UK mortgage lending picked up 10% in January compared with the same month last year.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, gross mortgage lending stood at £10.5bn in January, down 14% from December, but up 10% on January 2011.

Although a seasonal decline is expected, January was the sixth month in a row of higher year-on-year lending.

CML chief economist Bob Pannell said: "Housing and mortgage market sentiment has improved a little over recent weeks.

"The increase in lending compared to January last year helps support our view that housing and mortgage market activity may be boosted by first-time buyers seeking to complete deals before the stamp duty concession ends in March.

"Should inflationary pressures continue to fall back, the squeeze on household finances should ease progressively and help support stronger economic recovery going into the second half of the year. This can only be good news for the housing market further down the track."

20-02-2012

Companies that want staff to “think outside the box” could move into bigger offices if they give new research credence.

Psychological Science reported results that showed working in airier, less constricted workplaces stimulated workers’ brains more and boosted their ability to “think outside the box”.

25/01/12 Daily Telegraph 8

TheCityUK says Britain has secured more inward investment from sovereign wealth funds than Germany, France and Spain combined.

The body that promotes the British financial services industry estimated Britain had attracted $68bn (£43bn), or 17%, of the world’s sovereign wealth fund investment in the six years to 2011. This was second only to the US. However, funds are now focusing more on emerging markets than mature economies. New direct investment by sovereign funds fell 25% in 2011 to $59bn.

02/02/12 Times 36, 37

M25 office take-up dipped 7% last year, but large requirements are set to dominate 2012. Egi reports.

Take-up across the major M25 centres reached 3.9m sq ft in 2011, compared to 4.2m sq ft the previous year, Colliers International has calculated.

Fourth-quarter take-up dropped 23% on Q3. However, deals in the Thames Valley during the same period remained static.

A slowdown in large requirements last year and more space coming onto the market led to vacancy levels rising to 17.3%.

But strong performances were recorded in areas including Chiswick and Reading, where headline rents increased.

Colliers said a number of confidential large-scale requirements are set to be activated in the current quarter.

Philip Papenfus, head of south-east offices at Colliers, said: "The market will continue to be driven by lease events and speculative development will only take place in the established office locations where existing supply constraints allow. There may be scope for less costly refurbishment opportunities, with the option of delivery into a more positive environment in 2013."

He added: "We would hope to see 2012 herald more opportunistic transactions where competitive terms being offered by landlords reap rewards, but additional voids may come through merger and acquisition activities as cash-rich companies apply these resources."

31-01-2012