UK homeowners and first-time buyers warned to brace for 5%-plus mortgage rates
Lenders forced to raise fixed-term deals after latest inflation figure pushed swap rates upwards Households looking for a new mortgage deal have been warned to expect 5%-plus fixed-rate deals in the coming weeks, after Wednesday’s inflation figures sent the money markets back into turmoil. Nick Mendes, the mortgage technical manager at the broker John Charcol, […]
Inflation calculator: find out how much UK household price rises affect you
This online tool will help you discover what is contributing to your household’s cost of living increases Inflation has been soaring in the UK, with people being hit by higher prices for everyday essentials. The latest inflation rate for the 12 months to April 2023 means that goods and services cost more than 8.7% more […]
Private renters ‘almost twice as likely to struggle with debt as UK general population’
Charity says stronger protections are needed or people will be left vulnerable to ‘hair-trigger evictions’ Private renters are almost twice as likely to be struggling with problem levels of debt as the general population, with a sharp rise in the numbers in serious financial difficulty since January, research shows. The figures come against a backdrop […]
A broker told me I don’t earn enough for a London mortgage. Is that true?
I have lived at the family home all my life, I earn £26,000 a year and have about £60,000 for a deposit Q I’m almost 26 and have lived at home my whole life, just outside the M25. I am a tailor, I didn’t go to university – so have no student debt – and […]
British supermarkets report shortages of peppers as Morrisons rations sales
Retailer limits purchases to two a customer after cold snap in Europe hits supplies British supermarkets are running short of peppers after a cold snap in Europe, leading some to limit the number customers can purchase. In a repeat of the shortages of salad crops in February and March, another bout of unseasonably cold weather […]
Little progress made on energy efficiency in UK homes, report finds
National Infrastructure Commission accuses ministers of ‘prevarication’ over installation of heat pumps Ministers have made negligible progress in improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s homes even as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has underscored the need to cut the reliance on gas for home heating, according to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC). The independent infrastructure […]
Jeremy Hunt has left the UK to rot in poverty. So we must take matters into our own hands | Gordon Brown
With hygiene banks now joining food banks and clothes banks, I’m calling on retailers to take drastic action and help their poorest customers Poverty will last until doomsday if this Conservative government is all that confronts it. The so-called “budget for growth”, more accurately titled the “budget for growth in poverty”, has done nothing for […]
Bank of England boss urges firms to hold back price rises or risk higher rates
Andrew Bailey says interest rates will have to rise again unless inflation falls Wetherspoon’s boss: hospitality holding off price rises could be ‘catastrophic’ The Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, has called on businesses to hold back price rises, telling them that interest rates will need to rise again unless inflation falls. Bailey, who was […]
UK households ‘spent 12% more on essentials in February than year earlier’
Almost four in 10 people have to use credit cards to cover such costs, says Nationwide Inflation and rising bills mean UK households are spending 12% more on essentials than they were a year ago, with almost four in 10 people having to use credit cards to cover these costs, new data shows. Two days […]
Food banks supported 800,000 UK children in 2021-22, data shows
One-fifth of UK population was in relative poverty after first year of pandemic, when support measures scrapped Families including 800,000 children were forced to turn to food banks to feed themselves as poverty levels started to rise again after the first year of the pandemic, the first official figures on UK food bank use show. […]