Property Legal Q&A: I am buying a flat and have been advised that the landlord of the building is missing. Should I be worried? May 21, 2019 Often, where the owner of a flat has not heard from the landlord in a while, they will consider the landlord as “missing” but that may not necessarily be the case. Your solicitor should check what enquiries have been made to try and locate the landlord. For example, the landlord may have died and his [...]
Shaftesbury boosts West End property revenue as showdown with major shareholder looms May 21, 2019 West End landlord Shaftesbury’s war of words with its largest shareholder hotted up today as it announced a 5.2 per cent revenue boost in its first-half results. The company is facing a potential £10m claim from its largest investor – Hong Kong billionaire Samuel Tak Lee. Lee, who owns approximately 26 per cent of the [...]
London house prices: How Brexit uncertainty has hit house prices in every borough May 20, 2019 London is “acting as a drag” on the rest of the UK housing market, with prices across the capital falling in the last year, according to new figures from property giant Rightmove. Read more: UK house prices suffer fifth month of Brexit-hit growth While some regions in the UK such as the midlands and the [...]
Revenue falls at Foxtons as tough London housing market takes toll May 20, 2019 Estate agents Foxtons said revenue fell in the first quarter which it blamed on challenging conditions in the London property market. Foxtons, which has its annual meeting today, said sales volumes continued to be at record lows and Brexit uncertainty is impacting on consumer confidence. The company also said chief financial officer Mark Berry is [...]
London house price growth falters despite annual spring surge May 20, 2019 House prices in London remain down year-on-year despite the annual spring surge, driven by a slump in inner city sales, according to property website Rightmove. Greater London recorded a monthly rise of 1.2 per cent, equivalent to £7,339, pushed largely by outer London properties that rose 1.9 per cent. Inner London prices, meanwhile, registered a [...]
Opinion: Don’t be so quick to abolish no-fault evictions – it is easy to be beguiled by the myth of the underdog May 17, 2019 Everyone loves an underdog. The David and Goliath narrative was prominent in the reporting of the Government’s proposal to abolish Section 21 Notices, which residential landlords can use to end assured shorthold tenancies (“ASTs”) without the tenant being at fault. I would like to sound a dissenting note. Since 1997, the law has gradually moved [...]
Why is the mortgage market strangely resistant to technological change? May 16, 2019 Technology is so pervasive that it is easy to forget just how fundamentally it has impacted our lives. In fact, it is hard to think of an area of life that hasn’t been made more accessible, faster or cheaper. Personal finance is no exception. Price comparison websites, mobile banking, and other innovations have all transformed the [...]
UK remortgaging rate jumps as owners cash in on low interest rates May 16, 2019 The number of people remortgaging their homes with additional borrowing spiked in March, according to data released today, as people took advantage of favourable interest rates. Read more: Experts warn of 'bumpy ride' for UK house prices Meanwhile the number of new loans to both movers and first time buyers fell in March year-on-year, figures from [...]
Wework reports $264m loss ahead of stock market debut May 15, 2019 The We Company, the parent company of office space provider Wework, reported losses of $264m (£205m) in the first quarter of this year ahead of its highly anticipated stock market debut later this year. Net losses fell by $10m from $274m last year as revenue continues to double annually and the number of large customers [...]
The big fixer-upper: How to solve the problems in the mortgage market May 15, 2019 We've sent people into space, built driverless cars, and engineered robots that can think like us. And yet, fixing the mortgage approval process still seems out of humanity’s reach. The market is riddled with inefficiencies. Consumers are forced to fill out documents detailing every corner of their lives, while clunky underwriting processes mean that it [...]