EV sales surge as oil shock drives shift from petrol Tech Electric car sales are accelerating across Europe, as rising fuel prices and tensions linked to the Iran conflict push drivers away from petrol and diesel. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations jumped 51 per cent year on year in March across 15 European markets, with over 224,000 new electric cars sold in one month, according to [...]
London house prices jump by £3k as market slows Property The average asking price of a home in Britain rose by nearly £3,000 in April, but London’s property market is showing clear signs of strain as higher mortgage rates and a surge in supply curb momentum. New figures from Rightmove show asking prices increased by 0.8 per cent month on month to £373,971, a £2,929 [...]
Nick Candy eyes payday after £275m home sale to Labour donor Wealth Reform UK fundraiser Nick Candy is looking to cash in on his assets after it was revealed that he sold his £275m home to a former Labour donor in what was put down as the largest house purchase in history. Quadrature Capital’s Suneil Setiya bought the hidden Chelsea mansion from Candy, according to the Financial [...]
Santander and TSB kick off mortgage rate cuts after Iran turmoil April 16, 2026 Santander and TSB have kicked off the mortgage rate cutting cycle after lenders pulled deals and hiked their rates amidst the turmoil in Iran. From Thursday, Santander said it would be lower the price on higher loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages products by near 0.3 per cent, which includes its two-year fixed, first-time buyer products. Meanwhile, TSB said it [...]
‘Entirely avoidable’: Build-to-rent housebuilding slows as London planning wait doubles April 15, 2026 The construction of build-to-rent homes in Britain is in danger of grinding to a halt as the planning wait for London homes has almost doubled in this decade. The number of build-to-rent homes under construction has fallen for the ninth consecutive quarter, according to data shared exclusively with City AM. The government has pledged to [...]
Help to buy scheme had ‘limited impact on social mobility’ April 15, 2026 Previous help-to-buy schemes did little to improve social mobility and mainly benefited high earners, the government has been warned, as it mulls reviving the programme. Help-to-buy, which offered equity loans to first-time buyers, had a “limited impact on social mobility,” the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said. The government is reportedly considering revising help-to-buy, [...]
The government is about to find out you can’t please the people and the bond markets April 14, 2026 In the next phase of the Iran crisis, investors will demand fiscal discipline; electorates will demand intervention. In a supply-driven stagflationary environment, it may be impossible to satisfy both, says Helen Thomas A severe physical supply shock is rippling through the global economy and unlike recent crises, this is not one policymakers can easily offset. [...]
House prices drop as Iran war shakes property market April 8, 2026 House prices fell in March as the uncertainty caused by the Iran war stifled the property market and spiked fears of interest rate rises. Average house prices fell 0.5 per cent last month, reversing the modest 0.3 per cent February increase, according to Halifax’s house price index. This is the latest signal that the Iran [...]
M&A in a time of geopolitical turmoil April 8, 2026 Dealmakers are being more selective and concentrating their bets to cope with AI, tariffs and instability in the Middle East, says Jerome Pottier A trillion dollars of dealmaking in under three months should feel like a boom. By the numbers, it is. Activity is up 27 per cent year on year, and the megadeal is [...]
Keir Starmer believes undoing Brexit will solve Britain’s problems – he’s wrong April 6, 2026 The only way Starmer can get everything he wants from a relationship “reset” with Brussels is by rejoining the EU, says Eliot Wilson This Wednesday is the anniversary of Britain and France signing the Entente cordiale in 1904. It was actually three separate agreements, ostensibly dealing with colonial boundaries and fishing rights, but in practice [...]