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London price rises underwhelm The latest UK Cities House Price Index from Hometrack has revealed that prices in the UK's largest regional cities have outperformed Central London for the first time since 2005, with several cities registering far higher annual price rises. The figures show that annual growth in Central London slowed to just 3% in March, a figure which pales in comparison to the likes of Oxford (13.4%), Bristol (9.7%), Aberdeen (7.8%), Manchester (6.8%) and Leeds (6.6%). Greater London has still achieved double digit growth of 11.8%, but this is a third of what it once was and has been sustained by lower-value markets: regions such as Newham (14.2%) Greenwich (12.4%) and Croydon (12.1%) far outweigh the annual growth rates of more high-value boroughs such as Kensington & Chelsea (3.4%). Overall, prices in the UK have increased by 7.3% year-on-year and by 0.8% on a quarterly basis, putting the price of a typical UK home at £186,900.
London house fund set to list: A group of City veterans is looking to raise £6 million on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) to kick start a fund which will invest in the central London property market
Britons’ confidence on finances rockets to a new high: Consumers’ confidence in their household’s financial situation has grown to its highest levels in at least four years, according to a report.
Oil price fuels six-year record for energy firm profit warnings: Stock market companies have racked up a six-year record for profit warnings after energy firms were hit by the falling price of crude oil.
Downturn in building expected to slow down economic growth during the first quarter: City economists had been expecting Britain’s GDP for the three months to the end of March to be up by 0.6% on the previous quarter and showing an annual growth rate of 2.6%.
Recession rich: Britain’s wealthiest double net worth since crisis: Britain’s billionaires have seen their net worth more than double since the recession, with the richest 1,000 families now controlling a total of £547 billion.
Carnaby Street undergoes massive revamp to be ‘sociable space’ once again: The iconic Carnaby Street was the heart of swinging London in its 1960s heyday. Walk down the short street in Soho and it wasn’t unusual to spot Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney strolling separately along.
Qatar towers over others as it buys up the capital city’s skyline: Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund spent the most on property assets in London out of any company or organisation last year as it tightened its grip on the capital’s skyline
Private sector rents hike in steepest rise for over a year: Private sector tenants are facing the steepest increases to their rents in more than a year-and-a-half, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.
House price growth in UK cities outpaces central London rises for the first time in ten years - and Oxford and Bristol are the biggest winners: House prices are growing faster in 12 of the UK's largest cities than those in central London for the first time in a decade, new figures suggest
Downturn in building expected to slow down economic growth during the first quarter: The economy is likely to come centre stage in the Election campaign again this week as the latest official growth figures are expected to show the UK recovering more slowly than previously expected
House price rises in the regions overtake London House price growth in regional cities including Manchester and Glasgow has outperformed some of central London’s most exclusive boroughs for the first time in a decade. The annual pace of growth in central London has slowed to only 3 per cent as fears over the prospect of a mansion tax on homes worth more than £2 million continues to stifle demand in the run-up to next month’s general election, according to residential analyst Hometrack. In stark contrast, prices rose 13.4 per cent in Oxford, 7.6 per cent in Glasgow, 6.8 per cent in Manchester, 6.6 per cent in Leeds, 6.3 per cent in Sheffield and 5 per cent in Newcastle. These cities are holding up overall house price inflation. Annual house price growth in the 20 cities that Hometrack covers in its index rose by 10.1 per cent in the year to March, fuelled by record low mortgage rates sparking demand in these regions.
Mortgage lull ends as March registers upturn: Mortgage lending has picked up in March following a slow start to 2015, data released by the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) show.
U.K. growth rate set to fall in final official update before election: The recovery is likely to have lost some momentum in the first quarter after retail sales figures disappointed in March, potentially creating a setback for Coalition parties in the final stages of the election campaign.
House price rises in the regions overtake London: House price growth in regional cities including Manchester and Glasgow has outperformed some of central London’s most exclusive boroughs for the first time in a decade
British households perceive that the value of their home increased in April, a survey from Knight Frank and Markit Economic showed Friday. The house price sentiment index, or HPSI, rose to 58.2 in March from 57.5 in the previous month. This marked the twenty-fifth consecutive month of the index remaining above 50. A reading above 50 signals a rise in house prices, while a figure below 50 indicates a decline. The latest increase was only moderate as compared to March, suggesting that households believe prices continued to rise in spite of the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of next month's General Election. The future HPSI, a measure of expectations on house prices, climbed for the second straight month to 70.2 in April from 69.6 in March.
Gross lending rose year-on-year for the first time in five months in March, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Lending hit an estimated £16.5bn in March, up 7 per cent on the £15.4bn advanced a year earlier. Not since October has lending been up on an annual basis. An estimated £44.9bn was lent in the first quarter, which is 3 per cent down on Q1 2014. CML chief economist Bob Pannell says: “The underlying lending picture is stabilising. Sentiment and activity are showing early signs of improvement, and should be further supported by the effects of stamp duty reform. “We expect to see lending strengthen over the next few months, albeit from a relatively sluggish start in 2015.”
