Stay informed with free updatesSimply subscribe to myFT Digest for Real Estate – delivered straight to your inbox.Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt is setting out plans for a 99 per cent mortgage scheme ahead of the Budget, according to officials, as the Conservatives seek to reassure voters that the party is on the side of homebuyers. The scheme will only require homebuyers to put down a 1 per cent deposit to purchase their first home, with the government acting as backer for the loan. The proposals aim to support people struggling to get a place on the housing ladder. Prime Minister…
Author: ricardofrancois
Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg employees work on a production line for a Model Y electric car on March 20, 2023.Patrick Bluel | Image Alliance | Getty ImagesElectric vehicle maker Tesla It failed to get a vote among local residents in favor of allowing a large factory expansion of the company's battery and automotive assembly plant in Brandenburg, Germany.German state-owned broadcaster DW first reported on the vote and that Tesla needed to cut down nearly “250 acres of forest in the rural community of fewer than 8,000 residents near a nature conservation area” in order to expand.Tesla's expansion plans in Gruenheide, which…
Former US President Donald Trump points out the day of his court hearing on charges of falsifying business records to cover up a payment to a porn star before the 2016 election, in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, New York, on February 15, 2024.Andrew Kelly | ReutersFormer President Donald Trump is preparing to fight a huge fine in a New York business fraud case that threatens to wipe out most of the money he says he has on hand.But first he has to secure a backing – and that may not be easy.Trump was ordered on Friday…
Arc Boat Company's all-electric Arc Sport model gets between four and six hours of typical use on a single charge.Arc Boat CompanyArc Boat began sales of its second electric boat model in three years just this week. The new $258,000 Arc Sport is designed for the attentive sports enthusiast and follows the company's previous Arc One model, a limited-edition luxury cruiser.While the startup has produced fewer than two dozen of those previous boats, it is preparing for continued production of the new model, which it unveiled on Tuesday.The 23-foot-long Arc Sport can carry up to 15 people at a time.…
Robert Habeck, German Minister of Economy and Climate Protection and Vice Chancellor, during the weekly Cabinet meeting on February 21, 2024 in Berlin, Germany.Florian Gärtner | phototech | Getty ImagesGermany's gross domestic product is now expected to grow by just 0.2% this year, as the country wades through “difficult waters,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Wednesday.The revised GDP growth forecast fell from the previous estimate of 1.3%. Habeck said the government now expects German GDP to increase by 1% in 2025.Speaking during a press conference, the minister attributed the revised forecasts to the unstable global economic environment and…
Ford Super Duty trucks at the Kentucky Truck Assembly Plant in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 27, 2023.Joe White | Reutersstronghold The local union of the United Auto Workers, UAW Local 62, reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday to avoid a strike at the automaker's most profitable plant.The UAW has threatened that nearly 9,000 workers at a Ford truck plant in Kentucky will strike on Friday if local union demands are not resolved.The deal addresses local issues related to skilled trades, work environment and health and safety, the UAW said Tuesday.Ford said in a statement that it was “pleased to reach…
An Israeli national flag above a product for sale at the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, Israel, on November 7, 2023.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesIsrael's gross domestic product shrank by about 20% in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to official figures.The contraction was much larger than expected, with analysts expecting a contraction of about 10%. It reflects the toll the country is waging against Hamas in Gaza, which is now entering its fifth month.Monday's economic data “pointed primarily to a contraction in private sector consumption and a deep contraction in investment, especially in real estate,” Goldman Sachs analysts…
Blurred buses pass in front of the Bank of England in the City of London on February 7, 2024 in London, United Kingdom. Mike Kemp | In pictures | Getty ImagesThe Bank of England is likely to keep interest rates high for longer before cutting them more sharply than expected in the second half of the year, according to new forecasts from Goldman Sachs.In a research note issued Tuesday, the Wall Street bank pushed back its interest rate cut expectations by one month, from May to June, citing several key inflation indicators that are “on the firmer side.”But he said…
I own an equal third share of a property in France worth £350,000 with my brother. We also own a third equal interest in a property in the UK worth approximately £750,000. One of the brothers wishes to purchase the entire French property by purchasing our remaining shares, with which all parties are happy. He proposed using his third share in the London property to do this. Can he gift his share of UK property to the other brothers? In return, they would give him a third of their shares in French property. What are the legal and tax implications…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Mortgage lending to older borrowers in the UK fell in the last three months of 2023, as rising interest rates squeezed affordability for over-55s.The number of new mortgages taken out by older borrowers – those over the age of 55 – fell by 37 percent year-on-year in October, November and December of last year, according to data from the… British Trade UK Finance. The value of this lending amounted to £4.1 billion, a decrease of 42 percent. Home equity mortgages, or remortgages,…