Wednesday 13 June 2012

Tax avoidance on thousands of homes through offshore companies...


Government officials have estimated that around 5000 homes in Britain are believed to have avoided stamp duty and inheritance tax by the owners registering them in a way that is not as above board as they would like you to believe.
The statistics were obtained by the Independent newspaper via the investigative website Exaro and show that the multi-million pound properties are predominantly in London and around 500 of the homes, totaling a combined value of £1.6bn, were bought in the last year. 
It was claimed that one exclusive street recently renovated was almost entirely bought using the loophole.

In his Budget the Chancellor, George Osborne, said he would come down "like a ton of bricks" on the practice of switching large properties into corporate control and introduced a stamp duty levy of 15 per cent for houses bought this way.


Monday 11 June 2012

Britons rush to sell European properties - Telegraph



Greek properties would be the hardest hit with prices falling as much as 50 per cent, according to startling estimates made by foreign currency specialists HiFX. It has seen enquires from Britons looking to sell their European homes rise by almost 200 per cent since 2008.
Its research shows that 39 per cent of Britons are looking to sell up in Greece, 34 per cent in Spain and 23 per cent in Portugal.
Mark Bodega, marketing director at HiFX, said: "As many European governments tackle their deficits, second-home owners, especially those based overseas, have become easy targets for tax increases and as a result many are selling up and returning their assets to the UK."

Nationwide grabs bigger share of mortgage market | Business | The Guardian



Nationwide Building Society has written a third of all the new mortgages taken out this year as traditional lenders scaled back in the moribund housing market.
As the country's largest building society announced a fall in profits for the year to 4 April to £203m from £307m, it also unveiled plans to move into the small business banking market next year, an area traditionally dominated by the big four clearing banks.
The Swindon-based building society insisted that it had not relaxed its lending criteria as it admitted that its gross mortgage lending - the volume of new loans - was up 44% at a time when lending across the market was up 5%.


Incredible Beaulieu roundhouse in Hampshire complete with lake goes on market for £12million.



It’s original concept behind the design was to enable its owner could drive his Aston Martin up a ramp and straight into his own first-floor parking bay and turning circle.
Now this amazing roundhouse, which comes complete with a ten acre garden, private 18-metre pontoon on the Bealieu river in Hampshire as well as its own lake, can be yours... for ONLY £12million.
The property was the home of architect Seymour Harris who, after designing it, lived there for six years.
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