UK mortgage approvals rise as buyers race to beat stamp duty changes January 30, 2025 The number of mortgages approved by the UK banking sector rose unexpectedly in December, according to new data, suggesting buyers are looking to beat upcoming changes to stamp duty. The Bank of England’s figures showed that 66,500 mortgages were approved last month, which was up from 66,100 approvals in November. Economists had expected the number [...]
House prices ‘gathering steam’ before stamp duty changes January 30, 2025 The UK’s housing market got off to its strongest start in three years in 2025 as both demand and supply increased, according to new data. Buyer demand was up 13 per cent and 10 per cent more homes were on sale, with rising sales supporting UK house price inflation of two per cent year on [...]
It’s not the 90s, TNT deal for Six Nations wouldn’t hurt rugby January 30, 2025 On the eve of this year’s men’s Six Nations bursts forth news that TNT Sports is preparing a bid for broadcast rights to the tournament from 2026. Cue mild hysteria at the possibility of rugby’s premier annual competition “disappearing” behind a TV paywall. An accelerant to the decline in mass interest in the sport or [...]
DeepSeek accused of using OpenAI’s models to train its viral bot January 29, 2025 OpenAI has accused Chinese competitor DeepSeek of using its models to train the competing system, violating its property rights. The ChatGPT maker claimed that its new Chinese competitor employed a technique called ‘distillation’ – when a smaller model learns from its larger counterpart – to develop its new chatbot. Donald Trump’s artificial intelligence adviser, David [...]
How many days a week is the FTSE 100 spending in the office? January 29, 2025 In an exclusive poll for City AM, Joanna Hodgson surveys major firms to see if hybrid working is still king in the UK A three-day office week is dominant among some of Britain’s biggest companies, with employers spanning insurance, financial services and property continuing to embrace flexible working in 2025, findings from an exclusive City [...]
Year of the Snake: China faces ‘short term pain for long term gain’ January 29, 2025 As China welcomes in the new year today, markets are hopeful that the government’s strategy of ‘short term pain for long term gain’ is enough to push the Chinese economy to a new stage of development. In traditional Chinese culture, the Year of the Snake embodies qualities of introspection, transformation and adaptability. That year seems fitting for 2025, as [...]
Starmer must remember humans respond to incentives, not rules January 29, 2025 Rules are important to any civilised society, but Starmer has forgotten that humans respond far better to incentives, writes Paul Ormerod.
A ski holiday in Val d’Isere is the hippest way to do the French Alps January 28, 2025 Val d’Isere has always felt hip, but a new design hotel is upping the stakes, finds Adam Bloodworth Think of a ski holiday in the Alps and a certain image springs to mind. That of impossible wealth, of royals and oligarchs resplendent in furs, of Hooray Henrys from the King’s Road necking jeroboams of rosé, [...]
Foxtons: Share price soars after London estate agent outperforms market January 28, 2025 London estate agents Foxtons has reported double digit growth driven by market share gains in both sales and lettings. Revenue in the year ended December 2024 grew 11 per cent to £163m, from £147.1m in 2023, while adjusted operating profit grew 33 per cent to £19m, from £14.3m in 2023. Its share price rose nearly [...]
Demand for buy-to-let lending boosts Paragon Bank January 24, 2025 Paragon Banking Group reported a strong start to the financial year on the back of higher lending to buy-to-let landlords.