Lending decline points to cooler housing market November 11, 2014 LENDING to home buyers fell month-on-month in September, but remains substantially higher than a year ago. The number of loans to home buyers was 58,000 in September – seven per cent lower than in August – according to figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders yesterday. However, the figure is still 13.1 per cent [...]
Report: UK needs 300,000 new homes each year but red tape prevents house building November 11, 2014 Red tape is preventing house builders from matching growing demand, a new report says today. An extra 50,000 new homes a year are being prevented by rules and regulations, according to the paper published by think tank Policy Exchange. Last year, just 112,000 homes were built and the average over the past 10 years has [...]
UK house prices: Country homes more expensive on average than urban abodes November 11, 2014 Homes in the countryside are commanding a substantial premium over their urban counterparts. Buyers pay average premium of £46,000 – or 26 per cent – for homes in rural areas, according figures released today by Halifax, one of the UK’s top mortgage providers. However, prices in urban areas are catching up after rising faster over [...]
Slow spending growth could hit economy November 11, 2014 THE UK’S strong recovery is at risk of slowing due to weaker growth in consumer spending, consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said today. For the past two years, an increase in consumer spending has been fuelled by strong employment growth, raised income tax personal allowances, and low mortgage interest rates. Another boost to consumer spending has [...]
Firms to restart skills training November 11, 2014 FIRMS are making plans to invest in the skills of their workforce, a set of survey data released today shows. Of the 3,000 firms surveyed by the British Chambers of Commerce, 92 per cent identified a skills shortage among their workforce. However, 80 per cent are planning to invest in training next year to address [...]
Rouble jumps after months of steep drop November 10, 2014 THE RUSSIAN rouble strengthened against the dollar yesterday despite the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) announcing the abandonment of its exchange rate controls. A press release from the CBR said foreign exchange intervention might still be considered in the case of renewed “financial stability threats”, which may have reassured foreign exchange markets. Markets may also have [...]
Wage growth could be sluggish due to increasing labour supply November 10, 2014 Employment intentions remain high but wages may not pick up due to an increasing supply of labour, an industry body has said. Near-term employment expectations are at a seven-year high, according to survey results published yesterday by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), a human resources industry body. This is reflected in the [...]
Inflation dips to four-year low in China as economy slows down November 10, 2014 Inflation in China remained low in October, signalling the economy was still cooling. The consumer price index – the headline inflation figure – was 1.6 per cent higher in October than it was last year, according to figures yesterday released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Annual CPI is at its lowest since December 2009. [...]
Italy industrial production in new downturn November 10, 2014 ITALY’s industrial production fell by 0.9 per cent month-on-month in September, according to official figures released by Istat yesterday. To add insult to injury, August’s figure was revised down to 0.2 per cent from 0.3 per cent. The troubled nation fell into a triple dip recession in the first half of the year. This Friday [...]
Bank of England expected to cut UK growth outlook November 10, 2014 The Bank of England (BoE) is expected to lower its growth and inflation forecasts for the UK on Wednesday, signalling a delayed rate hike. Wednesday sees the release of the BoE’s quarterly Inflation Report, which sets out the Bank’s estimates for GDP growth and inflation. August’s edition predicted growth of 3.5 per cent in 2014, [...]