Three London boroughs where house prices are falling
NAEA Propertymark president Toby Leek notes that despite London 's attractiveness, high house prices relative to wages, increased stamp duty, limited housing supply, and higher interest rates are making it difficult for aspiring homeowners to enter the market.
Data indicates a shift with more people leaving cities for smaller towns or rural areas, influenced by factors like the pandemic altering work-life balance perceptions and the desire for larger, more affordable properties.
Personal finance analyst Alice Haine highlights that Londoners face challenges due to high mortgage payments, rising living costs, and frozen tax thresholds, making relocation to cheaper areas appealing.
Bank of England data reveals a continued decline in mortgage approvals for home purchases, and with interest rates expected to remain high, buyers and those remortgaging may need to adjust their plans.
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Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
QUENTIN LETTS: With his drip dry suburban ways, there's something furtive about the Governor
Bank managers are often thought stodgy presences. But as Andrew Bailey demonstrated at the treasury select committee, they are crazily optimistic loan sharks. Their purpose in life is to persuade happy people to borrow money, which frequently brings misery. 'It'll be fine,' they say. Bank managers are maniacs. Outwardly Mr Bailey is unexciting. They're always the most dangerous. The sober socks, bland suit, Pooterish manner, and a retinue of six clerical mice who traipse after him with earnest haircuts and dark shoes: it is a brilliant disguise. We think, 'he'll be safe', but we'd be safer being driven home from an all-night bender by the late Ayrton Senna. Mr Bailey is governor of the Bank of England. His time in charge has so far seen the mad printing of money, blindness to inflation after lockdown and a regulatory laxness that hastened the Truss government's destruction. Yesterday he was asked if Rachel Reeves was borrowing too much. Noooo, said Mr Bailey. Everything's under control. He slipped easily into jargon mode, burbling that yield curves were steeper across the world. As he did this he narrowed his eyes a little to convey shrewd expertise. He placed his elbows on the witness table and touched the skin of his brow, quite the expert intellectual. Carry on borrowing, Chancellor. It's all going swimmingly. That was his siren song. Dame Meg Hillier (Lab), chairman of the committee, was surprised. 'You sound unconcerned,' honked Mother-Goose Meg. Mr Bailey, suppressing just a hint of indigestion: 'I'm not unconcerned. It's reflective of conditions. There is an uncertainty in geopolitics, I'd say.' Dame Meg boggled a bit at his calm tone. We were talking here about trillions of pounds and an interest bill that could bankrupt us. Mr Bailey soothed Dame Meg with a not-quite convincing smile. He noted that the market capitalisation of a single US firm is now greater than Britain's gross domestic product. Was that meant to be reassuring? Unlike his talcum-powdered predecessor Mark Carney this Bank governor is not a magnetic figure. When he enters a room, people do not hush. When Mr Carney shimmered down a corridor, you could almost hear Sade's 'Smooth Operator'. Mr Bailey, with his crinkly hairdo and drip-dry, suburban ways, lacks charisma. He fiddles with his chin and neck when talking. His fingers twiddle with a slender ballpoint pen. There's something not quite right about him. Something flawed. Furtive. When Ms Reeves first started to meet him, she possibly suspected that she was the senior partner in the relationship. Now, as she looks at our economy going down the plughole, she must wish she had never listened to his burbling reassurances. He was accompanied by two external members of the Bank's financial policy committee. Carolyn Wilkins, a Canadian policy wonk, was largely inaudible. Prof Randall Kroszner, known as 'Randy', sat on the very edge of his chair, his spine ramrod straight. Randy was Norman R. Bobins professor of economics at Chicago university, a director of the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the John M. Olin visiting fellow of law at Chicago law school. Randy turns left on aeroplanes. We possibly need to keep Rachel Reeves away from such people. It being the last day of term, Westminster was pretty empty. The education committee was holding an inquiry about truancy. Jolly bad luck. It meant most of them had to turn up. And in the Commons chamber Wes Streeting took health questions. Wes is already quite bronzé. Not a fleck of grey taints his inky, modishly ridged fringe. Add a rich, blue suit and just a hint of tummy. During longueurs he effortlessly attended to his mobile telephone. He paid handsome tribute to his Tory shadow, Edward Argar, who is retiring from the front bench. And he relished talking about the resident doctors' strike, which we must all hope he wins. The Starmer Government has had a hellish first year but little Wes is loving life.
Telegraph
25 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Treasury boss gets £20k bonus as growth slumps and taxes soar
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The Independent
34 minutes ago
- The Independent
I care more about getting a family on the housing ladder than snails
Rachel Reeves has said that she cares 'more about getting a young family on the housing ladder than I do about protecting some snails' as she defended the Government's planning bill. Speaking to the House of Lords economic affairs committee on Tuesday, the Chancellor urged parliamentarians to get the flagship Planning and Infrastructure Bill into law quickly as ministers look to reach their targets on housebuilding and major projects. The Chancellor was facing questions on Government amendments to the legislation designed to strengthen environmental protections, which one peer suggested would 'make it easier' than in the original plans 'to block and delay things'. The Government has pledged to reach decisions on 150 infrastructure projects and building 1.5 million homes over the course of this Parliament. The Chancellor said that ministers are of the view that their amendments do not 'water down' or 'weaken' the bill, and asked for people to be 'sympathetic' towards the legislation as it heads towards the statute book. Ms Reeves, who represents the Leeds West and Pudsey seat went on: 'The reason that HS2 is not coming to my city of Leeds anymore anytime soon, is because I'm afraid, as a country, we've cared more about the bats than we have about the commuter times for people in Leeds and West Yorkshire, and we've got to change that, 'Because I care more about a young family getting on the housing ladder than I do about protecting some snails, and I care more about my energy bills and my constituents than I do about the views of people from their windows.' A £100 million tunnel to protect bats along the route of the high-speed rail project has been singled out by ministers for criticism.
