Mayoral Election: Tory hopeful vows to extend Khan’s free school meals pledge June 18, 2023 Conservative mayoral candidate hopeful Susan Hall has pledged to extend the free school meals programme beyond 2024. The assembly member and former City Hall Tory leader said she would continue the scheme past the date it is set to expire under Sadiq Khan. She said: “While the cost of living situation remains difficult for so [...]
John Lewis property chief resigns in latest top rank exit June 18, 2023 John Lewis property boss Chris Harris has resigned after a five-year stint, placing further pressure on the struggling retailer’s chair Dame Sharon White. Harris, who held the role of property director, handed in his resignation last week, according to reports in the Sunday Times, but will remain at the firm until November. He had played [...]
Mortgage chaos set to hit banks’ bottom line as demand dries up June 18, 2023 Chaos in the mortgage market is likely to lead to big changes in lending as banks seek to find ways to capitalise on rising interest rates, analysts suggest. Over the last few weeks, the mortgage market has been in turmoil after stubbornly high inflation raised the prospect of further rate hikes. “Mounting base interest rates, [...]
Won’t take much for 6 per cent: Bank of England tipped to raise rates again June 18, 2023 The squeeze on mortgage holders is set to tighten as the Bank of England gets ready to hike interest rates for the 13th time in a row, experts have said. Some analysts are expecting UK interest rates to rise by another 0.25 percentage points on Thursday, and say there could be more hikes on the [...]
FTSE 100: Shares rise in London despite poor performance from supermarkets June 17, 2023 London’s top shares eked out another small gain, helping the FTSE end the week on 7,643 points. The gains were led by some of the UK’s biggest energy companies, which managed to outweigh some of the pressure put on supermarkets stocks, apart from Ocado which soared. By the end of the day, the FTSE 100 [...]
Wall Street ends best week since March on quiet note June 17, 2023 Wall Street has closed out its best week since March with a quiet finish on Friday, as stocks drifted to modest losses. The S&P 500 fell 16.25 points, or 0.4 per cent , to 4,409.59 after wobbling through the day. It still closed out a fifth straight winning week for its longest such streak since [...]
‘Great un-retirement’ underway as cost of living forces people to get back to work June 17, 2023 A “great un-retirement” could be getting under way, according to Age UK, as rising living costs force people to change their later life plans. The charity said it is continuing to hear from older people whose retirement aspirations “are being ruined by the impact of inflation”. One person told the charity: “Had to take early [...]
‘Mortgage crunch’ deepens: Repayments will rise by £2,900 a year, reaching eye-watering £15.8bn by 2026 June 17, 2023 Annual mortgage repayments are set to rise by £2,900 for the average household remortgaging next year, according to a think-tank. As the UK’s “mortgage crunch” deepens, total annual mortgage repayments could rise by £15.8 billion by 2026, the Resolution Foundation said. Stickier-than-expected inflation has raised expectations that the Bank of England’s base rate-rising cycle, which [...]
Oil prices stuck between global economic woes and China’s resurgence June 16, 2023 Oil prices have steadied today, with both major benchmarks on course for a modest weekly gain after a sustained slump.
£3bn mortgage support fund branded ‘terrible economics and bad politics’ after Lib Dem calls June 16, 2023 Calls for a £3bn mortgage protection fund have been branded “terrible economics and bad politics” as lenders continue to raise rates. Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for the multi-billion pound fund to be set up to offer help to families at risk of losing their homes, as repossession fears spiral. But Tim Pitt, [...]