Savings accounts: Banks under fire as MPs demand to know why interest rate rises have not been passed on to savers March 1, 2023 MPs have asked further questions of banks’ savings rate as pressure increases on the UK’s major high street lenders to pass on higher interest rates to consumers. In a letter to the heads of four of the UK’s largest banks, chair of the Treasury Committee Harriet Baldwin asked banks why their savings rates remain lower [...]
House price growth plummets to lowest level in a decade as confidence and costs see off buyers March 1, 2023 House price growth has plummeted to its lowest in more than a decade as a cocktail of high borrowing costs, inflation and low confidence has deterred buyers. Properties dropped in value by -1.1 per cent year on year in February, according to Nationwide’s House Price Index, down from 1.1 per cent the previous month. This [...]
Ocado not for you: Three reasons why online grocer’s results may not be as bad as they seem February 28, 2023 Ocado’s crown as the online food retailer which keeps the middle classes stocked in organic essentials has been threatening to slip for a while now. As one of the companies which sits at the ‘higher-end’ of the online supermarket price point the rising cost of living, not to mention higher mortgage interest rates, was expected [...]
Total UK housing wealth breaches £7 trillion for first time amid ‘race for space’ February 27, 2023 Net UK housing wealth exceeded £7 trillion for the first time last year, according to calculations from an estate agent. The total value of UK homes reached £8.68 trillion at the end of 2022, Savills said. With outstanding mortgage debt standing at £1.66 trillion, according to Bank of England records, Savills calculated that net housing [...]
Priti Patel calls on Jeremy Hunt to stop planned corporation tax rise February 25, 2023 Former home secretary Priti Patel has urged the Chancellor to use his Budget next month to halt the planned corporation tax rise. The senior Conservative has argued that “now is not the time” for an increase in the tax on big business. In plans agreed while she served in Boris Johnson’s cabinet, corporation tax is [...]
Britain passing up £18bn economic boost due to ‘failure’ to build enough homes February 23, 2023 Britain is passing up on a near £18bn economic boost due to the government and businesses’ “failure to build enough new” homes, a former Tory housing minister has claimed today in a new report. Brandon Lewis, ex-housing and planning minister, in a foreword to a report by think tank Policy Exchange said decades of weak [...]
FTSE 100 close: Wall Street sell off spreads to London pushing premier index further away from 8,000 point mark February 22, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was drawn into a sell off on Wall Street last night, pushing it further below the 8,000 point threshold today. The capital’s premier index fell 0.59 to 7,930.64 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, slid 0.82 per cent to [...]
Tesco ‘considering sale’ of Tesco Bank, according to reports February 20, 2023 Tesco is considering selling Tesco Bank, according to Sky News which has reported that the supermarket giant has started a review process for its banking arm. The review is at a very early stage, according to insiders, and may not lead to a formal sale process. A partial sale or joint venture may also be [...]
House prices rose just £14 last month as Bank of England rate hikes chill demand February 20, 2023 UK house prices rose by just £14 last month indicating possible buyers are turning their noses up at sellers slapping huge tickets on their homes, new figures out today reveal. The average asking price for a home in the UK came in at £362,452, making last month’s increase the smallest between January and February since [...]
UK retail sales’ sluggish new year start as cash-strapped Brits go online to nab deals February 17, 2023 UK retail sales remained muted in January following December’s fall, with fuel sales spiking and prices continuing to plummet. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the figures which showed retail sales volumes increased by just half a per cent last month. This comes after it dipped by 1.2 per cent in December, despite the [...]