London house prices jump by £3k as market slows April 20, 2026 The average asking price of a home in Britain rose by nearly £3,000 in April, but London’s property market is showing clear signs of strain as higher mortgage rates and a surge in supply curb momentum. New figures from Rightmove show asking prices increased by 0.8 per cent month on month to £373,971, a £2,929 [...]
FTSE 100 Live: Stocks jittery as Starmer makes play to reopen Strait of Hormuz April 17, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog. The UK and France are set to co-chair a meeting with allies later today in a bid to strum up ways to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. The vital waterway, which sits off Iran’s coast, sees around a fifth of the world’s oil supply flow [...]
Santander and TSB kick off mortgage rate cuts after Iran turmoil April 16, 2026 Santander and TSB have kicked off the mortgage rate cutting cycle after lenders pulled deals and hiked their rates amidst the turmoil in Iran. From Thursday, Santander said it would be lower the price on higher loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages products by near 0.3 per cent, which includes its two-year fixed, first-time buyer products. Meanwhile, TSB said it [...]
KBRA Assigns Preliminary Ratings to Harvest Funding PLC April 15, 2026 KBRA UK (KBRA) assigns preliminary ratings to seven classes of notes issued by Harvest Funding PLC, a static RMBS securitisation backed by a seasoned non-conforming portfolio of United Kingdom (UK) residential mortgage loans, comprising performing, in-arrears and past-term exposures. The portfolio aggregates to £2.0 billion of first lien loans which are secured by owner occupied [...]
Wall Street banks’ $40bn haul overshadowed by economic threats April 15, 2026 Wall Street’s top banks are toasting a record revenue haul this week, but industry chiefs also struck a note of caution after bumper profits were driven by market volatility. JP Morgan led the pack with a net income of $16.5bn in the first-quarter of the year, up 13 per cent from the same period in [...]
Housebuilding stocks recover as industry reaches ‘rock bottom’ April 15, 2026 The UK’s biggest housebuilder kept to the well-rehearsed tone of gloom which has loomed over the sector in recent months, when it became the latest to pull back on spending amid the market uncertainty caused by the Iran war. FTSE 100 firm Barratt Redrow said its financial targets hold firm, but warned that the blockage [...]
Why Nationwide’s £7m boss was worth splashing the cash for April 15, 2026 Nationwide splashed the cash on it’s top boss, Debbie Crosbie, in this week’s column Samuel Norman asks if they got their monies worth. Nationwide has been proclaimed Britain’s best bank. The UK’s largest building society – which is, in fact, not a bank due its status as a mutual – has been handed the crown [...]
‘Mortgage mayhem’: Deal lifespans hit record low as interest rate cut hopes dim April 13, 2026 Borrowers have been left in a “mortgage maze” after lenders frantically pulled deals due to the unfolding crisis in the Middle East leading to the lowest average shelf-life on record. The average mortgage was on the market for just eight days in March – the lowest since records began in November 2011. This marks a [...]
Middle East expats rush back to London, luxury property rents spike April 10, 2026 An influx of people who have recently moved to the Middle East are now seeking short-term refuge in London, pushing up rents in the capital’s luxury property market – according to a leading estate agency. British, European and North American nationals have rushed to snap up short-term rentals in high-value London properties since the Iran [...]
Mood has shifted on housing market as rates rattle demand April 9, 2026 High mortgage rates are unlikely to deflate immediately even if the Iran ceasefire holds, property experts have warned, as rising rates stifle demand for houses. The number of Brits enquiring to buy a new home fell even further in March, down from negative 29 per cent in February to minus 39 per cent last month, [...]