Property News

Former Bukit Timah Fire Station to be transformed into community node, to open in Q2 2022The transformation of the former fire station will establish the site as “a key gateway for heritage and nature landmarks and trails in the area, including Bukit Batok Nature Park, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and the Rail Corridor.  The […]

Monthly fall follows year of rising prices and phasing out of stamp duty holidayThe average UK house price fell by £10,000 in July compared with a month earlier, official figures show, as the housing market appeared to cool after the phasing out of the stamp duty holiday.The average UK house price was £256,000 in […]

The ideas from America to avoid in our cooler climateI am the first to admit I’m a pain to travel with – at least if you are not interested in plants. I can’t tell you the number of friends and colleagues who have been forced to detour to garden centres, supermarkets, even out-of-town hardware […]

Much of the boom stems from government largesse and its removal has dented homebuyer enthusiasm Source : ft.com Read more…UK estate agents: kings of their castles, but not forever

The student accommodation segment in the UK and Australia, which rely heavily on overseas enrolments, has witnessed vastly contrasting fortunes because of the diverging policies of the two countries in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.The UK’s open borders and the British National (Overseas) visas that offer a path to citizenship to as many as […]

Average prices rose by 0.7% in August to £262,954, says HalifaxThe average UK house price reached a fresh record high in August while annual inflation cooled to a five-month low, after the partial end of the stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland.Halifax, one of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders, said the average […]

Number of ‘holiday let’ mortgage deals on the market more than doubles in a yearThe boom in domestic holidays has fuelled a surge in demand for mortgages for UK holiday rental homes as landlords and investors cash in on people taking breaks in Britain.The number of “holiday let” mortgage deals on the market has […]

Supply chain delays and soaring prices leave companies struggling to keep up with demand Source : ft.com Read more…UK builders face rising costs as materials and labour shortages bite

Britain’s real estate market defies predictions of a house price crash despite coronavirus crisisHard-to-sell homes are being snapped up by the hundred as Britain’s booming property market maintains a year-long breakneck sales record.In areas of high demand, even the most knocked-about and idiosyncratic houses are spending just days on the market once buyers, desperate […]

Nationwide says 2.1% monthly rise is second largest in 15 years Source : ft.com Read more…UK house prices increase sharply in August

Nationwide reports increase of just over 2% last month compared with average prices in JulyThe UK’s house price growth unexpectedly accelerated in August despite the gradual phasing out of the government’s stamp duty holiday, following the second largest month-on-month increase in 15 years.Year-on-year house price growth in August climbed to 11%, according to Nationwide, […]

Tapering of stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland fuels drop in housing market activityUK homeowners made a rare net repayment of mortgage debt in July as the tapering of the stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland fuelled a drop in housing market activity after a record June.The Bank of England […]

Jalan Anak Bukit site awarded to Far East Organization, Sino GroupURA said the winning concept proposal “is compelling in its well-considered site planning, design response to tropical climate and integration of the various uses and public spaces”. The tender for a commercial and residential site at Jalan Anak Bukit has been awarded to Far […]

Areas around cities recording higher increases than urban centres, Halifax says Source : ft.com Read more…Homeworking drives house price boom outside UK cities

Property transactions slumped 62% to 82,110 after government scaled back tax breakHouse sales tumbled by almost two-thirds in July after tens of thousands of homebuyers rushed to complete their purchases in order to beat Rishi Sunak’s end-of-June stamp duty holiday deadline.Following a record surge in activity in June, when 213,370 UK homes changed hands, […]

Tax data show that completed residential purchases were 63% lower than in June Source : ft.com Read more…UK house sales plunge in July after stamp duty holiday ends

Resolution Foundation think-tank says biggest rises came in areas that benefited least from tax cuts Source : ft.com Read more…Stamp duty holiday cannot take credit for UK house price boom, study finds

Banking group joins other high street names seeking a fresh income at a time of record low interest ratesIt is already the UK’s largest mortgage lender, and now Lloyds Banking Group aims to become one of its biggest private landlords, with a target of buying 50,000 homes in the next 10 years.Lloyds is the […]

Bullish internal targets contrast with cautious public comments on new rental business Source : ft.com Read more…Lloyds Bank aims to be giant UK landlord with 50,000 homes

Housebuilder adds sites to land bank and predicts sales will stay above pre-crisis levelsThe housebuilder Persimmon has reported a 64% rise in profits for the first half of the year fuelled by Britain’s unlikely property market boom in the Covid-19 pandemic.The UK’s biggest housebuilder by market value said on Wednesday it expected its sales […]

‘Borderline obscene’ jump driven by winding down of stamp duty holiday Source : ft.com Read more…UK house prices in June rose at fastest rate since 2004

