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MORNING NEWS: It’s stormy out there. Ups, downs and an £84m tax bill

News

Emily Wright

21 February 2022

Let’s start with the highlights first. No one wants to start their working week waking up on the wrong side of bed if they can help it.

UK house prices have risen by a whopping £8,000 this month. If that sounds like an unusually large leap it is because it is. In fact, it is the biggest jump we have seen in over two decades. With the average house price now coming in at just under £350,000 according to Rightmove, that’s a 9.5% increase on this time last year.

More big bucks now as SoftBank has backed a £140m fundraise into a UK retail investor start-up. A good week on the horizon then for PrimaryBid, which allows UK investors to buy shares in initial public offerings. The company, which has already worked with companies including Deliveroo and PensionBee in the UK, allows its users to join institutional investors in buying shares when they were first sold on the stock market.

I’m afraid that’s your lot on the good news this morning. Now to some of the more taxing reads, if you will forgive the pun.

Matalan’s founder John Hargreaves has lost a 20-year case over his £84m tax bill. The Monaco-based 78-year-old has been ordered to pay capital gains tax on his sale of £231m of Matalan’s shares back in May 2000. While the final amount owed has not yet been determined, once interest is added, it could reach as high as £135m. Ouch.

In other not so cheering news, retirement housing developer McCarthy Stone has warned of a looming retirement home crisis unless action is taken, and Kier Starmer wrote over the weekend that UK property has been targeted by the “creeping tendrils of the Kremlin”.

The warning comes as new figures obtained by the Observer show nearly 30,000 properties in England and Wales, including mansions owned by the Russian elite, are registered to companies and individuals based in the British Virgin Islands. Most of the owners are unknown.

And in other news, the three women in their seventies who have been accused of acting as a “cartel” are back.

They have evicted another longstanding tenant without explanation from a row of prized beach huts in Weymouth, Dorset.

A retired teacher is the latest to join the six families and a sea-swimming club, who were also kicked out by the directors of Greenhill Community Trust, which manages the 45 huts.

Evictees claim there is no apparent reason and no explanation for their evictions.

So that’s it, there’s your lot. I told you it wasn’t exactly a calm and tranquil tonic to those stormy skies outside. Nothing like a bit of pathetic fallacy to kick off another week in the world of property.

Good morning and happy Monday one and all. If you are still reeling from the storms, with more to come, then fair warning that this news round-up is not exactly a calm and tranquil tonic. That’s not to say it is all bad news out there, but it is certainly somewhat erratic. This collection of latest news and views has a bit of everything; ups, downs and an £84m tax bill. Let’s start with the highlights first. No one wants to start their working week waking up on the wrong side of bed if they can help it. UK house prices have risen by a whopping £8,000 this month. If that sounds like an unusually large leap it is because it is. In fact, it is the biggest jump we have seen in over two decades. With the average house price now coming in at just under £350,000 according to Rightmove, that’s a 9.5% increase on this time last year. More big bucks now as SoftBank has backed a £140m fundraise into a UK retail investor start-up. A good week on the horizon then for PrimaryBid, which allows UK investors to buy shares in initial public offerings. The company, which has already worked with companies including Deliveroo and PensionBee in the UK, allows its users to join institutional investors in buying shares when they were first sold on the stock market. I’m afraid that’s your lot on the good news this morning. Now to some of the more taxing reads, if you will forgive the pun. Matalan’s founder John Hargreaves has lost a 20-year case over his £84m tax bill. The Monaco-based 78-year-old has been ordered to pay capital gains tax on his sale of £231m of Matalan’s shares back in May 2000. While the final amount owed has not yet been determined, once interest is added, it could reach as high as £135m. Ouch. In other not so cheering news, retirement housing developer McCarthy Stone has warned of a looming retirement home crisis unless action is taken, and Kier Starmer wrote over the weekend that UK property has been targeted by the “creeping tendrils of the Kremlin”. The warning comes as new figures obtained by the Observer show nearly 30,000 properties in England and Wales, including mansions owned by the Russian elite, are registered to companies and individuals based in the British Virgin Islands. Most of the owners are unknown. And in other news, the three women in their seventies who have been accused of acting as a “cartel” are back. They have evicted another longstanding tenant without explanation from a row of prized beach huts in Weymouth, Dorset. A retired teacher is the latest to join the six families and a sea-swimming club, who were also kicked out by the directors of Greenhill Community Trust, which manages the 45 huts. Evictees claim there is no apparent reason and no explanation for their evictions. So that’s it, there’s your lot. I told you it wasn’t exactly a calm and tranquil tonic to those stormy skies outside. Nothing like a bit of pathetic fallacy to kick off another week in the world of property.