From Star Wars and the Fed rate rise and UK housing crisis to Chelsea’s crisis and Sports Direct’s working practices: Here’s what got us talking this week
There were some outrageous predictions for 2016. Our homes got a bit smarter. And somewhere, floating over our heads, there was a British man in space.
Here's what got us talking this week
1) We learned where you can buy a home
And for those on less than £43,000, London is out of bounds. And things are getting worse for renters too, with 12 tenants for every new property listing. It's probably time for a radical solution to the housing crisis, but until things improve, it might be worth checking out the best 50 places to live in the UK.
2) The special one became the redundant one
That is, for a second time. And that leaves Chelsea rudderless for the time being, as the favourite to replace Jose Mourinho has said he needs more information before committing to the club. But what was the issue? Could it be that Mourinho's tactics were outdated and irrelevant?
3) The Fed Awakened
Just in time for all the Star Wars-themed lols (surely their main consideration), Janet Yellen et al put interest rates up 0.25 percentage points – the first movement since 2006. Markets were relaxed in their response to the much-anticipated move, but there could be some interesting repercussions for the Bank of England.
4) London is not taking the ****
That's because pee-repelling walls are coming to Hackney, just in time for Christmas revellery.
5) Driving home for Christmas? Poor you
Yep, prepare for your Christmas travel plans to be disrupted with major engineering works taking place throughout the UK's train network (remember how bad things got last year?) So, time to take to the roads, right? Wrong. There's going to be festive roadworks all over the place. Bah, humbug.
Leisurely reads
This week, we met Peter Whittle. Running as a candidate for the “third party” in London, we found out why he decided to become a Ukip politician, what he would do about housing and why he thinks people vote Ukip.
We also revealed our annual Charity Index. Now in its forth year, you can see who made the list of top 20 donors here and read our in-depth articles here.
Charts of the week
Great reads from elsewhere
The new Star Wars is here – opening to packed audiences. Haven't seen it yet? Don't want to stumble across spoilers? Well, Force Block is a handy browser extension which might help you out. But, who is the Force strongest with? Bloomberg watched the first two trilogies to identify, measure, and categorise use of the Force in this compelling infographic.
The other film we're looking forward to is The Big Short – the story of four men who capitalised on the financial crisis. Although we'll have to wait until January to see it in the UK, New York magazine's Vulture website has insight and interviews with the cast, in what they're calling the Ultimate Feel-Furious Movie About Wall Street.