UK property asking prices stagnating, lifting hopes of softer landing for housing market – business live
UK property asking prices rose by just £14 in February, weakest gain on record, Rightmove reports, with sellers ‘more realistic’ about what property is worth Loss of nearly 15,000 UK retail jobs a ‘brutal start to 2023’, report says In the City, shares in retail group Frasers are leading the FTSE 100 risers after it […]
Investment bootcamp: five ways to make your money work harder
Knowing the best way to invest your money can be tricky – especially during economically volatile times. These expert tips will help you decide where to put your hard-earned cash – and how to make the most of it If you’re thinking about investing for the first time, your instinct may be to delay transferring […]
From hidden costs to lack of knowledge: seven misconceptions that stop people from investing
Whether you’re worried about timing it right or not having enough expertise, there are always concerns when it comes to investing. Experts explain why you should put your fears aside and make the leap People have all sorts of reasons why they don’t invest their money – whether it feels like it’s too late in […]
UK mortgage deals: how to navigate the rollercoaster rates ride
Amid a debate about what is happening to the housing market, what are your options? We are in the grip of a mortgage price war, according to some experts – but it probably won’t feel like that if you are staring down the barrel of much higher monthly payments. It is certainly fair to say […]
Rats, mould, damp: one woman’s story reveals the ugly truth about the UK’s biggest housing association | Aditya Chakrabortty
A mother of three’s struggle with Clarion reflects a system rigged to favour asset-owners while renters are abandoned You will read the grim facts about Chanel Sultan’s life in a minute, but first let’s talk about her dreams. Like the law degree she has just started, or her hope to buy her own home. Like […]
Cost Of Living Crisis Could Plunge 35,000 UK Film & TV Workers Into Distress But Industry Mental Health Improving, Says Charity Report
As many as 35,000 UK film and TV workers could be plunged into financial distress over the coming year, according to new research from The Film & TV Charity, which revealed improvements to the industry’s mental health crisis. The charity’s third Looking Glass survey, which takes the industry’s temperature on mental wellbeing, bullying and working […]
UK property demand declines as house prices in England fall
Further slowdown likely amid interest rate rise and cost of living crisis, says surveyors’ body Rics Property sales and house prices continued to decline across the UK in January, while new buyer demand and fresh listings were also down, surveyors have reported. A net balance of -47% for new buyer inquiries was reported, down from […]
UK house sales outlook for 2023 remains ‘uncertain’, says Barratt
Housebuilder reports ‘modest uplift’ in reservations of new homes in January but remains cautious Britain’s largest housebuilder, Barratt Developments, has reported grounds for optimism in the UK housing market after an increase in sales in January – but it said the trading outlook for 2023 remains “uncertain”. Barratt reported a “modest uplift” in reservations of […]
UK house prices flat after four-month fall as interest rates bite
Halifax figures show average house price largely unchanged in January at £281,684 UK house prices were roughly flat in January, having fallen in the previous four months, according to Halifax. Average prices were stable at £281,684 last month, the lender said, after sharp falls of 1.3% in December and 2.4% in November. Continue reading…
UK house prices ‘stable in January’; anger as BP profits soar to record – business live
British house prices were unchanged in January, Halifax reports, but annual growth slowed to a three-year low of 1.9% Danny Blanchflower, a former Bank of England policy maker, has predicted that “collapsing” house prices will push the UK central bank into a rapid pivot toward interest rate cuts. Blanchflower, who is now a professor of […]
UK shoppers rein in spending despite sales as cost of living crisis takes toll
British Retail Consortium says sales growth slowed in January amid soaring costs for energy and food British consumers sharply cut their spending in January as the cost of living crisis damaged household finances, retailers have warned, amid growing concern over the impact of high inflation on the economy. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said sales […]
Retirement boom among UK’s older workers creates economic headache
Wyre Forest in the West Midlands has seen a huge jump in the ‘economically inactive’, many of them affluent older people, but the dearth of workers is a real problem for employers “I always laughed at people who said they’d never been so busy since they retired,” says David Richards, mopping his brow as he […]
Cost of fixed-rate mortgages set to fall as UK inflation outlook brightens
Brokers are predicting that a five-year deal below 4 per cent is coming
‘I’m really worried’: homeowners and would-be buyers on UK interest rates
As the base rate reaches 4%, we hear from people concerned about rising mortgage costs Chris Felix-Hill, 47, and his wife, Adeline, from Steeple, Essex, are struggling to keep alive their dream of one day becoming homeowners, after “demoralising” house price rises during the pandemic and yet another interest rate rise from the Bank of […]
Will the interest rate rise trigger a stampede for tracker mortgages?