Rush to beat stamp duty holiday deadline in England and Northern Ireland pushes up property inflation House prices are rising at their fastest rate in almost 17 years after a dash to beat a stamp duty holiday deadline in England and Northern Ireland pushed the annual rate of property inflation to 13.2% in June.Figures […]

Leaving landlords and tenants to hash out terms is no longer enough Source : ft.com Read more…The UK high street’s rent shortfall must be tackled

Since the UK government decided to grant residency rights to nearly three million eligible Hongkongers, many of the city’s residents have been hunting for properties all over the country.Last year, about 30 per cent of homes around the Greater London area were sold to international investors. Buyers from Hong Kong alone bought 8 per […]

Property site Rightmove says market for smaller properties experiencing record highs despite overall declineUK house prices fell in August amid a drop in demand for bigger homes after the government scaled back its stamp duty tax break for buyers in England and Northern Ireland this summer, according to Rightmove.The property website said the national […]

A record-breaking area almost twice the size of Hyde Park is slated for construction this yearThe UK is in the midst of a record-breaking boom in the construction of cavernous sheds to support the soaring growth of online shopping during the pandemic, with floorspace more than twice the size of Hyde Park, London, due […]

With the government leaving businesses to create their own arrangements, the stand-off between landlords and tenants has widened Source : ft.com Read more…Unpaid rent: the £6.4bn dispute that will shape the UK high street

Hampshire city overtakes Oxford, with properties costing 14 times average earnings, says HalifaxWinchester has become the least affordable city in the UK to buy a home, as property prices average 14 times people’s earnings.The Hampshire city has overtaken Oxford, according to analysis by Halifax, the UK’s biggest mortgage lender. A home in Winchester will […]

Hongkongers moving abroad have bought at least US$100 million worth of property since 2019, a year marked by unprecedented social unrest, according to a Hong Kong-based law firm.The Harvey Law Group (HLG) found that Hongkongers’ preferred destinations are the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Their interest in finding a residency overseas or […]

It is a good time for Hongkongers moving to the UK under the British National (Overseas) scheme to buy a home in London, with about a third of the homes listed for sale in the UK capital seeing their asking prices fall 20 per cent recently.About 35,000 homes, or 31 per cent of the […]

Prices rose in July but annual rate of increase is down to its lowest level since March, says HalifaxBritain’s biggest mortgage lender has predicted a cooling in Britain’s house price boom after reporting a fall in the annual rate of property inflation.The Halifax said prices rose by 0.4% in July, the first month since […]

Mortgage rates are lower than ever — but can aspiring buyers qualify for them after big price rises? Source : ft.com Read more…UK property boom leaves homebuyers struggling to step up

‘Race for space’ drives sales in residential market, but commercial property sluggish Source : ft.com Read more…Savills hits record profits thanks to hot UK housing market

Visits to site hit 1.4bn in first six months of this year, up from 845m in same period of 2019 Source : ft.com Read more…House prices/Rightmove: UK property portal is impregnable to rivals

Prices rise by up to 25% as firms cover wage increases to attract staff amid post-Brexit lorry driver shortageThe cost of moving home is on the rise as removals firms are forced to put up prices following difficulties in hiring drivers.Some removals firms have raised prices by up to 25%, according to operators, in […]

With global gas prices at 16-year high, cash-strapped consumers are braced for soaring costs this winterThe government faces calls to bring in a social tariff to help struggling households pay their energy bills as soaring prices threaten to drive an extra half a million homes into fuel poverty this winter.Some of the UK’s biggest […]

Price inflation remains in double digits as buyer demand continues Source : ft.com Read more…UK house price growth falls in July as stamp duty rush fades

Trapped leaseholders should be able to sell homes after government loosens restrictions Source : ft.com Read more…UK banks agree deal on cladding to ease property sales

Flurry of activity before changes to stamp duty rules meant June 2021 was the busiest month since records beganThe number of homes changing hands in the UK rose to the highest level on record in June, with 213,120 sales registered with HMRC.The flurry of activity before changes to stamp duty rules in England, Wales […]

The end of a stamp duty holiday and surging home prices are unlikely to deter Hongkongers from continuing to buy properties in the UK as they move there under the British National (Overseas) scheme, according to analysts.Since the beginning of this month, London has imposed a minimum 5 per cent tax on property purchases […]

Desire for larger homes and outdoor space during the pandemic help drive growth in the year to MayUK house prices rose by 10% in the year to May, the fastest rate since before the 2008 financial crisis, as buyers scrambled to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday in some parts of the country.Data […]

