The Chancellor’s Mortgage Guarantee: a Good Idea? Or a Big Mistake?
“Generation Rent,” declared Rishi Sunak in his Budget speech, “will become Generation Buy.” Had the House of Commons been full, this announcement would no doubt have been greeted with loud cheers by Conservative backbenchers. At last, someone is doing something to help young people get on the housing ladder… So…
Could we see Negative Interest Rates in the UK?
In February, the Daily Telegraph had a headline which must have alarmed savers up and down the land: ‘Savers face threat of negative interest rates.’ According to the story, the Bank of England had told the clearing banks that they ‘must be ready to introduce the policy in the next…
Budget Overview 2021
Introduction It is interesting to look back 12 months to Rishi Sunak’s first Budget: it was followed by a year none of us could have predicted or imagined. The Conservatives had won a comfortable majority in the December 2019 General Election. As expected, Sajid Javid became Chancellor and, in January,…
Who are the ‘winners’ of Covid-19?
To talk in terms of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ around the topic of a global crisis certainly risks downplaying the human impact of the pandemic. It cannot be ignored, however, that amidst the unquestionable tragedy, there are companies, industries and indeed entire nations who have either benefited or can be expected…
Later life care could cost £1,000 a week. How can Britain afford this?
Covid-19 has made the country’s broken social care system an important political subject, one that urgently needs solving. As with all complex political subjects, the solution will be far from simple. Most recently, the government has announced that it is considering a new approach to the care funding crisis –…
Is cash still king?
As contactless payment options have grown dramatically in availability and popularity in recent years, we have seen a reduction in the use of cash as a result. While there has been a steady decline in cash withdrawals, and the use of cash transactions in general was to be expected as…
95% mortgages could leave the UK taxpayer liable for £44b
At the virtual Conservative Party Conference on 6th October, Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestured towards a plan in the pipeline to introduce 95% Loan to Value mortgages in an attempt to reinvigorate home ownership and in his words, “help turn generation rent, into generation buy.” While the details of this…
House prices have rebounded, but is it a “false dawn”?
At first glance, recent figures from the housing markets appear wholly positive. During July, Nationwide reported a 1.7% leap in prices. However, the country’s largest building society warned of a “false dawn” when they announced these figures. They highlighted that much of the rise can be attributed to pent-up demand…
Could over-40s pay more tax to solve the social care crisis?
The question of who should pay for social care is an urgent one; successive governments have wrestled with the issue and none have found a robust solution. At present, some people who don’t qualify for local council funded care have to sell their homes to cover the costs, which can…
What happens to your mortgage if there are negative interest rates?
With the Bank of England’s base rate being at an historic low of 0.1%, there is talk that we will soon see negative interest rates. In the past, Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, had not been in favour of such a step but has admitted that he…