where a ‘cosy one-bed’ can be a garage with [...]
The bigger they come: The amazing story of Wentworth Woodhouse, the largest home in England July 24, 2019 You’ve heard of Chatsworth, and Castle Howard, that Brideshead dream. You’ve heard of Blenheim Palace, the Duke of Marlborough’s monumental home. But what about Wentworth Woodhouse, the biggest house in England? Wentworth Woodhouse, the former seat of the Earls Fitzwilliam, could have been a house lost to history. Five miles from Rotherham, it sits in [...]
UK mortgage approvals rise in June July 24, 2019 The number of mortgages approved in the UK reached one of it’s highest levels in the past two years in June. Last month the number of mortgages given the go-ahead for house purchases rose to 42,653 up from 42,407 in May and close to April’s two-year high of 42,792, according to data from UK Finance. [...]
Spending watchdog slams failure to sell public land for homes July 24, 2019 The UK’s public spending watchdog has slammed the government for failing to sell enough public land for houses to be built on, saying it has prolonged “the nation’s housing crisis”. Read more: UK house sales plummet in June, held back by Brexit ‘ball and chain’ The government set itself the target of selling enough publicly-owned [...]
UK house sales plummet in June, held back by Brexit ‘ball and chain’ July 23, 2019 House sales crashed 16.5 per cent in June, as the property market took a “wait-and-see” attitude to transactions amid Brexit uncertainty. Monthly HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures showed British residential property sales fell to 84,490, more than one-sixth down on the same period last year. Read more: London house prices suffer worst plunge in [...]
Wework grabs €62m from EU in Brexit deal for London office spot July 23, 2019 Office sharing giant Wework is set to net a €62m (£55.7m) windfall when it takes over the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) former London headquarters, following the body’s relocation to Amsterdam. A deal secured earlier this month will see Wework sublet 280,000 square foot in Canary Wharf’s 30 Churchill Place, creating one of the world’s largest [...]