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House Prices in 30 UK Cities Are Over 1,000% Higher Than Annual Salaries

The team at comparethemarket.com have analysed the median salaries in the UK’s largest cities vs the price of a house to discover which parts of the country could offer the most and least affordable housing.

Most affordable places to buy a house based on area salary (…[Read more]

Polls and the Pound

By Chris Towner, Director at JCRA

With the festive season upon us, voting in the general election sits right in the middle of our collective Christmas ‘to do’ list.

The last time the UK held a general election in December was in 1923, and it was an experience the Conservative Party would rather not repeat. Having won…[Read more]

Over half of Brits support scrapping passwords for biometrics

More than half of Brits (57%) would be happy to ditch all of their passwords and pins and replace them with biometric verification, according to new research from Equifax, the business and consumer insights expert.

The research also showed there is still widespread criticism…[Read more]

Following the Bank of England mortgage approvals data published this morning, the following comments from Sam Harhat, Head of Financial Services at Andrews Property Group, may be of interest;

“Given the frantic political backdrop, the mortgage market showed remarkable resilience in October.

“October’s mortgage approvals data is furth…[Read more]

Following MHCLG’s Help to Buy statistics released this morning, the following comment from Andrew Southern, chairman of property developer Southern Grove, may be of interest:

“Almost a quarter of a million homes have now been purchased since Help to Buy was launched six years ago. And the feeding frenzy at the Help to Buy table shows no signs of…[Read more]

LOW INCOME FAMILIES IN THE UK STRUGGLING TO PAY ENERGY BILLS

Ahead of Fuel Poverty Awareness Day this Friday, which aims to raise awareness of the support available for those in fuel poverty, research from uSwitch shows the harsh reality of fuel poverty as millions of households in the UK will be forced to choose between heating and eating…[Read more]

Do the main parties’ manifestos deliver for personal investors?

Following a survey of its customer base, The Share Centre found the three things personal investors most wanted in the main parties’ manifestos were; a commitment to stability in the tax environment, an increased emphasis on financial education and increased incentives to enc…[Read more]

Labour’s manifesto has ruffled a few feathers

Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen, an investment platform in the UK said:

“Labour’s manifesto has ruffled a few feathers and sent shivers down the spines of both investors and companies in the UK. The effect of a Labour victory on the 13th December on British investors c…[Read more]

MORE THAN HALF OF SHOPPERS MADE IMPULSE PURCHASES DURING LAST YEAR’S BLACK FRIDAY SALES AND 80% WENT OVER THEIR BUDGETS

A third of consumers plan to spend more than £300 during this year’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales

Eight in ten shoppers exceeded their budgets last year, spending on average £219.59
Tech and electrical goods are the…[Read more]

PLSA COMMENTS ON LABOUR MANIFESTO

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) has commented on pension pledges in the Labour manifesto.

Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy & Research, PLSA said:

“The PLSA supports Labour’s manifesto pledges to widen and expand auto-enrolment to low-income and self-employed workers, and to establish a Pen…[Read more]

SMEs in cashflow black hole as they wait for £24bn in late payments

Late payments up more than £10bn in a year

15% of British freelancers spend 4 hours and above a week chasing invoices

CEO of ETZ Payments, Nick Woodward, provides commentary on how late and inconsistent payments are hurting businesses and freelancers alike

Today, n…[Read more]

The different UK election outcomes and what they could mean for markets

By Rupert Thompson, Head of Research at Kingswood

We have recently added to our UK equity holdings, eliminating the bulk of our longstanding underweight of UK equities. Although uncertainties undoubtedly remain, our view is that the risk of the two most market unfriendly…[Read more]

9-5 mentality on borrowed time

Following the ONS report on Young People in Self Employment published this morning, the following comments from Chris Sanderson, CEO of Limber, an online tool for the self-employed, freelancers, solo-preneurs, gig workers and ‘slashies’, could be of interest:

“That there were a third more self-employed 22-to 30-…[Read more]