All articles by Alastair Stewart – Page 6
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InsightOnly Fools and Houses: property the ‘Del Boy’ way
Flat 127, ‘Del Boy’ Trotter’s home in Nelson Mandela House, Peckham SE15, a former council block, since transferred to Peckham Housing Association.
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InsightBeware the consequences of Corbyn’s housing agenda
I’m indebted to Jeremy Corbyn for one thing: I might get less grief from my wife next time I wear socks with sandals. But the Labour leader’s fashion faux pas could also presage a return to the ‘beards and sandals’ era of Labour housing policy.
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OnlineStrange times in the residential land market
A strange dichotomy seems to be emerging in the residential land market. On one hand the national housebuilders are increasingly proclaiming that, from a buyers’ viewpoint, it has never been so benign; on the other new competitors are emerging (or re-emerging) and sound like they’d bite your hands off for ...
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InsightPrepare for the impact of Osborne’s tax bombshell
Labour’s Tax Bombshell in 1997 was one of the most famous of all campaign posters.
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InsightNever mind the metaphors – PRS is arriving in force
I fear I’ve probably done to death the London buses analogy when discussing the private rented sector (PRS) in past columns.
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InsightOAPs want to downsize – but where to?
The prize for this year’s least tastefully titled research report must go to Legal General’s Last Time Buyers, a survey into old folks’ housing stock.
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InsightElection euphoria could be temporary
Nobody saw that coming! Housing stocks - especially those with a London bias - had been girding their loins ahead of the Election for a messy coalition, most likely led by Ed Miliband, egged on by his supposed chief speech writer Alex Salmond.
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InsightBad news for savers maybe, but the negative bond yield could have some positive effects
One industry that might profit from the new phenomenon of negative bond yields is mattress makers: there should be a rush from savers looking for a new place to stash their cash.
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InsightStudent accommodation’s foreign investment rush may not be all it seems
It’s a bit like London buses. Student housing has seen an extraordinary splurge of foreign investment this month, with £2.4bn of US, Canadian and Russian money spent on transactions in the first half of March - equalling the total for 2014 altogether.
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OnlineHow £60m went down the drain on warehouse subcontract
Losing up to £60m on a subcontract during the construction of a wine warehouse takes some going.
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InsightRolling the dice in the general election speculation game
An increasingly popular parlour game among residential research teams is guessing the impact on the housing market of the various permutations that could be thrown up by the general election.
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InsightStarter Home initiative numbers don’t add up
An apocryphal letter to the Daily Telegraph once welcomed the prospect of plain cigarette packaging: it would allow governments more room on the back of each packet to draft their policies.
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Insight'Adjectivometer’ tells the story of build-to-rent
It’s been a funny old month in the housing industry.
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InsightWhy coming out of a recession can be a dangerous time
Bricks may be more in demand in London than Mulberry handbags right now, judging by Stock Exchange releases from housebuilders and the luxury goods group in the past month, but resulting cost rises may be the least of contractors’ and their clients’ problems. .
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InsightMiliband may have fluffed his lines but mansion tax is likely to chime with voters
Ed Miliband’s Labour conference speech, delivered without notes, was derided when it emerged he had “forgotten” to mention the deficit - but the question is how much thought Labour put into the headline policy announcement, the long-threatened mansion tax. He said it would be a tax on homes worth over ...
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InsightHome economics: Scotland’s “no” vote means there’s no need for panic any more
In the end, even Andy Murray’s late rally didn’t deliver independence for Scotland.
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InsightAre we heading towards a London buyers’ market, or is this a temporary lull?
Can’t afford to buy, can’t afford not to buy,” was the resigned lament of a wannabe London homebuyer during the recording of a Radio 4 documentary series.
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InsightRising housing market still has many hurdles to jump
A decent gauge of over-heating in the construction industry is the prospect of nabbing a seat on the 06:31 to London’s Cannon Street: it’s been getting harder.
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InsightSpeculation over interest rate rises sends housebuilders’ shares tumbling
While Neymar and Oscar were playing keepie uppie in Brazil, Mark Carney and George Osborne looked as if they were attempting to play keepie downie with house prices in London. Do they think it’s all over?
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InsightMiliband’s pre-election football could turn off rental investors
Readers of a certain age may have spluttered “it’s back to the Seventies” on hearing Labour leader Ed Miliband prescribing tougher controls on private landlords and rents.
