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Buy-to-let lenders face longer-term pain: Limits on tax relief for landlords could be a serious blow to specialist buy-to-let lenders, analysts at Barclays warned, as the changes in the emergency Budget undermine some investors’ income.
Demand for mortgages rises as rates keep falling: Demand for mortgages at banks and building societies has bounced back to its strongest level since the end of 2013.
UK retail sales across all sectors rose more than expected in June In June, on an annual basis, retail sales across all sectors climbed 1.80% in the UK, more than market expectations for a rise of 0.50%. In the prior month, retail sales across all sectors had registered an unchanged reading.
LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) - British consumer spending recorded the biggest annual increase during the second quarter in five years, according to figures published on Monday based on credit and debit card transactions from Visa Europe. Consumer spending rose 1.4 percent on the year in the three months to June, the biggest increase since the second quarter of 2010, Visa Europe said. Britain's big-spending consumers have been a big driver of the country's economic upturn over the past couple of years, aided recently by a slow pick-up in wages and low inflation. "Prudent rather than excessive spending looks to be the order of the day, but people are definitely enjoying themselves," said Kevin Jenkins, an executive at Visa Europe.
.K. housebuilders: can we build it?: The government has announced a shake-up of planning, curbing local authorities’ ability to block development. This is great for housebuilders, in theory. A quicker process would mean greater volumes, smaller land banks relative to annual output and higher returns on capital. Builders’ share prices responded with a shrug, however, rising only fractionally more than the broader market. In any case, large quoted builders will not be the main beneficiaries of a planning revolution. Smaller builders once accounted for half of output. Now, it is nearer a quarter. For them, the multiyear planning process represents a big cash flow headache. Speeding it up would improve their access to finance and so their ability to compete in the land market with their larger peers. That could push up land prices — which have so far been unusually restrained compared with house prices — for the bigger players. It might also stiffen competition for skilled tradesmen, another big constraint on home construction rates. Builders may not crank up their output, even if the system allows it. They have spent years rebuilding balance sheets and restoring margins. Several, including Persimmon and Berkeley, prioritise staged returns of cash to shareholders over volume increases. The bats and newts will be safe for a while yet.
Train stations ‘hold the key’ to building 500,000 new homes: There is scope to build more than half a million homes on land within walking distance of railway stations in England, one of the country’s leading estate agencies has claimed.
UK total trade deficit slid in May Total trade deficit in the UK dropped to £0.39 billion in May, less than market expectations of a total trade deficit of £2.15 billion. The UK had registered a revised total trade deficit of £1.83 billion in the previous month.
State banks prime the buy-to-let timebomb: BoE fears surge in loans to landlords could shake the economy when interest rates go up (RBS, meanwhile, Tripled its lending in 2014 as Lloyds took its total to £53 billion): The boom in buy-to-let lending, which has prompted the Bank of England to warn of a risk to stability, is being fuelled by a surge in lending to landlords by Britain’s state-backed banks.
China's rich seek shelter from stock market storm in foreign property: Real estate agents in Australia, Britain and Canada are bracing for a surge of new interest in their already hot property markets, with early signs that wealthy Chinese investors are seeking a safe haven from the turmoil in Shanghai’s stock markets.
U.K. sees surge in property millionaires despite slowdown in house market: The number of property millionaires in Britain has more than doubled over the past three years and broken through the 500,000 mark for the first time, it is claimed.
Property comprises one-third of alternative assets: Property is the biggest alternative asset class for institutional investors again, making up just over a third of the assets managed by the top 100 Managers
Builders get £1 billion-a-year boost from George Osborne’s property plans: House builders could see up to £1 billion sliced off their costs next year on the back of a radical shake-up of the planning permission system announced by the Government to boost house numbers
Work to begin on Shell Centre on London's South Bank: Work can finally begin on the £1.3 billion overhaul of the Shell Centre in the South Bank, London, now that a long-running planning dispute dubbed the “battle of Waterloo” is finally over.
Tax relief on rented rooms a boost for beleaguered parents: Parents will be able to make £144 a week tax-free by charging their grown-up children rent for living at home, as the Chancellor at last boosts the meagre “rent-a-room” threshold
Osborne’s brave move for housing fairness: Bravo for the bravest budget in living memory, most notable for the Chancellor’s pledge to create “a fairer property market” by cutting taxpayer subsidies for landlords
No brickbats, we can build on this: So, that’s the roof terrace sorted. Who cares what the neighbours think? Won’t be any higher than the multi-storey car park that’s sort of next door, though maybe not quite such an architectural triumph
Homes ‘£2,500 cheaper’ as zero-carbon plan dropped: A plan to make all new homes “zero carbon” from next year has been abandoned by the government in a move which house builders say will save the average buyer £2,500.
Hammerson has agreed to sell its interest in Grand Maine shopping centre to a French institutional investor for €63.2m. The company said this disposal, along with the recent sale of Bercy 2, Paris, represents an opportunity to take advantage of strong investor demand for retail real estate assets and achieve good pricing ahead of book value.
ousebuilder Barratt Developments said in a trading update that it expects to see a 45% increase in full-year profit amid continued strong demand in the housing market. The company said the average selling price for private home was up around 8% to £262,000, driven by further changes in mix and underlying house price inflation.
House prices crash through the £200,000 ceiling for the first time: The average cost of a home in Britain has breached the £200,000 threshold for the first time, after house prices edged up in June
Buy-to-let: How ‘s Budget will affect landlords: Landlords across the U.K. will be hit in the pocket after the Chancellor announced that he is reducing tax relief on private rented homes, in an attempt to quell the economic risk posed by the booming buy-to-let market.
Summer Budget: Mortgage subsidy shake-up hits jobless households: Mortgage subsidies are set to be recouped from the homes of unemployed people, in a radical change to the benefit system that lenders’ bodies said could put more pressure on the finances of struggling households.
House prices up as surveyors see scarcity Halifax reports June surge while Rics says appraisals at record low
Norwegian targets long haul via UK Plan for UK operating licence could help defuse company’s dispute in the US
Over-reaction to the non-dom rules? Have a feeling this could be a buying opp providing Greece gets a deal in place.