Finance
Santander overhauls mortgage ops
Santander is creating a whole new division to take care of mortgages, appointing Miguel Sard to run the lending business (all subject to FCA approval)
Scheme Stealers: Will the Funding for Lending rejig affect mortgage rates?
Will the premature curtailment of the Funding for Lending Scheme put pressure on the Banks and Building Societies to push up mortgage rates? Any increases will have more to do with commercial opportunism…
Zakay’s Topland moves into the PRS with £11m off-market acquisition
Sol Zakay's Topland Group has made its first foray into the private rented sector (PRS), buying a 24-unit block off-market in Putney for around £11m.
House prices to rise by 5.7% next year as bubble-talk splits opinion – Reuters
House prices will carry on upwards over the next two years, but it's anyone's guess as to whether the Bank of England can "restrain the market if it overheats", according to a poll of 22 top economists…
“Game changing” Crossrail to add 13% to house prices – CBRE
Europe’s biggest infrastructure project - London's Crossrail - will have a "two-fold" effect on property, opening up new districts and causing house prices along its route to rise by 13% (£60,000) by th…
Required Reading: UK Capital Gains tax for non-residents?
There has been recent speculation that non-residents might have to start paying UK capital gains tax (CGT) on their UK property..
Housing optimism hits new (but not that high) heights
Consumers' perceptions of the UK property market continue to get ever-more rosy - but are still generally morose - according to the latest sentiment survey from Lloyds Bank
Battersea Power Station bags £790m in development finance
In one of the biggest property finance deals of the year, Battersea Power Station's development manager has closed on £790.2m in syndicated development and land financing facilities.
Mortgage lending hits five-year high on the back of “overwhelmingly positive” economic news
"We do not expect the Bank of England to move quickly to raise interest rates, once the UK passes the 7% unemployment threshold," says the Council of Mortgage Lenders, as "housing activity is set to strengthen…
Autumn Statement date set for 5th December
We all know that Christmas gets earlier every year, but that Autumn happens in December is news to us; George Osborne has announced that he will give his annual Autumn Statement to Parliament on 5 December…
Resi construction credit crunch “far from over” as lending shrinks 10% in five months
Lending for residential property construction has dropped by 42% over the last three years, and by 10% since Help to Buy launched in April, according to law firm EMW
Octopus buys Dragonfly
Jonathan Samuel's short-term lending business Dragonfly Property Finance has been bought-up by Octopus Capital Ltd, the holding company of Octopus Investments Ltd, for an undisclosed amount