UK mortgage approvals rose to more than two-year high before Budget November 29, 2024 UK lenders approved the most mortgages in more than two years last month as Britain’s housing market proved resilient ahead of the new government’s first Budget. Banks and building societies gave the green light to 68,300 loans for house purchase in October, according to data from the Bank of England. That figure is the highest [...]
Construction projects in London dipped but developer optimism remained November 28, 2024 Construction projects in London dipped this year, but positive signals like lower interest rates and easing construction cost inflation have boosted optimism amongst developers. The number of construction projects started between April and September this year fell by 12 per cent, with refurbishments down 57 per cent, according to the Deloitte London office crane survey. [...]
Forget Reeves’ CV – there’s a bigger transparency problem in monetary policy November 28, 2024 The real discussion shouldn’t be about whether Reeves deserves to call herself an “economist”. It should focus on the unchecked power of current central bank leaders, the far-reaching consequences of their decisions, and how we hold them to account, says Tim Focas The recent controversy over Rachel Reeves’ tenure as an economist at the Bank [...]
Bank of England rate-setter warns Trump’s tariffs will damage growth November 27, 2024 “Whether you are an economic historian, an economic theorist or a data-driven economist, the impact is clear in terms of its direction," she said.
Nationwide banks £2.3bn gain from Virgin Money takeover as profit tumbles November 27, 2024 Nationwide has bagged a £2.3bn gain from its acquisition of Virgin Money, setting up a windfall for members of Britain’s biggest building society.
Labour survey failing because Brits don’t answer phones anymore, Bank official says November 26, 2024 The Bank of England’s chief economist has warned that improving official statistics might prove to be a “formidable” challenge due a distinctively British characteristic. For months policymakers have struggled with unreliable data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which has made it very difficult to get a clear picture of the UK’s labour market. [...]
UK proposes earlier banker bonuses in bid to boost competition November 26, 2024 UK regulators have officially laid out plans for the country’s top bankers to get their bonuses years earlier in a bid to boost competition with rival jurisdictions. The Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published proposals on Tuesday to reduce the bonus deferral period for most [...]
Bank of England’s Lombardelli supports ‘gradual’ interest rate cuts November 25, 2024 In her first speech as one of the Bank's deputy governors, Lombardelli said she supported a "gradual removal" of monetary policy restriction.
MPs flag ‘major concerns’ over errors in labour survey November 21, 2024 An influential group of MPs has taken aim at the UK’s national numbers body today amid fears that errors in its labour survey are hamstringing “accurate” economic policy making. The chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Meg Hillier – a Labour MP – wrote to the boss of the UK Statistics Authority, Professor Sir Ian [...]
Inflation surprise scuppers hope of Christmas interest rate cut November 20, 2024 A bigger than expected rise in inflation last month has all but scuppered hopes of a cut to interest rates by the Bank of England in December. While economists had been expecting rising energy prices to push inflation beyond the Bank of England’s two per cent target last month, a sharper than expected lift in [...]