|
Entries in May 2008
|
|
A downturn in the commercial property sector is being blamed for a possible delay in the construction of 20 Fenchurch Street's Rafael Vinoly-designed "walkie-talkie" skyscraper. Developers Land Securities posted its first annual loss, yesterday, in almost two decades.
Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate
|
|
|
More in this Category - House prices
|
|
|
Mervyn King has painted a gloomy picture of the UK economy, effectively scuppering realistic hopes of an interest rate cut with a grim quarterly inflation report. More here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
Would the landlords – over-mortgaged into negative equity – start dumping properties on the market en masse, precipitating the crash of all crashes while they squealed like pigs drowning in a rough sea of schadenfreude? Plenty of tenants, sections of the media, and simply greed-repulsed bystanders have been lining up to wave at them on their way down. But, as yet, there’s little sign of a storm. Or is there?
Our publisher, and buy-to-let, in his guest column at Citywire.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate, theRatandMouse
|
|
|
Not according to wealth-bulletin, a little journal us property blogging moguls like to peruse occasionally. The story is that hot-on-the-heels of the Candies' Noho Square development, there's a constant stream of art scene trendies and gallerinas finally flooding into a potentially important little pocket of the west that's somehow lacked identity for a very long time.
Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate
|
|
|
I don't want reproduce the picture, because it's a scoop and I'll probably get sued, but click this for a nice close-up. It's a picture of "Housing Minister" Caroline Flint's Cabinet briefing notes, caught by a photographer as she waived them around while entering No. 10. "These things happen," she said, afterward. They do - but they shouldn't, especially with economic confidence at an all-time low, the market ruled by sentiment, and fear currently a knife-edge from panic. The notes revealed that Government officials expect house prices to dip 5%-10% "at best" this year, and stated "we can't know how bad it will get" (which - if you think about it - is kind of obvious, but Flint still needed it written down). Really, it's another fumble... another moment of clumsiness that will cost British people, none of whom will have voted for a Government of teenagers led by a damaged class bully. The Rat and Mouse has no party political agenda whatsoever (but rather takes the view that the very act of running for a public position is enough to demonstrate unsuitability). In this instance, though, it's time Gordon Brown and his mediocre but oh-so arrogant cabinet called an election.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
"I've just gazundered a 70-year-old lady who is undergoing a hip replacement,'' said Blavier, 39. ``You can't get a scenario to make you feel more guilty. But this is not my hobby. It's what helps me make a living.''
Oh, that's okay then, mate. Except, technically, it's neither an excuse nor the whole truth. (Sports massage therapist Blavier actually makes his living rubbing the thighs of people richer than him.) The quote is from an interesting piece in Bloomberg on the subject of gazundering. As our publisher recently noted, gazundering's ethically complex, the result of a system that applies business transaction rules to home transactions, and trusts both parties to behave like gentlemen. So when you match a poorly geriatric with an avaricious masseur, ugliness is almost certainly guaranteed.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
No, not Kevin Rowland, Kelly Rowland - one of the other ones in Destiny's Child and a different prospect all together. Apparently, she was seen at Mamilanji on Saturday night, where she tested the piano and a DJ pal tested the decks. All were in order, and so she's now testing property in Chelsea. Estate agents... scramble!
Technorati Tags: celebrity, London, property, real estate
|
|
|
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors paint a gloomy picture this morning... the lowest number of transactions since records began in 1978. Eighty-two per cent of surveyed agents report falling prices between February and April, and the downturn is spreading everywhere, including Scotland (which - oddly - had been continuing to show price rises while the rest of the UK was stultifying). According to agents, unreasonably tight lending conditions have a lot to answer for, and it's interesting to note that other figures this morning reveal that average interest rates are up 0.4% despite recent cuts.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
More in this Category - Linkage
|
|
|
According to Government figures, more than 30% of new London homes are being built on former gardens. Although this isn't about people building mini-homes on their lawns (the majority of cases are developers knocking existing houses down and replacing them developments that extend into the former gardens), it's still not a good trend for quality of life in the Capital. More here.
Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate
|
|
|
The BBC is trailing interesting research from its new series of The Truth About Property that suggests that not only are more people "crash-proof" than in the early 1990s (it would take a house price drop of 56% to put the average borrower into negative equity), but that a house price crash would be far from entirely unwelcome, even among the property-owning class. People, apparently, are seeing a fall in values as an opportunity to trade up for less. The last series of this show was excellent, the Rat and Mouse has high hopes for series two, starting tonight, at 8pm, on BBC 2.
Technorati Tags: property, property TV, real estate
|
|
|
It's a blue and white beach hut near Southwold, and it's offers over £70,000. According to this, local agents are expecting something more like £80,000. According to the particulars it does come with some plastic chairs, windbreaks and a kettle.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
Business is booming in the repo sector, with new figures showing that home repossession orders increased by a fifth in the first quarter of the year (compared to the same period in 2007). They're also up 9% on the previous quarter. The figures come courtesy of the Ministry of Justice, and they'll be received with much interest, as the first clue to how over-stretched homeowners are coping with the downturn.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
Property search engine Zoomf have announced a new feature they're calling "Boost". Aimed at estate agents, it borrows its MO from Google Adwords. Agents pay a set monthly amount to see a priority ad appear alongside relevant geographical search results, but are only charged when they receive leads. Unused credit carries over to the following month. It's a slick idea... although Zoomf could do with a page explaining/introducing it. And if you're browsing with Safari, you appear to be out of luck this morning. (I've just emailed the Zoomf team... I'll post their response.)
Technorati Tags: property, real estate, Web2, web2.0
|
|
|
Interesting, Australian, Web2.0 action from Streetfolio... a "simple property management" solution aimed at property investors and buy-to-let landlords. Plug in a few details of your portfolio... price paid for each property, current value, rental income, mortgage outgoing, and the web application converts the information into a handy cashflow statement and an analytics page, so you can feel on top of your investments. There's a contacts and reminders section, too, plus a place for insurance and mortgage information. Does it do anything an analogue filing cabinet can't do? No. Will it make you more likely to stay on top of things in these troubled times? Possibly. It's free to manage one property, then there's a sliding scale of membership depending on the size of your property portfolio, but it's not expensive. All the examples are Australian, but don't let that put you off, its scope is international.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate, Web, Web2, web2.0
|
|
|
More in this Category - Linkage
|
|
|
At 5%. Few people expected back-to-back cuts; but there's a lot of talk of a cut to 4.75% next month. More here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
According to Hamptons estate agents, properties in the £1m region have been hit the hardest by the slump, with prices falling by as much as 15% since September 2007. Only the super-prime sector - propped up by overseas buyers - continues to thrive. More here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
Thanks to the Rat and Mouse reader who alerted me to the new flat-pack homes apparently available through Argos... although I can't find any sign of them in the online catalogue. According to this, in the Sun, they start at £11,000 (plus £4.95 delivery) and can be erected in a day or two.
[photo from the Sun]
Technorati Tags: design, property, real estate
|
|
|
2007 was the year the ‘lifestyle farmers’ bought more land than actual raised-on-the-dirt farmers. If you read the Sunday supplements you know the type, migrating London fops inspired by Blur’s Alex James to add a little country rosiness to their families’ cheeks without going the whole ruddy, tractor-face mile. Then and bigger City investors with bonuses to burn who – apparently – tend to make their country purchases on the hush-hush. Lifestyle farmers grow vegetables and chop wood for their stoves, but allow local farmers to raise animals on their land while they stay out of the rain and knit chickens.
Our publisher, on the one property sector still booming, in his guest column for Citywire.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate, theRatandMouse
|
|
|
The Independent gets a look inside an interesting Finchatton [warning, classical muzak] development in Eaton Square. It's a mixture of Victorian grandeur and very 21st Century glass-and-metal modernism... manifest in a giant rear extension and basement (housing cinema, swimming pool, and bedrooms for staff and security). What I don't understand is exactly how a Grade II-listed property (with historical importance... it was formerly the home of Lord Napier... although he couldn't have spent much time there) got the nod for such a radical extension. It's hard to imagine how the character of the building isn't altered by attaching what looks like a space ship to it. There are pictures here.
