Beatles-inspired hotel for sale

CBRE has brought the Beatles-inspired Hard Days Night Hotel to market and is seeking offers in excess of £11m on behalf of the hotel’s private owner. The 110 bedroom, 4* hotel is situated on the corner of North John Street and Mathew Street where the new Cavern Club is located.

Nine facts about Rightmove

Anna White of the Telegraph runs down nine facts about Rightmove. They are: 1. Rightmove is a more popular search term than pop band One Direction 2. The website was originally going to be called Doorknob 3. Its first ad featured footballer Ian Wright 4. The most viewed property online was an all purple home with 3m hits 5. There have been eight weddings between Rightmove colleagues in 15 years 6. All employees of over 10-years receive a personalised garden gnome 7. 3,711 pubs have been put on sale via the site 8. The average price of a home in England and Wales hit £281,752 this year 9. Monday and Tuesday nights are the busiest times for the website in traffic terms.

Falling bolts cost £1m

Steelwork firm Severfield has seen costs from replacing bolts that fell from London’s Cheesegrater building reach £1m. Bolts breaking and falling saw British Land fence the building off last year and the developer, alongside Severfield and contractor Laing O’Rourke, are carrying out programme to rectify the issue that is likely to be finished by year end.

Downsizing decision a big one

The Times carries several letters in response to a report from the RICS which detailed the role a reluctance to downsize by homeowners has played in the housing shortage. One letter says that property is a popular form of wealth but an apprehension over capital gains tax sees people prefer one larger property over two smaller ones that sees one rented out. Another says that calling on older homeowners to move to smaller property will not work unless the stresses associated with the sale and purchase of property are eased. Another claims that the Conservatives’ decision to remove many main residences from inheritance tax will encourage older owners to hold onto large properties.

RICS’ budget wishlist

The Government should use the budget tomorrow to announce measures to encourage baby boomers with too many rooms in their homes to downsize and free up space for families, according to RICS. It said that Britain was experiencing the lowest level of housebuilding in peacetime since the 1920s and that owner occupancy was at a 27-year low. RICS added that 8m homeowners over the age of 60 could be interested in downsizing, bringing potentially 3.5m homes back on to the market, of which about 2.3m would be family homes of three or more bedrooms. "Many older homeowners are over-spaced, while their children face a lifetime of renting cramped accommodation in an increasingly unaffordable market," it said. It also warned that legacy of home ownership was at risk, with younger generations being unable to afford to follow in their parents' footsteps, and called on the Chancellor to use the budget to commit to a review of inheritance tax and its role in the housing market in the next parliament. It suggests that the Government should consider waiving inheritance tax and stamp duty on a property if the seller is above a certain age and specifically looking to downsize, and that measures should be introduced to remove the myriad obstacles to the building of new homes on brownfield sites.