UK house prices surge as cooling inflation gives rise to lower borrowing costs October 16, 2024 House prices in the UK rose by 2.8 per cent against the backdrop of the lowest inflation for three years and prospect of interest rates coming down further. The UK average according to the Office for National Statistics sat at £293,000 in the year to August 2024, though London prices are typically higher. This marked [...]
Tory leadership: I’ll return us to ‘party of sound money’, Robert Jenrick pledges October 16, 2024 Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick has pledged to return the Conservatives to “being the party of sound money”, if elected. The former migration minister outlined his economic plans in a speech this morning in which he admitted the Conservatives “abandoned fiscal responsibility in the mini-Budget.” Jenrick told an audience of journalists and MPs at a [...]
Investor confidence dropped on capital gains tax and pension Budget fears October 16, 2024 The Hargreaves Lansdown investor confidence index dropped more than 11 per cent over the last month as fears of the Budget spread throughout UK investors. Confidence among investors has been on a downward trend for some time, with a similar sized fall happening the month before. “The looming budget in the UK, due to be [...]
Bittersweet boost: UK state pension to rise by 4.1 per cent due to triple lock October 16, 2024 Under the pensions triple lock, the state pension rises each April in line with whichever is highest of inflation, average wage increases or 2.5 per cent.
Bank of England more likely to back faster rate cuts after inflation surprise October 16, 2024 New figures showed that inflation came in below the two per cent target for the first time since April 2021.
Vertu Motors: Profit at car dealership giant falls as UK sales stall October 16, 2024 Profit at car dealership Vertu Motors reversed during the first half of its financial year as UK sales of new cars stalled. In interim results filed with the London Stock Exchange, Gateshead-headquartered Vertu Motors reported a pre-tax profit of £22m for the six months to 31 August, 2024, down from the £30.1m it achieved in the [...]
Brooks Macdonald blames Budget speculation for poor performance October 16, 2024 Wealth manager Brooks Macdonald has blamed uncertainty around the upcoming Budget for investors pulling £100m from its business over the last three months. In a quarterly trading update today, the London-listed money manager revealed that investors had pulled a total of 0.7 per cent of their assets over the most recent quarter, thanks to a [...]
Quilter inflows shoot up as platform business booms October 16, 2024 Investors poured millions into Quilter during the last quarter, with the wealth manager bringing in £1.4bn of new business over the last three months. All arms of the business saw elevated levels of cash being deposited into them by investors, pushing group assets under management and administration to a total of £116.2bn. In a trading [...]
When it comes to national insurance, the government is pulling a fast one October 16, 2024 One of the many problems the government has got itself into over tax rises that may or may not appear in the upcoming Budget is an oversimplification of where the cost of a certain tax falls. Ministers and their supporters talk about Capital Gains Tax as if it only lands on rich people selling off [...]
Capital isn’t the issue – there aren’t enough UK projects to invest in October 16, 2024 My company is raring to invest billions into the economy, but there's nowhere for the money to go, writes Tracy Blackwell.