Lenders grant 1.6m mortgage payment holidays to homeowners April 28, 2020 Lenders have granted 1.6m mortgage payment holidays to homeowners facing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in March that households with mortgages would be entitled to three-month payment holidays. Over a third of payment holidays approved so far were done in the first week of the UK’s lockdown. One in [...]
Economies in free fall as hopes fade for a V-shaped recovery April 28, 2020 | City Talk Amongst the arguments about a lack of protective clothing for health workers and whether governments were too slow to react to the spread of Covid-19, the latest figures show that the pandemic is gradually coming under control. The rate of growth in new infections and fatalities around the world is slowing and the curves are [...]
Five ways to retain your wealth management clients in 2020 April 28, 2020 | City Talk The global wealth management industry is being buffeted by demographic changes among investors, as well as technological advancements such as the arrival of robo-advisers. Recent research commissioned by Bank of America on millennials’ spending priorities in the USA – with millennials defined as those aged 24 to 41 – found that about 25% of those who [...]
Coronavirus: Almost 40 per cent of UK firms expect to cut staff April 28, 2020 Roughly 40 per cent of UK firms expect to lay off staff over the next 12 months, a survey has shown, raising the prospect of many more job cuts in the UK economy. UK unemployment has already surged as coronavirus lockdown measures cause businesses to close or cut costs significantly. Close to 1m people made [...]
Zoopla: £82bn of UK house sales on hold as transactions set to halve in 2020 April 28, 2020 Hundreds of thousands of property transactions have been put on hold as the UK housing market freezes up during the coronavirus lockdown, with house sales set to fall 50 per cent this year. Roughly 373,000 property transactions with a total value of £82bn are on hold after the government put in place strict coronavirus restrictions, [...]
China’s industrial profits nosedive in the first quarter April 27, 2020 China’s industrial profits improved modestly in March but the near 35 per cent fall indicates the country is still grappling with the effects of the coronavirus on the economy. China’s industrial profits dropped 34.9 per cent in March, compared with a 38.3 per cent drop in the first two months, according to the National Bureau [...]
Italy to ease lockdown measures as coronavirus infections drop April 27, 2020 Italy has signalled an easing of lockdown measures put in place seven weeks ago to battle a sudden lethal spike in coronavirus cases. Italy will begin to relax lockdown measures from 4 May, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said. People will be able to visit relatives in small numbers and building sites, factories and parks will [...]
UK economy will take three years to recover from coronavirus, say analysts April 27, 2020 The UK economy could take three years to return to its 2019 size after the coronavirus pandemic has passed, a new report has warned, as consumer spending and business investment plunge. The report from economics forecaster EY Item Club said UK GDP would likely shrink 6.8 per cent in 2020 and unemployment would surge to [...]
Businesses call for clarity on lockdown as fears grow for firms and jobs April 27, 2020 Business leaders’ group the Institute of Directors (IoD) has called on the government to provide more information about reopening the economy as bosses grow fearful about their firms’ prospects after the coronavirus outbreak. It comes as a report shows that one in three jobs are at risk in some parts of the country, including the [...]
Housebuilding set to drop 35 per cent in 2020, says report April 27, 2020 Coronavirus lockdown measures will mean 35 per cent fewer houses will be built in the UK in 2020 than originally planned, according to a new report, a fall likely to add to the stresses in the British housing market over the coming years. Property consultant Knight Frank predicted in a new report that around 104,000 [...]