Budget 2021: Chancellor set to unveil mortgage guarantee scheme February 27, 2021 The Chancellor will use Wednesday’s Budget to unveil a new mortgage scheme aimed at getting tens of thousands of people onto the property ladder. Under the new programme, first time or current homeowners looking to buy a house of up to £600,000 will need a deposit of just five per cent to secure a mortgage. [...]
Anas Sarwar elected new leader of Scottish Labour party February 27, 2021 Anas Sarwar has this morning been announced as the new leader of the Scottish Labour party after defeating Monica Lennon in a snap election. The vote was triggered when former leader Richard Leonard stepped down in January, saying it was in the best interests of the party. Sarwar’s election comes just three months before elections [...]
Porsche 911 Carrera S review: why the manual gearbox still matters February 26, 2021 The Porsche 911 is one of the few sports cars still offering a traditional manual gearbox. Is it better than the paddle-shift PDK?
Kalifa Review: Others waiting for UK fintech’s ‘crown to slip’ February 26, 2021 The head of the much-awaited government-backed review into the fintech industry has warned the UK risks falling behind if recommendations aren’t quickly implemented. Former head of payments firm Worldpay Ron Kalifa led the review published today which sets out plans to capitalise on the growing fintech industry. The scope of the review is large, ranging [...]
Extending the stamp duty holiday won’t avoid a cliff-edge, it will make the eventual fall steeper February 24, 2021 The stamp duty holiday created a bloated and false economy in the housing market; it’s time to scrap the policy, not extend it. Rishi Sunak introduced the policy last summer. The idea was simple enough – add a bit of fuel to the property market and stoke consumer spending by only making buyers cough up [...]
Stamp duty holiday: Property experts split on benefits of tax break extension February 24, 2021 The government is reportedly planning to extend the stamp duty holiday to June, with buyers set to save £1.75bn on 300,000 additional transactions, according to the latest research. There are an estimated 628,000 sales in total still currently in the legal process across the country – including those agreed last year – data from Rightmove [...]
London house prices: What £500k gets you in tube zones 1 to 6 February 23, 2021 For London workers, it can be an unsettling dilemma whether to spend more on a house near the office or upsize further out but spend more time and money on tubes. House prices differ considerably, even between adjacent tube stations. The average house price in Knightsbridge will set you back around £1.6m but hop on [...]
UK housing transactions slump in January as lockdown implemented February 23, 2021 UK housing transactions slumped last month due to the impact of national lockdown restrictions, according to the latest figures. HM Revenue and Customs data showed the provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of UK residential transactions in January was 121,640, a drop of 2.4 per cent compared to the previous month. The month-on-month drop is a typical [...]
The Future of DeFi February 23, 2021 DeFi exploded onto the scene in 2020 as the value locked in decentralized platforms climbed into the billions. Yield farming, flash loans, and automated market makers (AMMs) were a few of the hottest topics over the last year. But what does the future of DeFi hold? And will the next round of innovations take advantage [...]
Screenshot: Will Facebook regret going nuclear over Australian news? February 19, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: A jumbo jab mix-up **Will Facebook regret going nuclear in Australia? **Arm’s getting chippy Media Moment of the Week: A jumbo jab mix-up When Liam Thorp received a text inviting him for his first Covid jab he was confused, given the healthy 32-year-old is pretty low down the [...]