“Housing affordability has improved over the past year, thanks to stabilising property prices, strong wage growth, and easing interest rates” Buying a home is becoming more affordable relative to income, according to the latest Halifax Affordability Review released last Thursday, as the house price to income ratio continues to fall. Strong wage growth combined with […]
Author archives: charlie
Economic Review November 2024
Interest rates set to fall more gradually Last month, the Bank of England (BoE) cut interest rates for only the second time since 2020 but also warned future reductions were likely to be more gradual due to the prospect of inflation creeping higher next year. Following its latest meeting, which concluded on 6 November, the […]
Self-employed? Remember your pension
Over one million individuals have entered self-employment since 20201, so it is important to ensure you are still planning for retirement by making regular pension contributions. A growing sector In 2023, there were 4.2 million people in the UK’s solo self-employed sector – 3% higher than the previous year. Overall, the solo self-employed contributed £331bn […]
Avoiding the unretirement ‘tax trap’
Research1 suggests a significant minority of over-55s either have or are planning to unretire. Worryingly, though, a majority in this group have not checked the tax implications associated with such a decision, leaving many potentially at risk of falling foul of the unretirement ‘tax trap.’ The great unretirement continues According to the research, more than […]
News in Review
“We know that families across Britain are still struggling with the cost of living” UK inflation was 2.3% in October, according to figures released last week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the first rise in the UK’s consumer prices index (CPI) for three months. As well as faring worse than economists had expected, […]
Residential Property Review – November 2024
Budget caused uncertainty in the market There was some uncertainty within the housing market ahead of the Autumn Budget at the end of October, which was reflected in muted consumer activity. House price growth slowed ahead of the first Labour Budget in 14 years according to Savills. Mortgage rates rose slightly at the end of […]
Commercial Property Market Review – November 2024
Commercial property market outlook Despite anticipation of the Autumn Budget, Savills reported that the commercial property market remained stable in October, with some areas of growth. There was no change in pricing across any commercial asset class last month, with the average prime yield remaining at 6%. Eight sectors are now experiencing a downward pressure […]
News in Review
“Harnessing the power of this multi-billion-pound industry is a win-win, benefiting future pensioners, and our wider economy” Last Thursday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her first Mansion House speech to outline her new plan for pension funds, intended to shake up UK pension saving and unlock £80bn of investment. Ahead of the speech, the Chancellor revealed […]
Equity release update
Data suggests that confidence is growing among new and existing equity release customers. Equity release customers rose by 12% in Q2 of this year, with total lending increasing by 15% to £578m1. There was also a quarterly and annual increase in the average loan size, which indicates that customer confidence is being restored. More taking […]
In the news
Equity fund inflows on the up Statistics1 show that, during the first half of 2024, net inflows to equity funds were over £11.3bn, the best six-month recording for equity funds according to global fund network Calastone’s ten-year record. Of the most positive inflows, North America and global funds recorded £7.8bn and £7.2bn respectively, with emerging […]