Technorati Tags: architecture, London, property, real estate
|
|
|
I am immediately conscious of my pink bag and purple skirt, which shout vulgarity in the harmony of grey, black and white. Only a hint of red is allowed in each room, in a cushion or a rug.
The Sunday Telegraph carried this very entertaining tour of some minimalist masterpieces, including a Victorian mansion block flat (pictured) in Battersea... all original features concealed behind white fake walls and a wipe clean floor... and a south London semi which isn't pure minimalism (it has colour) but it works on the principle of hidden storage and is described as "monastic". Visiting the Battersea house, the writer leans how it was designed to cater for a utilitarian principle... carefully measured distances between (stored) appliances in the kitchen that reflect their use. It's Steve Jobs' Apple Mac workflow principle on a domestic scale. It's a theory I've always tried to sell to my wife, when extolling Bauhaus (my own frustrated enthusiasm). But - I don't know - it doesn't sound that convenient:
Even making a cup of tea isn't a simple matter: "I know I am a Minimalist freak," says Tanji. She opens a cupboard, gets out the kettle, fills it, plugs it in, makes the tea, then empties it, unplugs it and puts it back in the cupboard. For there must be no clutter.
Head over to the link above for the original piece, complete with pictures. Interestingly, all the properties mentioned are for sale. The Battersea flat is with John D Wood, here.
Technorati Tags: design, London, property, real estate
|
|
|
It's Highwood House in expensive Mill Hill, and it's significant because during the early 19th Century it was the home to Sir Stamford Raffles, the man who founded Singapore. That might not get you all excited, but it appears to be creating a fuss in Singapore, where there are calls for the building to be turned into a museum or bought and restored by a wealthy Singaporean. I can't find a listing, but the story goes that it's on the market for £3.5m.
If these walls could talk... HG Wells edition [May 2, 2008]
UPDATE - a hearty thanks to the Rat and Mouse reader who put me in touch with the particulars, here.
Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate
|
|
|
More in this Category - Linkage
|
|
|
According to research by Debtwire, there were 13,000 estate agents offices in January and now there are only 12,000, with each office employing on average four agents. (If you think you've seen the missing 4,000 estate agents, please let us know.) By extrapolating from the figures, there's talk of 600 estate agents handing over their clip boards and keys every single week. More here.
Technorati Tags: estate agents, property, real estate, real estate agents
|
|
|
It's 12 Fitzroy Road in Primrose Hill, the former home of author HG Wells, and thought to be the place where he at least started work on War of the Worlds (remember the references to the area?). It's with John D Wood, and a guide price of £3.25m buys you three reception rooms, four bedrooms and two bathrooms in one of the capital's most sought-after areas. Listing here.
[via the Times]
Technorati Tags: celebrity, London, property, real estate
|
|
|
HIPs provider LMS has been keeping a close eye on what's happening between agreement and exchange. The answer, it seems, is quite a lot, and not much of it's very good. In London, it found a cancellation rate of 24%, and those who do get to exchange take an average of 68 days to do so.
[via FindaProperty.com]
Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate
|
|
|
More in this Category - Linkage
|
|
|
It's the one the spread-betters and other gamblers go by, and it's reporting a 1.3% fall in April, knocking 4.2% off the value of the average home since the beginning of the year. Significantly, it's the latest in a series of indices that put the annual inflation figure in the red. According to Halifax, it's a 0.9% fall April-to-April. Read the actual release (in pdf) here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
According to Katie Razzall, a rise in defaulting buy-to-let landlords is being followed by a rise in evicted tenants. It's obvious, really... although clearly not too obvious too get in the way of the schadenfreude outbursts from the usual suspects.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
According to the Bank of England, lenders might be over-estimating sub-prime losses, and what they should be doing, instead of sitting on their hands, is lending. If they don't, they're contributing to a self-fulfilling prophecy, as house prices slide and debt loses its value. More here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate
|
|
|
It hasn't had the easiest of times, and now there are reports that Tesco Property Market might be on the verge of being sold... to established estate agency group Spicerhaart. It will - apparently - retain the Tesco name, however.
Technorati Tags: estate agents, real estate agents
|
|
|
