Natwest profits soar but customers withdraw £1bn as cost of living and tax bills bite April 28, 2023 Natwest has beaten profit expectations during the first three months of this year. Natwest Group, which includes Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, recorded a pretax profit of £1.8bn in the three months ending 31 March. The total comes in ahead of analysts’ expectations of £1.6bn for the quarter and ahead of the £1.2bn during [...]
London rents surge to record high of more than £2,500 as experts warn of no let up in sight April 28, 2023 London rents have surged to their highest level on record and experts have warned there is little sign of the capital’s housing market improving any time soon, fresh figures out today reveal. The cost per month of renting a property in London climbed 14 per cent over the last year to £2,501, according to search [...]
Taylor Wimpey axed 450 jobs as construction giant sounds housing market warning April 27, 2023 Up to 450 jobs have been cut as home construction firm Taylor Wimpey as it looks to deliver £19m in cost savings. Ahead of its AGM today, the London-listed firm said spring had helped in year to date sales, while severe challenges remained for first time buyers still. In a trading update, it said a [...]
Santander UK profits rise but lender bracing itself for house price fall April 25, 2023 Santander’s UK division was boosted by higher interest rates but the bank remained cautious looking forward, suggesting house prices could fall ten per cent taking them back to 2021 levels. The Spanish bank’s UK business saw its pretax profit climb 11 per cent to £547m as higher interest rates continued to bolster its performance. Santander’s [...]
Britain’s renters are the real victims of this inflation and interest rate crunch April 25, 2023 People doubtless would’ve gasped at headlines last week about UK interest rates being on course for five per cent. Such a path looked implausible in March when Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and Credit Suisse’s shotgun marriage to UBS sparked fears of a financial market meltdown. After those events, traders trimmed their expectations of how much more [...]
Explainer: Why are landlords fleeing the London market? April 24, 2023 We all know these are not great times for the housing market: rents are extortionately high, especially in the capital, mortgage rates are a constant headache, and many see their dream of buying their first property slip away as the cost-of-living crisis eats away at their savings. Against this gloomy backdrop, buy-to-let investors in London [...]
Average house price rises to £366,000 as tenants look to escape rental crisis April 24, 2023 UK house prices jumped again in March, driven higher by soaring rents pushing tenants to seek out their first home, but further interest rate hikes by the Bank of England could send a chill through the market, new research out today shows. The average price of a property coming to market in Britain hit £366k [...]
Standard Chartered, Barclays, Natwest kick off UK bank earnings this week with interest income back in focus April 24, 2023 Profit looks set to increase at the UK’s largest lenders as they line up to report first quarter earnings over the coming two weeks. The FTSE banking giants have seen relative stability over the last few weeks following the extreme volatility in March, but this stability means investors will refocus their attention on other major [...]
FCA will ‘keep its eyes’ on banks’ Q1 results for evidence of savings rate profiteering April 20, 2023 Savers are facing a rising “loyalty penalty” from high street banks, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned. Customers banking with the UK’s big name lenders are likely to earn less competitive interest rates on their savings over time, while new savers are given more attractive offers, the City watchdog told MPs today. “Harm” from [...]
London rent averages over £900 a month as desperate renters battle over fewer properties April 19, 2023 Private renters in London are faced with the highest costs since 2012 as a sparse and competitive market send the cost of homes in the capital to new highs. Landlords in the capital increased rent by 4.8 per cent in the 12 months to March 2023, up from an increase of 4.6 per cent in [...]