Picture the scene: you’ve found your dream home, you’re almost ready to exchange contracts, and then you get the call… your buyer has pulled out. Domino effect Such unexpected events in the property chain can leave your own purchase in jeopardy. Many property transactions are interlinked in this way, with the decision of one buyer […]
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Gen up to protect yourself from pension scams
With pension scam losses totalling millions each year, good news came in November, when new regulations came into force to protect pension savers and stop suspicious scam transfers. From 30 November 2021, pension trustees and scheme managers received new powers to intervene. Previously pension providers were not allowed to refuse to carry out a transfer […]
Lights, camera, action!
Did you know that Jackie Chan’s stunt team has been blacklisted by all insurance companies, leaving Chan to pay out himself for any injuries? Fortunately, for most people it is considerably easier to get covered, so there is no excuse to be uninsured. Over a third of people say they are more likely to buy […]
Economic Review – January 2022
Economy regains pre-pandemic size The UK economy grew strongly in November to move beyond its pre-COVID level with increasing momentum recorded across all industry sectors prior to the arrival of the Omicron variant. Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the economy grew by 0.9% in November. This was much stronger […]
News in Review
“It’s likely households will face a cost-of-living crunch for much of the year” The biggest economic story of last week is something impacting everyone’s pockets – inflation. Data released from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday revealed that surging food and energy prices had pushed inflation to a near 30-year high of 5.4% […]
Time to consider external factors
The Autumn Budget may have left a sense that nothing much had changed in the realm of personal financial planning, as no major changes to Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax, Income Tax or pensions, were announced. Despite this, a prime consideration needs to be how external factors such as frozen rates and higher inflation, could […]
‘Special dividends’ boost investor income
In Q3 2021, UK dividends reached £34.9bn, an impressive 89% year-on-year rise1. Part of this rise can be attributed to large one-off special dividends, a trend expected to continue in Q4. Excluding special dividends, the underlying total in Q3 was £27.7bn, a 52.6% increase. In context, this year-on-year rebound, is comparable with a pandemic-stricken Q3 2020, […]
Home Finance – In the news
FTBs go mad for BoMaD Half of all first-time buyer (FTB) transactions in 2021 involved support from the Bank of Mum & Dad (BoMaD)1, with £9.8bn of BoMaD loans helping 169,000 FTBs onto the housing ladder. Analysts suggest the trend towards higher parental contributions could be here to stay given that Help to Buy is set to be […]
Residential Property Review – January 2022
Strong end to record-breaking year – but uncertainty ahead As Big Ben’s bongs rang out, a record-breaking year for the residential housing market gave way to an uncertain New Year. Completed transactions to November totalled 1.36 million, which means the number of homes sold in 2021 will reach levels not seen since before the global […]
Commercial Property Market Review – January 2022
Upbeat tone in new year forecasts 2022 could be a year of recovery for the commercial property market, two leading forecasts have suggested, with Colliers’ ‘Forecasts for 2022’ predicting investment volumes will reach £65bn and CBRE’s ‘UK Real Estate Outlook’ also foreseeing strong growth despite lingering risks. According to CBRE, the office market is predicted […]