Hints by Bank of England that rates may have peaked leaves those remortgaging in a quandary What does the Bank of England interest rate rise mean for you? The rush towards tracker mortgages that began even before Thursday’s interest rate rise could well become a stampede after the Bank of England signalled that rates may […]
Bank of England raises UK interest rates to 4%
Hike of 0.5 percentage points lifts rates to 14-year high, but BoE says shorter and shallower recession now more likely Interest rates rise again but Bank of England hints at a brighter future The Bank of England raised interest rates for a tenth consecutive time on Thursday from 3.5% to 4%, but said inflation may […]
UK borrowers may struggle to repay debt as economy worsens, says Santander
Bank puts aside more money to protect itself from potential defaults in expected recession The impending recession could leave borrowers struggling to repay their debts, the high street bank Santander UK has said as it put aside more cash to protect itself from potential defaults. The UK arm of the Spanish bank said on Thursday […]
UK demand for mortgages slumps as interest rates deter buyers
Bank of England figures also reveal many households are dipping into savings, rather than using credit cards Demand for mortgages has collapsed to its lowest level since the depths of the 2020 lockdown as potential homebuyers are deterred by rising interest rates, the latest official figures show. The Bank of England said the number of […]
UK’s LendInvest Acquires Funding from Lloyds Bank to Launch into Homeowner Mortgages
LendInvest (LSE: LINV), which claims to be the UK’s leading asset manager for property finance, announces increased funding from Lloyds Bank now totaling £300 million “to support its entry into the UK’s £1.2 trillion homeowner mortgage market.” LendInvest’s home owner mortgage product, “which beta launched… Read More
Priced-out UK house-hunters turn to lorry-sized tiny homes
Trailer-like homes are attracting people struggling to buy or rent a house. Our writer went to size one up You might bump your head, and the wheels betray its caravan roots, but it’s yours – and that’s the key for a growing number of people fleeing the UK housing crisis in a “tiny home”. Factory-built, […]
UK Mortgage Payments Hit Highest Level Since 2008
Mortgage costs relative to income in the United Kingdom have risen to their highest level in years. The latest data published by mortgage lender Nationwide Building Society Friday (Jan. 13) revealed that in the final quarter of 2022, first-time buyers were spending on average 39% of their take-home pay on mortgage repayments, the highest level […]
Britain’s Housing Market Is Flashing Red and Sunak’s Tories Are Scared
(Bloomberg) — Every Conservative leader in living memory has made the same basic promise to UK voters: work hard and you will earn more, buy a bigger house and one day pass it on to your children. Thirteen years after the party returned to power, some allies of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fear the dream is dying. Read […]
Tell us: are you struggling with the process of buying a house in the UK?
We would like to hear from people trying to buy yet struggling to afford rising rents in the meantime, or those experiencing issues with getting mortgages approved As UK mortgage approvals have fallen to their lowest level since 2021, and as mortgage rates continue to rise, we would like to hear from people who are […]
First-time buyers spend 39 per cent of take home pay on a mortgage – Nationwide
Homes for first-time buyers are at their most expensive as a proportion of take-home pay since the financial crisis. The proportion of monthly income that first-time buyers are having to put towards mortgage repayments is returning to levels last seen in the 2008 financial crisis, according to Nationwide. Nationwide, the UK’s third largest lender has […]
UK economy beats expectations with November growth
The economy grew by 0.1% in November, partly boosted by World Cup fans spending more in pubs and restaurants.
