According to the Rightmove property website, the average price of a house coming on to the market in the capital jumped by £16,000, or 3.3%, in a month to a record £509,000, while the London borough of Camden has joined Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea in an “elite club” where the average price-tag is more than £1m.

The national average asking price has also hit a new high, having risen by more than £20,000, or 9.1%, since the start of 2013 to reach £249,000 – the strongest start to a year since 2004.

Cheap mortgage rates for those buyers with decent deposits, courtesy of the government’s funding for lending scheme, are driving positive sentiment, said a spokesman.

In London, with demand for properties far outstripping supply, open-house viewings attended by multiple buyers were becoming more commonplace, and sealed bids were the norm in some areas, the website claimed.

Rightmove’s data comes days after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said funding for lending and the “help to buy” initiative announced in the March budget were responsible for a strong pickup in demand for residential property that was not yet matched by an increase in the supply of homes to buy.

Rics this week said conditions were at their most buoyant since mid-2010.

The help to buy scheme is made up of two parts: a scheme where the government will partially guarantee £130bn of low-deposit mortgages with the aim of enabling many more people to obtain a home loan without the need for a prohibitively large deposit, and a £3.5bn investment in government loans to financially stretched homebuyers. However, Rics warned in March that ministers “need to be careful this doesn’t create another housing bubble – pushing prices up at the expense of buyers”.

The Bank of England governor, Sir Mervyn King, weighed in on the issue on Sunday, telling Sky News’ Murnaghan programme that the scheme must not become a permanent one. “This scheme is a little too close for comfort to a general scheme to guarantee mortgages,” he said.

Meanwhile, funding for lending allows lenders to borrow from the Bank at below market rates so they can make cheaper loans to businesses and first-time buyers – but some lenders have used this cheap money to offer mortgages with record-low rates that are only available to customers with big deposits.

Lending to first-time buyers has increased in recent months, though at the same time the buy-to-let market appears to be enjoying a new lease of life, with figures issued by the Council of Mortgage Lenders this month showing that lending to landlords jumped in the first quarter of this year.

Miles Shipside at Rightmove, which claims to feature about 90% of all properties for sale, said: “Despite a new national record, it’s not ‘green shoots of recovery’ across the board, especially for the deposit-strapped mass market. They must wait patiently until January, when the Help to Buy scheme extends to the resale market, unless new homes developers can increase building dramatically this year.”

According to the website, the average asking price of a newly marketed property in England and Wales rose for the fifth consecutive month, and every region notched up an increase.

Among the regions that have achieved strong price growth over the past month are the north of England (up £6,182, or 4.2%) and East Anglia (up £8,909, or 4%). However, it is the strength of the London market that has surprised many observers. At £509,870, the average asking price in the capital is £40,500 higher than it was a year ago, when the typical figure stood at £469,314.

London’s best-performing boroughs included Camden, where average asking prices jumped 7.2% in a month to reach £1.05m; Brent (up 5.9% to £732,000); and Lambeth (up 5.6% to £529,000), according the site.

Shipside said one problem was that new seller numbers were down by 5% in 2013 compared with last year, which was fuelling demand. Meanwhile, some fortunate buyers had benefited from financial assistance from parents and other family members. Rightmove said the “Bank of Mum and Dad” was supporting more than one in three of London’s first-time buyers.

Article taken from The Guardian.

Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment and the controller of the Canary Wharf financial district received permission late yesterday from Lambeth Borough Council for a project that includes more than 1.2 million square feet (111,000 square meters) of offices and apartments across eight buildings ranging from five to 37 stories. The tower occupied by Shell since the 1960s will remain part of the development.

“We’re very excited about the area, it’s almost the best-kept secret,” John Pagano, managing director of Canary Wharf Group, said in a telephone interview. “It’s going to compete with the West End fringe.”

About 20 percent of the new homes will be for low-income residents and the developers will pay as much as 24.5 million pounds ($37 million) to the borough, according to a filing on the council’s website. Not all of the affordable homes will be on the Shell Centre site.

Songbird Estates Plc (SBD), which owns 69 percent of Canary Wharf Group, was up 1.3 percent at 141.25 pence at the 4:30 p.m. close in London. The shares have gained 19 percent this year, raising Songbird’s market value to 1.05 billion pounds.

‘Strategic Objectives’

“The development would give rise to not only additional jobs in the borough, but would also contribute towards strategic objectives for London in its promotion as a world city,” council officials said in a document recommending planning approval.

