Is your business about to feel the Ozempic squeeze? November 4, 2024 Reshaping stomachs with weightloss drugs like Ozempic likely means reshaping some markets (and probably your strategy), says Paul Armstrong Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro are driving a subtle but undeniable shift in obesity rates across the U.S, showing a 2 per cent drop so far. While it’s too soon to crown these drugs the cure-all, their [...]
How Shared Ownership can help Londoners escape high rents November 3, 2024 If you’re looking to get on the housing ladder then a range of new Shared Ownership properties (some in Zone 1) appeal this autumn Fears of a rise in stamp duty for first time buyers were allayed yesterday when Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the rise would only affect second home buyers. The news means landlords [...]
How will the Budget impact the prime housing market? November 1, 2024 The Budget was, by and large, a set of fiscal promises for people who rely on public services. So with that in mind, how might the Budget affect the prime housing market, a market exclusively for the UK’s wealthiest buyers? Prime houses are typically defined as the upper five per cent of houses in any [...]
Autumn Budget 2024: City of London avoids ‘fright night’ tax raid from Rachel Reeves October 30, 2024 While Rachel Reeves’s maiden Budget will hike taxes by £40bn, the City of London has been spared a worst case scenario, writes Elliot Gulliver-Needham. The City has issued a cautious sigh of relief after the Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget failed to follow through on some of the more radical rumours floated over the past [...]
Autumn Budget 2024: Landlords and renters hit by tax rise October 30, 2024 Labour’s Autumn Budget has introduced major tax changes which will impact landlords and renters across the UK. Chancellor Rachel Reeves, as expected, announced an increase in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on higher-rate tax payers from 20 to 24 per cent, and basic-rate tax payers from 10 to 18 per cent. Yet, the nil rate band [...]
Autumn Budget 2024: Stamp duty for second homes upped to support first-time buyers October 30, 2024 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has increased the amount of tax Brits will pay when buying their second home to provide support for first-time buyers and those moving home. Second-time buyers previously paid three per cent stamp duty on homes worth up to £250,000. From tomorrow, they will pay five per cent tax. The increase will also [...]
Autumn Budget 2024: Taxes rocket by £40bn as employers told to pay more October 30, 2024 Rachel Reeves has hiked employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) by 1.2 per cent, as she delivered the Labour government’s first Autumn Budget in office, which saw taxes rise by a record £40bn and government borrowing increase. The Chancellor unveiled the rise – which is set to see the levy hit 15 per cent for firms [...]
Bond traders brace for Budget borrowing bonanza October 30, 2024 City investors and bond traders are bracing for the fallout of Labour’s first Budget in 14 years tomorrow as the new government looks set to hike taxes and ramp up borrowing. Ahead of the Budget, the interest rate on government debt has crept up while investors and entrepreneurs have warned of the damaging impacts of [...]
What will happen to wealth taxes? October 30, 2024 The Chancellor is considering a range of tax hikes on wealth, but questions remain over how much revenue she can raise, says Nick Pheasey The taxation of an individual’s wealth can be an emotive subject. Broadly, the UK imposes tax on wealth on two occasions. First, as it is generated, by income tax or capital gains [...]
Housing market continues to strengthen as mortgage rates fall October 29, 2024 New figures from the Bank of England showed that 65,600 new mortgages were approved in September, the highest figure since August 2022.