UK economy grew in November despite recession predictions
The increase comes despite forecasts of a UK recession in 2023
The UK may avoid a recession for now but it won’t feel like it for many
Jeremy Hunt is not getting carried away by November growth, and monthly GDP moves can be erratic UK economy grew by only 0.1% in November Business live updates: UK may avoid 2022 recession In normal circumstances the fact that the UK economy eked out a bit of growth in November would be of little relevance, […]
UK economy grew by only 0.1% in November
Figure comes as people began Christmas shopping, while World Cup gave pubs and bars a boost UK may avoid recession but it won’t feel like it for many Business live updates: UK may avoid 2022 recession The UK economy unexpectedly grew by 0.1% in November as consumers headed to the shops in the run-up to […]
Homes for sale in UK financial districts – in pictures
Properties suitable for the new batch of candidates on The Apprentice, from skyscrapers to a Georgian terrace Continue reading…
The Guardian view on a property-owning democracy: Tory dream becomes a nightmare | Editorial
A housing price collapse may see a coalition of renters and mortgage holders emerge that would doom the Conservative electoral base The Conservative party has good reason to think that its vote is only as safe as house prices. Its 2019 victory could be ascribed to two homeowning demographics – outright owners and mortgage holders […]
‘Marked slowdown’ in UK housing market amid political and economic uncertainty – business live
Housebuilder Barratt says ‘political and economic uncertainty’ hit the housing market JD Sports has also predicted its profits will be towards the top end of expectations, following a jump in sales over Christmas. JD Sports’ revenues grew by over 10% in the 22 weeks to 31 December 2022, accelerating to more than 20% in the […]
I bought my own home last year. But I now have big regrets | Arwa Mahdawi
There is immense pressure to buy a place – and to do so is obviously a massive privilege. So why does homeownership seem so overrated? Here are a few things that I have Googled in the nine months or so since I bought a Victorian terrace home in Philadelphia: Does a crack in the lintel […]
Mortgage payers face squeeze in 2023 after UK interest rate rises
Wealthy people who own home outright will avoid higher costs and benefit from better return on savings Homeowners with mortgages will be among the biggest losers from the cost of living crisis in 2023 due to interest rate rises, while the wealthiest UK households will benefit from better returns on savings and investments, according to […]
Average UK house price falls for fourth month in a row, says Halifax
Figure of £281,272 comes as property values drop by 1.5% in December, after 2.4% decline in November The average UK house price fell for the fourth month in a row in December, according to Halifax, with experts expecting a further slowdown amid a long recession. Property values decreased by 1.5% in December, the lender’s monthly […]
Average House Price in the UK Falls for the Fourth Month in a Row
The average house price in the UK fell for the fourth month in a row in December, dropping by 1.5% caused by the rising cost of living and elevated interest rates. Halifax revealed that the average house price now stands at £281,272 stating that they expect ‘a reduction in both supply and demand overall, with […]
UK house prices fall as cost of living crisis and higher interest rates slow housing market – business live
Halifax reports that average UK house prices fell 1.5% in December, the fourth monthly drop in a row, pulling annual growth down to 2% Energy news: Shell says it expects to pay around $2bn over the fourth quarter of last year, due to windfall taxes in the European Union and the UK. The oil and […]
UK homeowners: are you considering downsizing for cheaper mortgage repayments?
We’d like to hear from homeowners in the UK who are thinking of downsizing to a cheaper property in order to reduce monthly mortgage payments As disposable incomes in the UK are forecast to slump by 3.8% in 2023, and more than five million families could see their annual mortgage payments rise by an average […]
Cost of living: House prices drop by 2.3% in a month – Halifax
The mortgage lender says the annual rate of growth in property prices fell from 8.2% to 4.7%.
House prices see biggest fall for two years, says Nationwide
Prices fell 1.4% in November as higher interest rates put off buyers, Nationwide says.
HSBC to close more than one in four bank branches in the UK
Round of 114 site closures in 2023 will cut total to 327 as bank reveals usage by regular customers has fallen by two-thirds Full list of HSBC closures: is your local branch on it? HSBC is to shut a further 114 branches in the UK – more than a quarter of its network – after […]