Build a new town in London Opinion The government has committed to building new towns with at least 10,000 homes but where should they go? London is the obvious place, says Jonathan Seager If you were asked to picture a new town in England, what comes to mind? Some of the better-known settlements established in the mid-20th century may well feature – [...]
How to build affordable housing Opinion Any plan to actually deliver the 1.5m homes the government has committed to must be guided by pragmatism, not dogma – and lower targets for affordable housing can often result in more actually getting built, says Marc Vlessing The sudden departure of both senior leaders at Homes England is an opportunity to rethink the role [...]
House prices rising slowly but 2024 still a ‘bumper year’ Property 2024 is set to be a “bumper year” for house sales thanks to rising real incomes and lower mortgage rates, according to Zoopla’s latest house price index. The level of new sales has increased to its highest level since late 2020, the survey showed. There are 306,000 homes currently working through the buying process, 26 [...]
REA raises Rightmove bid to £6.1bn as it slams ‘lack of engagement’ September 23, 2024 Australian property group REA has upped its takeover bid for Rightmove to £6.1bn, saying it is “genuinely disappointed” with the lack of engagement from the company so far. Earlier this month, Rightmove snubbed a £5.6bn offer from Rupert Murdoch-owned REA, saying it was “wholly opportunistic” and undervalued the British property portal. On Friday, the Rupert [...]
Building on the green belt won’t fix the housing crisis September 5, 2024 Labour’s plans to relax protection for the green belt will incentivise developers to build expensive houses for commuters while leaving city centre brownfield sites to rot, says Sam Fowles Labour has put solving the housing crisis front and centre, promising to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of the parliament. But its key [...]
How Rightmove became London’s (and the FTSE 100’s) most profitable company September 3, 2024 From an unknown tech start-up to the undisputed king of the UK’s online property sector, Rightmove is a shining example of how to turn a simple idea into a whole lot of profit. In its most recent full-year results, the London-listed property portal astounded investors by revealing it had achieved a record 71 per cent operating profit margin – [...]
Price of the average London home on the rise as UK demand rockets August 28, 2024 The ‘average’ London home will now set you back more than £530,000 after house prices in the capital increased for the first time since April 2023, according to figures released today. Data from Zoopla’s latest house price index revealed that London property prices were up 0.2 per cent year on year in the first seven [...]
Build, Baby, Build: The Apprenticeship Levy is a tax by another name August 23, 2024 SME house builders need to attract young talent more than ever, but the inflexible Apprenticeship Levy is standing in the way, says Rowland Thomas The new Labour Government’s pro-development approach and commitment to getting Britain back building has been largely welcomed by the housebuilding industry. However, even if the Government delivers on its promise to [...]
‘Buyer buzz’: Outlook raised for UK house prices after interest rates cut August 19, 2024 Property portal Rightmove has said there is a “degree of buyer buzz” in the housing market, caused by the moderation in mortgages in light of the Bank of England’s decision to cut the base interest rate. It raised its house price forecast for 2024 from negative one percent to one per cent, citing more interest [...]
Rising London rents are ‘a pressure cooker ready to explode’ as home ownership ‘inching out of reach’ August 14, 2024 “A pressure cooker ready to explode” is how one expert has described the current situation in the UK housing market as data showed rents jumped close to 10 per cent in London over the past year. In fresh data released this morning it was revealed that average UK private rents increased by 8.6 per cent [...]