Bridging Finance News

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) recently shortlisted three property developers out of five to build the 300,000 sq ft residential scheme at Wellington Road, on the eastern side of the cricket ground, in St. John’s Wood.

Peter Vernon, Chief Executive of Grosvenor UK, was one of the developers whose company did not feature in the final list. He confirmed that his company has not been shortlisted. However, he said that the company’s strategy continues “to include the expansion of our high-end residential development portfolio, both on and off our London estate, solo or in joint venture.”

Londonewcastle was the other company not included in the final list of three. The director of the company, Robert Soning expressed his disappointment, saying, “Obviously it was a project we would have liked to have been involved in, as we have experience of delivering in that area and the size [of the project] certainly didn’t scare us, in fact if anything it is where we want to be going at the moment in our next phase.”

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Home Insurance is often bought as an afterthought and, in most cases, the homeowners are not aware of the clauses that come with the insurance. For example, many homeowners do not know that home insurance policies have differing occupancy clauses that stipulate the number of days that the property can be empty.

Talking about this, the technical and corporate affairs executive of British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA), Graeme Trudgill, said that people are totally unaware of the clauses of home insurance and that they will have to seek expert advice before purchasing it. Many homeowners find about these clauses at the end and then too they have no idea how to extend their occupancy.

Commenting about this, Graeme Trudgill said, “Lots of people don’t get advice. They just go online, find the cheapest thing and click ‘buy’. BIBA is concerned that people are just buying online without reading the terms of the policy.”

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The latest report released by Halifax revealed some interesting facts about first time buyers. According to the report, about 94% of first-time property buyers did not have to pay stamp duty for their property purchase between January 2010 and June 2010. This exemption was one of the major factors that allowed the first-time buyers to venture into the property market.

Another interesting statistic is that about 80% of mortgage applications submitted by first-time buyers have been approved. The report also revealed that the percentage of the monthly salary that is being paid as mortgages is now less than the 25-year average.

Halifax has, however, also admitted that the first time buyers would still have to raise the deposit that would be required for the first-time mortgage.

If the trends reported in this report are correct then there is reason to believe that the UK property market has a huge potential and good base for growth.

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The latest trend in the UK real estate market is to make a ‘lifestyle move’ by buying properties near the seaside. According to Halifax’s recent report, Seaside Quality of Life, areas such as Bridlington, Withernsea and Hornsea in Yorkshire and Scotland’s Peterhead and Fraserburgh are some of the best seaside towns in Britain.

Waterside Properties are also offering some good areas in the south for those who wish to settle down near the sea.

Commenting about this new trend, Peter Halliday, Managing Director of Waterside Properties said, “Most of the people who buy through Waterside Properties are buying for a lifestyle move; they are selling up their family home and moving down to the coast.”

Mr. Halliday also put to rest any fears that the rise in demand for seaside properties may push the cost of these sites very high. He said that the prices might still be within the reasonable range, since the value of these properties have not risen or fallen substantially in these two years.

If you are considering a bridging loan, Masthaven is ideal for your financial needs, so get in touch.

Mitchells & Butlers will soon enter the ‘informal eating-out’ market in UK. They will be soon selling a portfolio of 333 pubs to Stonegate Pub Company for £373m. Stonegate Pub Company is a Private Equity firm managed by TDR Capital from London.

The sale of the pubs and other non-core business will be completed by mid- November and the company believes that the sale would fetch about £500m.

By selling these pubs, Mitchells & Butlers can officially exit the lower price drinks-led” and “late night venue” markets and surge forward towards the informal eating-out market.

Commenting about this venture, Adam Fowle, Chief Executive, Mitchells & Butlers, said: “We are pleased that we have been able to announce the exit from our price sensitive drinks-led pubs and our late night venues in a single transaction.

“This will now enable us to reinvest in the informal eating-out market where our market leading brands, corporate scale and operational capability will deliver attractive growth and investment returns for our shareholders.”

Find a range of bridging loans on our website for your property needs.