The development is in London’s Southbank district, where investors have spent about 500 million pounds on real estate in the past six months, Investment Property Databank Ltd. and broker Farebrother said in a May 20 report. Offices in the area generated returns of 9.6 percent in 2012, the second-highest in London, according to the report. The West End was top with returns of 10.6 percent.

Qatar, the world’s biggest producer of liquefied natural gas, spent $60 billion a year abroad between 2008 and 2012, according to International Monetary Fund data. The nation’s sovereign-wealth fund has, through various units, amassed stakes in high-profile U.K. real estate during the spree, including the Shard skyscraper, the Chelsea Barracks luxury-housing development and Harrods department store.

Article from Bloomberg.com

For instance, property close to the new Crossrail network is forecast for significant growth of circa £5.5 billion around new stations by 2021. Set to cost £16 billion, the project is a landmark investment into London’s infrastructure and is one of the largest schemes of modern times. Canary Wharf, the West End and City centre will now be an easy commute of less than 45 minutes for more than 1.5 million people along the route.

Estate agency Knight Frank forecast that the Crossrail network will increase property prices along the route by as much as 25% over forecast growth for London. Fantastic news for investors.

But, growth will not be exclusive to the Crossrail catchment areas. BNP Paribas’ figures published in November 2012, predict growth of 41% over the next 2 years which could mean that London property prices grow a whopping 73% from 2006 to 2016. Amazing for a period when the world is going through the worst financial crisis on record.

We spend months researching and carrying out full due diligence on any project. So, whilst important, the Crossrail network is not the only factor that will impact upon the property prices in the areas we promote.

In Woolwich, for example, there is huge investment in the Woolwich Centre and The Royal Arsenal development, as well as The Royal Borough of Greenwich setting aside £14 million to stimulate economic growth. Only when we look at the entire picture can we forecast, with confidence, that Woolwich property prices are destined to grow.

With the Olympics behind us, 2013 has been a great year for growth across London. According to Hometrack, 48% of London postcodes enjoyed house price growth in March 2013 and annual figures were better than expected, with house prices increasing by an average of 6.4% across London in the past year according to the Office for National Statistics. In fact, London property prices have just hit a record high – more than 12% above their previous peak in March 2008!

Despite all of the due diligence, the most important factor when looking at any investment is whether you will actually make a good return from it. Demand for London property is set to outstrip supply by 36% p.a. over the next 10 years which means only one thing, rental prices will increase!

With all factors considered, London property is one of the safest investments in the World and should be part of any portfolio. With good investment properties starting around £150,000, there has never been a better time to buy a London property.

Recently, some of our customers have discovered that their pensions were not working for them yet they were paying for the privilege of having a badly managed pension fund.

Many of the UK’s pension’s funds have severely under performed in recent years, and many look set to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.
• Are you unsure of your pension charges, or how your pension is being managed?
• Have you moved employer and left pensions behind?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then having a no obligation free pension review may be for you.

Having a free pension review with our IFA partners Investaco could not be easier. They are regulated, which means that their Advisors have to offer truly independent financial advice based upon your situation and what will be best for you and your future.

The pension review is swift and straightforward, telling you if your current pension option is a good one, or explaining the alternatives available to you.

Will there be a cost to me?

It won’t cost you a penny to receive an extensive, professional report of your current pension performance and all of the options available to you.

Do I need a face-to-face meeting?

No. The process as a whole is carried out by telephone, email and post.

Face-to-face meetings are rarely essential, but can be arranged as and when necessary.

SIPP Approved – achieve 4% return per annum during construction followed by 7.5% fixed for 5 years

An exciting opportunity exists to invest in a 120 bedroom high quality purpose built student development in Stoke. The investment model delivers high returns in an asset class that has exceeded every other commercial property class throughout the economic downturn.

Student accommodation is now a recognised asset class and this product represents a fantastic opportunity to invest in a strong counter-cyclical market sector that will continue to thrive within a climate of wider market volatility. As opposed to the semi-conventional sales model of individual room leasehold sale, the proposal is to raise £6,000,000 through the provision of securitised loan notes.

A shocking quarter of those who have paid into a retirement fund have no idea where it is, a study revealed.

Up to five million people could have lost their savings – with pensions brokers or big business swallowing up the forgotten nest-eggs, it was revealed last night.

The research, from Age UK, portrays us as a nation utterly confused about planning for our later years.

