The end of stamp duty relief isn’t the only cost going up for first-time buyers February 11, 2025 First-time buyers (FTBs) are facing higher costs across the board as they grapple with not only high stamp duty fees, but a low stock of affordable houses, more stringent lending requirements and higher upfront costs. First and foremost, stamp duty relief is set to end on March 31, which has driven a significant boost in [...]
Investors are not taking the Bank of England seriously February 11, 2025 The Bank is clearly far more nervous about inflation than many in the City.
DCMS issue insolvency threat to rugby clubs over Covid-19 loans February 10, 2025 Rugby clubs have been warned after the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said it “wouldn’t hesitate” to use “all financial levers” available to recover loan payments owed by sports organisations from the pandemic. Those powers could see the government department aid in forcing insolvency on sports clubs to ensure the taxpayer recoups the [...]
GDP figures to pile further pressure on Reeves as recession risks mount February 10, 2025 New figures set to be released on Thursday are expected to show that the UK economy shrunk 0.1 per cent in the three months to December.
Home repossessions rise as higher interest rates bite borrowers February 10, 2025 The number of homeowners with mortgages facing repossession rose in the fourth quarter of 2024 as buyers struggled with higher interest rates. UK Finance figures show that repossessions rose 12 per cent in the last three months of 2024 compared to the previous year and were up 54 per cent yearly. Overall, 1,030 residential houses [...]
Rachel Reeves to meet bank bosses as growth agenda stalls February 10, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to meet top bank bosses this week in the latest attempt to kickstart her growth agenda. The embattled Labour chancellor has reportedly called in top executives at Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Nationwide, according to Sky News’ Mark Kleinman. This comes as the government’s growth strategy continues to falter. [...]
Bank shareholders eye returns as Barclays and Natwest report February 9, 2025 Shareholders in two of the UK’s biggest banks will be hoping for further returns next week as they shed light on recent trading amid an uncertain economic backdrop. Barclays and NatWest will lead a raft of annual results updates by UK banks, after a recent positive period for the sector. Shares in both firms have [...]
Bank of England Chief Economist: Job on inflation not done yet February 7, 2025 "I think that is a reason for caution, for carefulness in the way we proceed with removing monetary policy restriction and cutting bank rate," Pill said.
Week in Business: Growth hammer blow means Reeves must change course February 7, 2025 If the Chancellor was still on a high from last week’s big growth-focused speech, the Bank of England has just pulled her back down to earth and, for good measure, poured a bucket of cold water over her. This is a time for hard truths and none harder than the hammer-blow fact that the Bank [...]
City split following Bank of England’s interest rate decision February 7, 2025 Analysts are divided about how far and how fast the Bank of England is likely to cut interest rates in the remainder of this year following yesterday’s decision. Rate-setters backed a third 25 basis point rate reduction, which brought the Bank Rate down to an 18-month low of 4.5 per cent. Every member of the [...]