Exclusive: Government adds employee tax break to Pisces May 15, 2025 The government has introduced legislation for the new ‘Pisces’ market designed to allow trading for private companies, extending share tax breaks for employees to the platform, City AM can reveal. Pisces—the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System—was devised by the previous government as part of an effort to revive UK capital markets. The platform [...]
What the Bank of England’s interest rate cut means for your mortgage May 8, 2025 The Bank of England has reduced rates by 0.25 percentage points to 4.25 per cent in a hotly anticipated cut that will leave homeowners with big decisions for their mortgage deals. The reduced cost for banks to borrow money will have broad implications for the mortgage market, as banks lower interest rates on loans. Major [...]
Natwest to ‘outperform’ sector with bumper year, analysts predict May 6, 2025 RBC analysts slapped a “Sector Outperform” rating on Natwest after the lender beat expectations in its first-quarter report. The analysts upgraded full-year profit before tax estimates by three per cent to £7.1bn, compared to £6.2bn in 2024, and upped the stock’s target price to 475p from 465p. They said the upgrades were driven by net [...]
House prices drop an ‘eye-catcher’ due to stamp duty changes April 30, 2025 UK house prices fell in April at their fastest month-to-month rate in nearly two years, fresh data has suggested, as adjustments to stamp duty knocked demand. Prices declined by 0.6 per cent in April compared to the previous month, according to Nationwide. The drop was attributed to stamp duty changes, introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves [...]
Mortgage completions surged 50 per cent in March amid race to swerve stamp duty April 21, 2025 Mortgage completions have risen to their highest level since September as buyers rushed to avoid higher property taxes. Completions in March jumped 70 per cent compared to February for first-time buyers, according to Barclays, ahead of a change to stamp duty rates in April. “We experienced a blockbuster month for completions in March, as buyers [...]
UK Finance: Government must ‘unify’ market strategy March 31, 2025 The relationship British businesses have with public exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange and private markets has transformed and requires a new strategy, a fresh report from UK Finance has said. The financial services company, which serves as an industry body for banking, found a dwindling importance of public listings with firms staying private [...]
Buyer’s market keeps house prices in check in February March 26, 2025 House prices rose by less in March as the number of homes on sales rose faster than demand, according to fresh data. The average house price in the UK ticked up by 1.8 per cent in February versus 1.9 per cent in March, while the number of homes available rose 11 per cent year on [...]
Rightmove: 74,000 house buyers to narrowly miss stamp duty deadline March 17, 2025 Rightmove’s stamp duty report has identified an estimated 74,000 moves, which includes 25,000 first-time buyers, that will just miss the March 31 deadline and complete in April. They form the unlucky section of a “massive log-jam” of 575,000 movers hoping to complete ahead of the tax change, Rightmove said. Collectively, the buyers are set to [...]
Government urged to ditch ‘shares tax’ for retail investors March 12, 2025 The government must use its Spring Statement to cut the stamp duty on shares paid by retail investors to help foster a British investment culture and boost financial inclusion, Hargreaves Lansdown has said. In an impassioned plea, the investment platform argued cutting the tax, which is applied on the purchase of all UK shares, would [...]
UK equity markets could do with some shock therapy February 20, 2025 My favourite explanation as to why UK pension funds have shrunk their investments in UK equities from around 50 per cent in the 1990s to a paltry 3 per cent today was offered to me recently by one of the City’s veteran fund managers; “You can trace it all back to the day that crook [...]