Taylor Wimpey, the housebuilder, has issued an upbeat trading statement ahead of its AGM today, saying average selling prices have risen 14pc in the last year and the market is not being affected by the election.
Facebook: hey big spender: Look no further than Google, which dominates global search advertising but cannot manage to keep cost growth in line with revenue growth. Now Facebook is heading down a similar path, with expensive research projects in areas such as artificial intelligence and rural internet access driving up operating expenses. Facebook’s top-line growth is still impressive. Its user base is growing and users are getting more and more hooked: growth in daily active users accelerated sequentially in the first quarter of this year, and the ratio of daily to monthly active users has increased. Average revenue per user is growing too, up 25% from the previous year. Advertising revenues shot up 55%, adjusted for constant currency, reaching $3.3 billion in the quarter. However, Facebook’s expenses rose even faster. Operating expenses rose 57%, to $1.7 billion (excluding share-based compensation). Some of this was expected: Facebook says operating expenses will increase between 50% and 60% this year. This is due to investments in its ad technology and long-term projects such as AI, virtual reality and its internet access project. The cost of research and development in the first quarter more than doubled year on year.
Funding Circle raises $150 million in new boost for London tech sector: Peer-to-peer lending platform Funding Circle has raised $150 million from some of the world’s leading investment groups, in one of the largest fundraising rounds by a British technology start-up.
Silvertown set for regeneration: A once-thriving part of the Royal Docks in east London is to be redeveloped after being left derelict for more than three decades, after a failed attempt to turn part of the area into an aquarium designed by Sir Terry Farrell.
BoE upbeat on Eurozone, indicated BoE’s meeting minutes Minutes of the Bank of England’s (BoE) latest monetary policy meeting indicated that BoE policymakers sounded more bullish on the Eurozone and the prospects for higher inflation. The minutes revealed that the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to keep rates unchanged at a record low 0.5%. The policy makers remain cautiously upbeat about the health of the nation’s economy and were open for any potential action later if the country sorts out its political uncertainty.
Travis Perkins Plc (TPK.L) Announced, in its first quarter 2015 trading update, that group sales grew by 7.2% in the first quarter, with like-for-like sales growth of 5.1%, despite the anticipated sales decline in the plumbing & heating division. Group two-year like-for-like sales growth of 18.4% demonstrates a continuation of the strong and consistent growth experienced throughout 2014. Overall trading is in line with expectations.
Galliford Try Plc (GFRD.L) Announced that its infrastructure business has, in joint venture with MWH Treatment and Black & Veatch, been appointed as preferred bidder by Scottish Water for its non-infrastructure Quality and Standards IV framework. The framework starts immediately and runs for six years. The company further stated that the appointment is anticipated to be worth approximately £560 million to the joint venture called ESD (Efficient Service Delivery). Works will include design and build projects, both new-build and capital upgrades, for the client's water and wastewater treatment programme.
There's no easy way to say this, but Tony Blair, rather than the likes of Margaret Thatcher or David Cameron, was the Prime Minister who presided over the highest-ever rise in property prices, it turns out. Research from Knight Frank suggests house prices rose a staggering 211.3 per cent during Blair's premiership - higher than the 187.9 per cent prices rose during the Thatcher years. Next up was Edward Heath - prices rose 122.9 per cent during his time in office in the 1970s. But although Blair's New Labour years pushed up house prices, during the time his successor, Gordon Brown, was in office, prices actually fell by 7.2 per cent. The next lowest figure was 1950s Conservative leader Anthony Eden - prices rose just 4.3 per cent during the two years he was PM. That 's followed by John Major's 6.3 per cent increase. By contrast, prices during David Cameron's time in office have been downright stable, with an 11.76 per cent rise in total - that's an average of just 2.48 per cent a year. The biggest average annual rises were during Heath's tenure, when house prices jumped 32.8 per cent a year. That's followed by Blair, where prices rose 21.1 per cent a year, while prices during James Callaghan's time in office in the late 1970s rose 20.8 per cent a year. Thatcher, meanwhile, comes fourth, with an annual rise of 16.3 per cent. But given housing supply is one of the most potent issues of this election, who built the most houses? Thatcher wins that one, with almost two million homes built during her tenure - although housebuilding was at its most frenzied during Harold Wilson's years in office, with almost 350,000 homes built per year. Grainne Gilmore, Knight Frank's UK head of residential research, pointed out it is house building, rather than house prices, which may become the big challenge for the next leader to take office. The decline in the annual rate of housebuilding under recent prime ministers underlines the importance of housing as an election issue. It is crucial that the next government introduce detailed, workable and effective measures to boost housing supply across the country.