In addition to those who have lost track of their pensions more than a fifth of us either do not know how to start saving for our retirement or simply do not see the point.

Workers quizzed for the survey blamed mislaid paperwork and moving jobs too many times. Nearly half of all ­missing pensions are simply “lost in the mists of time”, the figures showed.

It really is amazing how many people simply lose track of money they have saved
Pensions expert Ros Altman
Lucy Harmer, head of services at Age UK, said: “It’s really important to set aside time to keep details of financial products safe and secure.

“With the number of jobs we have over a lifetime increasing, it’s likely people will accumulate several small pension pots.”

Pensions expert Ros Altmann said the “loss” was a serious problem.

“It really is amazing how many people simply lose track of money they have saved,” she added.

“Pensions are locked till later life and cannot be touched along the way so it is easier to forget about them.”

Article taken from the Daily Express

Brussels want businesses to invest extra capital to protect themselves from risks, which could push the deficit for UK pensions funds to £450 billion.

The move to ‘Solvency II’ rules could put a huge burden on UK final salary schemes, according to The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF).

Their chief executive, Joanne Segars, said: “The EU plans for UK pensions come with a clear and unpalatable price tag.

“Businesses trying to run final salary pensions could be faced with bigger pensions bills to plug an astonishing £450bn funding gap.

Minister for pensions Steve Webb described the proposals as ‘reckless’

I continue to urge the Commission to abandon these reckless plans
Minister for pensions Steve Webb
“This would have a highly damaging effect for the retirement prospects of millions of UK workers.”

Figures from the Pension Protection Fund show the deficit stood at £236.6bn in March, a monthly increase of over £30bn.

The proposals, which currently applies to insurers in the EU, would force employers to make bigger contributions to schemes.

Steve Webb, the minister for pensions, described the EU proposals as ‘reckless’.

The proposals from Brussels would force employers to make bigger contributions to schemes

The Liberal Democrat said: “The EU’s latest figures show the extremely high cost its plans would place on UK defined benefit pension schemes.

“This confirms that any such new rules would harm businesses’ ability to invest, grow and create jobs, and many more schemes could be forced to close.

“I continue to urge the Commission to abandon these reckless plans.”

Article from the Daily Express

Now that rates are around 3% for borrowing, the Algarve investment properties are looking like a more tangible asset to have as part of your portfolio.  Whether it is investment or lifestyle (or a mix of both) the Algarve is a popular destination for many Brits wishing to get away from the cold.

Interest in Portuguese property is always high due the amazing climate, stunning landscapes, beautiful food and most importantly the healthy returns.

As yet we have not sold a development with more potential than Alta da Ria in Tavira.  The forecast average Net returns over the next decade are €82,000 which is €8,200 per annum!  Many of the units boast impressive sea views and huge terraces as well as private pools.

The Alta da Ria development is located close to the Benamor Golf course.  Established in 2000, the Benamor Golf Course boasts stunning views to the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and the hills of the Serra do Caldeirao.

This challenging course is well suited to accurate golfers.  The natural obstacles coupled with strategically placed bunkers and occasional water hazards make the course a worthwhile challenge.

Located close to the Spanish border, Tavira is not only perfect for the golf enthusiasts, it has something for everybody and is steeped in tradition and history.  With beautiful beaches, immense history dating as far back as 1,000 BC, unique tradition, handsome character and charm, and also plenty to do for families of all ages, it is easy to see why Tavira has such appeal.

To enquire about our Tavira property please contact tony@ipsbmv.com.

The Algarve has long been a very popular destination for our customers.  The climate, the food and the beautiful landscapes are just a few of the attractions of the Algarve.

The most important factors are the fantastic rental returns that can be achieved due to the year round tourism that the Algarve enjoys and the forecast capital appreciation over the next 10 years

Millions of low earners are likely to see their expected state pension cut by up to a quarter as a result of government plans unveiled earlier this year.

According to an in-depth analysis by consultancy Hymans Robertson, the plan to introduce a single-tier, flat-rate payment of £144 a week will see many existing workers receiving less than they would have built up from the current basic state pension plus the state second pension, which will be axed.

Under the current system, anyone earning between £5,564 and £14,700 can build up a state pension of up to £192.45 a week, or £10,007 a year. Under the new regime they will be entitled to a maximum of only £144 a week, or £7,488 a year.

Would you like a free pension review?  Please click here to sign up for  your free no obligation pension review. 

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