They say a man’s home is his castle … and for some, that is literally the case. An ancient Italian castle set in a vast estate amid rolling hills just north of Rome will come up for auction in October.With a reserve price of €15 million (US$17.69 million/HK$137.42 million), the ancient Castle of Parrano […]

Justin Ma, the 29-year-old heir of the family that controls Tai Sang Land Development, hopes to ramp up investment in hospitality, in a break from the investment strategy of the 53-year-old company, which is better known for industrial buildings, shops and office buildings in Hong Kong.Ma founded Yulan Group, a company focused on the […]

Redrow and Vistry shrug off concerns over end to stamp duty holiday as sales surge Source : ft.com Read more…UK housebuilders confident booming market has room to run

Groups in the money after realising other areas offer better value than London Source : ft.com Read more…Overseas investors find UK regional property a safe bet

Hongkongers seeking a new lease of life in the UK under the long-term stay and citizenship scheme are increasingly looking to regional cities for home purchases, as prices across the country climbed at the fastest pace in about 14 years.While the capital remains the preferred choice for traditional and wealthier buyers for its conveniences, […]

Buyers from Hong Kong are snapping up property in London at a faster pace to take advantage of the UK’s citizenship offer, with developers and agents garnering more sales from clients with the aid of virtual technology.Live video tours, video conferencing and virtual augmented reality apps were assisting Hongkongers to pick their property amid […]

Jalan Anak Bukit site attracts five bidsThe five bids were from Far East Organization and Sino Group (three separate bids); Allgreen Properties (one bid); and a joint venture between Wing Tai Holdings and Perpetual (Asia) (one bid). The tender for a commercial and residential site at Jalan Anak Bukit attracted five bids when it […]

Low interest rates and pandemic further fuel demand with Nationwide index rising at fastest pace in 17 years Source : ft.com Read more…UK house price growth soars as buyers race to beat end of tax holiday

Hongkongers have emerged as among the most aggressive buyers of UK property, snapping up more than £305.6 million (US$430 million) of prime London homes in 2020. This trend is expected to continue under a new wave of emigration, as BN(O) passport holders are allowed to live in the UK under the new visa scheme.While […]

Hongkongers are among the keenest buyers of homes that have been owned or rented by Hollywood actors, pop stars and tycoons, seeing them as a sound investment whose resale value is likely to be boosted by their celebrity associations, according to a London-based luxury property agency.“Hong Kong and mainland Chinese buyers love buying prestigious […]

Nine months since the UK offered millions of Hongkongers a path to citizenship, the residents of its former colony have bought £959 million (US$1.3 billion) worth of homes in London, according to a leading property agency. Between July 2020 and March 2021, Hongkongers bought 1,932 units or 4 per cent of London homes sold during […]

House prices in the UK surged to a record this month with a tax break on purchases and rock-bottom interest rates prompting a “buying frenzy,” the property website Rightmove said.The average cost of a home rose 2.1 per cent to £327,797 (US$450,983) in April, marking only the second time in the past five years […]

With lockdown restrictions to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic still in place across most of Europe, the continent might seem a surprising commercial real estate investment destination for Hong Kong investors. Yet, one of the largest deals to take place in 2020 was the purchase of the Cabot, a prestigious office complex in Canary Wharf, […]

UK property developers, desperate to bounce back from a dismal year of sales, have been offering a broad range of incentives to attract international buyers. Some took advantage of the Lunar New Year period to see if the Chinese tradition of “lai see” would bring them a much-needed change of fortune.Barratt Developments, the UK’s […]

Average cost in December, at record £252,000, may also reflect changing property choices in pandemic, says ONSUK house prices climbed by 8.5% during 2020, the highest annual growth rate since October 2014, according to new official figures.The average UK house price reached a record high of £252,000 in December 2020, pushed up in part […]

December surge reflects effect of stamp duty holiday and pandemic lifestyle changes Source : ft.com Read more…UK house prices rise at fastest rate since 2014, official data show

Shared office provider is also launching new fund to support SMEs struggling in pandemic Source : ft.com Read more…WeWork offers UK tenants greater flexibility to tempt them back

A combination of foreign demand, including those from emigrating Hongkongers, and a rush to beat the impending property tax, pushed UK home prices to their most unaffordable level in 10 years, according to a study by a London-based real estate agency.Benham and Reeves analysed the average house price to income ratio based on average […]

Rics survey shows property listings, buyer viewings and sales fallingBritain’s housing market slowed at the start of the year, with new property listings, buyer enquiries and sales all falling in January, according to a survey.The market slowed markedly despite being allowed to stay open during the country’s third national coronavirus lockdown, said the Royal […]