Zombie accounts take a bite out of UK savings October 30, 2015 On the eve of Halloween, almost half of UK savers are at risk of being bitten by zombies warns peer-to-peer lender, RateSetter. Two in five people have no idea about the rate paid on their savings and are in danger of being bitten by ultra-low interest rates, the study of over 2,000 people found. And scarily, that rises to almost half [...]
Eurozone creeps out of negative inflation as consumer price index inches up to zero in October October 30, 2015 The Eurozone crept out of negative inflation this month, although it remains way below the European Central Bank's target of just under two per cent. Year-on-year CPI growth was flat, having fallen 0.1 per cent in September, according to a flash estimate by Eurostat out today. European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi has said the emerging market slowdown and financial market turbulence [...]
Where are the UK’s £1m houses? These London boroughs sold more £1m-homes than Scotland, Wales and the rest of the UK combined October 30, 2015 All but two of London's boroughs have had more £1m-houses sold so far this year than the whole of Scotland. From January to the end of August just two local authorities – Dagenham & Barking and Newham – have had no sales of £1m-homes, placing them in the same position as Scotland. But even when compared to Wales, where 14 [...]
UK house prices: Combined wealth of UK property investors rises 40 per cent in a year, hitting a record £306bn October 30, 2015 The UK's real estate investors are richer than ever before, with £306bn of wealth – a new record. That's according to the Estates Gazette Rich List, which said this was the first year the figure had risen above £300bn. It's a 40 per cent jump since 2014, when the total figure was £218.3bn. What's surprising is [...]
Bubble bubble housing trouble: London’s property market is scarily close to a crash October 30, 2015 London's housing market is teetering on the brink of a crash after two years of “explosive” growth that has turned it into one of the most overvalued cities in the world, economists at UBS have warned. The news comes as research released today from YourMove and Reeds Rains shows that record numbers of aspiring homeowners believe [...]
RBS is “cutting people off from their own money” and “starving businesses of both cash and credit,” says Move Your Money campaign October 30, 2015 Royal Bank of Scotland is the “worst” bank for branch closures, according to a new report out today. One in three British branch closures between 2014 and 2015 was at the hands of RBS or its sister brand, NatWest, according to the Move Your Money campaign. Accusing Britain’s biggest lender to small businesses of “abandoning [...]
Britain needs one million extra construction workers by 2020 to fulfil housebuilding needs October 30, 2015 The UK will need one million extra construction workers by 2020 to fulfil its growing housebuilding requirements, new research has revealed today. There are currently 980,000 people working in the UK’s house building industry, who are set to build 148,000 new homes this year. This will need to grow to 1.98m workers in order to [...]
Consumers growing more positive about personal finance but worried over UK economy October 30, 2015 People are feeling more positive about their personal finances, but more worried about the general UK economy, new research today reveals. The latest UK Consumer Confidence Barometer, conducted by market research giant GfK, surveyed 2,000 individuals on how the financial situation of their household had changed over the past 12 months. The index increased by [...]
Brexit referendum: S&P will downgrade the UK’s AAA credit rating if we leave the EU October 29, 2015 Britain's credit rating could be downgraded by as much as two notches if we leave the EU, Standard & Poor's told City A.M. yesterday. The UK has a AAA rating, but S&P's chief sovereign rating officer Moritz Kraemer said it could drop one notch, to AA with a vote to leave the EU, and drop two [...]
Brits plan on spending £700m on smart technology to protect their homes, finds Allianz Insurance October 29, 2015 Britons plan to splash out £700m on smart technology to protect their homes, with one in five people planning to invest, an Allianz Insurance study revealed today. According to Allianz Insurance’s Smart Tech Safer Homes study, forward-thinking Londoners are leading the way. Those living in the city having already spent £774 on average on smart home-protection [...]