Clearview Midlands December 2013 - Issue 145 | Page 70

BUSINESSNEWS

UK HOUSE PRICES SET TO RISE 17% BY 2018
CBRE forecasts that national house prices will rise 17% during the
next five years as the economic recovery is underway.
The news follows an increase in optimism,
which has fed through to the national
housing market, with mortgage approvals
at their highest level since 2008, leading
to over 62,000 requests approved during
August 2013.
The market will be boosted by help to buy,
low interest rates and improvements in the
mortgage market. With most favourable
economic conditions in Southern England,
CBRE expect house prices in London, the

South East and East of England will witness
the most significant growth throughout the
next five years.
Jennet Siebrits, Head of Residential Research
at CBRE, comments: “The continued
improvement in lending conditions has been
a significant factor in the increased demand
across the UK property market. Notably,
the Funding for Lending and Help-to-Buy
equity loan schemes have proven particularly
successful.

“The first phase of Help-to-Buy has achieved
its objective of stimulating the UK property
market, through delivering over 15,000
reservations since April of this year. We expect
the second phase of Help-to-Buy to become a
‘game changer’ and therefore anticipate it will
help in the region of half a million prospective
buyers who are seeking to enter the property
market.”
Source: CBRE Group, Inc.

THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE
SHOWROOM BUSINESS
Award-winning fabricator MPN
windows has six showrooms
operating throughout South
Wales and continues to go from
strength to strength with the
help of Network VEKA.
Most recently, the familyowned company opened two
large showrooms - in Cardiff and
Swansea - within just 12 months
of each other.
MPN owner Paul Webster
explains why he thinks the

company has grown so
significantly since its launch
in 1994: “We’re very keen to
promote our Network VEKA
membership to potential

customers. The message of the
organisation sits very well with
our own company ethos of
putting the customer first, giving
them honest advice and complete
peace of mind.
“MPN is very much a familyrun company and our reputation
means everything to us. We don’t
take a ‘hard sell’ approach, we’re
happy to answer questions in
a no-obligation manner - and
people respect that.

“In the modern age of internet
reviews and ratings, the customer
is back in charge - and reliable,
straight-talking companies are
beginning to get the recognition
they deserve.
“We have a pretty impressive
website, but nothing compares
to coming into a showroom and
seeing the products in real life.”
Network VEKA, 01282 473170,
www.networkveka.co.uk

DATA PAYMENT CRACKDOWN
A new crackdown on tax evasion will make information
on all credit and debit card payments to UK
businesses available to HMRC for the first time.
Under new powers, HMRC can now access
information from the UK’s merchant
acquirers – the companies that process
card payment transactions – to find out the
number and value of transactions completed
by a specific trader.

‘Reduce fraud by over
£50 million per annum’

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DEC 2013

No personal data identifying the card owners
or card numbers will be obtained, but this data
will be used to ensure that traders have correctly
accounted for all taxes due – levelling the playing
field for all businesses.
Announced in the same week as it launches
a tax evasion advertising campaign, HMRC
estimates that this information could reduce
fraud by over £50 million per annum. Tax
evasion and the hidden economy cost the

taxpayer £9 billion a year. The Government
has given HMRC nearly £1 billion to tackle
fraud and evasion, and these new powers give
HMRC an extra tool to ensure a level playing
field between businesses, and also reduce
opportunities for those who try and cheat
the system. Legislation was introduced in the
Finance Act 2013 allowing HMRC access to
merchant acquirer data. The legislation came
into effect on 1 September 2013.

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