Figures released today by the Bank of England show that mortgage lending fell by a massive sixty per cent in March confirming that the UK property market faces a tough 2011.

The asking prices for homes in the UK have dropped for the first time this year according to new research carried out by property website Rightmove.

The website has revealed that 70 per cent of homes that have been put up for sale in 2011 are still waiting to attract a buyer. Increased competition amongst sellers to attract buyers during a period of low demand has led to asking prices falling by 1.6 per cent, the biggest July fall since 2008.

It says that the average asking price for a home on sale is £236,597. However, figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) state that the average selling price is just £203,528 which means that sellers and estate agents are over-valuing homes by around 16 per cent. via myfinances.co.uk

The heads of Britain’s blue-chip companies have been criticised after they were reportedly given big pay rises despite the economic donwturn.

The figures, compiled by pay consultancy MM&K and corporate governance group Manifest, angered shareholder groups and trade unions. Those in charge of FTSE 100 companies earn more than 150 times the average wage in Britain of around £23,000.

The FTSE’s top earner was Michael Spencer of broking firm ICAP who took home £23m. Median pay, the mid-point between the top and bottom earners, was £3.5m. Sarah Wilson, chief executive of Manifest, said:

“This is not the politics of envy, this is about saying, ‘hang on, you’re coming back to shareholders for bailing out, but we are not getting rewarded. “The survey identifies a shift from longer-term incentives, typically over three years, to annual bonuses, mirroring the approach that caused so many problems in the banking sector.” First posted via news.sky.com

It’s now april. The first 3 months of the year are now over. So what have you achieved? Check out this brief video below that will hopefully give you a kick start to get you back on track.

Great presentation on from Mary Meeker (Morgan Stanley) about the Economy and Internet Trends.

It’s funny who you meet on a train or walking down the street.  Today whilst spending a day blogging about bussiness, I saw a lady who seemed to be struggling with her bags.  I asked if I could help and she replied with a smile saying “Yes thank you.”  I asked where she was going and it turned out she was flying to singapore.  The lady in question was Caroline Oliver we got talking about what we both did for the brief duration of our journeys.

Here is a brief extract from her new book ONE WAY TO GOVERN

“All our futures, wherever we are in the world, depend upon our ability to come together in order to envision the future, create solutions to our problems and put our visions and solutions into practice.

 Successful governance does just this.  Successful governance provides a mechanism for people to direct and control the organisations we create to make the differences we desire and thereby take our societies forward.  Whether we are talking about national governments, public organisations, for-profit organisations or non-profit organisations – governance is what makes their wheels go round.  This article describes one way to govern.  It is based on what I believe is the most advanced theoretical and practical model we have today – the Policy Governance®¹ model created by John Carver – and it all starts with the concept of ownership.”

So next time you see someone struggling, just think about who that person may be, and how they could help you.

Christmas Cashflow – Hotel Du Vin Harrogate