Monthly Archives: November 2015

Is There A Housing Bubble In London Or An Outright Recession At The Higher End Of The Market?

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What on earth is everyone going on about?  True, the market is extremely buoyant between £200,000 and £600,000 where there is little stock and where you can sell a property to whomever you want within a matter of hours. However, at the middle to upper end of the market, there is a recession going on which probably started a year ago and where values are dropping by 10-15%.

There are very few buyers, particularly above £10million, either locally or from abroad.  The Non-Dom fiscal changes, the draconian Stamp Duty rates and the low oil price have all seen to that. Continue reading →

George Osborne’s vexed issue about Buy-to-Let and the changes to Tax Treatment

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There is a lot of controversy at the moment about the Chancellors intentions to withdraw higher rate Tax Relief and the effect that it will have on Buy-to-Let investors and the Property Market generally.

In order to understand the attraction of Buy-To-Let investments we need to take a few steps back and look what successive governments have done to private pensions since Buy-to-Let investments are de-facto, quasi pensions. Continue reading →

AS ANOTHER FIREWORKS NIGHT IS ALMOST UPON US, HERE IS A CAUTIONARY NOVEMBER 5th STORY OR A NIGHTMARE COME TRUE!

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Once upon a time there was a dutiful resident of the leafy and much cherished Hampstead Garden Suburb where the architectural integrity and Conservation Area is protected by the ‘iron grip’ of the New Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust with its vigilant wardens looking out for transgressions.

Anyone who ‘steps out of line’ is dealt with mercilessly.  Is it any wonder, that in the main, the Suburb has changed little since Dame Henrietta Barnett first founded it in the early 20th Century? Continue reading →