News - Page 77 of 109 - Auto Enrolment

‘2022 will be defined as the year of the squeeze’ As wages stagnate, and energy bills and taxes rise, the latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook released by the Resolution Foundation has warned that millions of families face a ‘year of the squeeze’ in 2022, potentially leaving the average household £1,200 worse off. The expected rise […]

Property Market Review – December 2021

Strong performance from retail parks Retail parks remain the shining light of the retail industry, with their yields across Europe now at parity with shopping centre yields, according to Savills’ data. So far in 2021, more than €5.1bn has been invested in retail parks across nine European countries. Investment was up 46% year-on-year in the […]

Residential Property Review – December 2021

Slowing activity but demand remains high New buyer enquiries rose slightly in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) November survey, with a net balance of +13%, while new instructions fell for the eighth successive month to -18%. The end of the Stamp Duty holiday, among other factors, has contributed to a dip in housing […]

News in Review

“We’re concerned about inflation in the medium term” Last week the Bank of England (BoE) became the first major central bank to raise interest rates since the onset of the pandemic. At a meeting ending on 16 December, the Bank’s nine-member Monetary Policy Committee voted by an 8-1 majority to raise rates to 0.25%, an […]

‘Noise’ blocking – good for your portfolio

It’s easy to feel bombarded by the constant cycle of negative news headlines or ‘noise’, which can add to your anxiety about how your investments are doing and uncertainty as to whether your investment strategy is on the right course. It’s important to try and block out this noise which could influence you to make […]

Government invests heavily in flood alleviation

The government is investing over £860m during 2021-22 to protect homes and businesses from flooding and coastal erosion. It is part of a £5.2bn package to be spent over the next six years, the details of which are set out in the Flood and Coastal Erosion Investment Plan, published on 29 July. It will, the […]

News in Review Read More

Annexes: not just for Granny

Converting existing outbuildings into residential space used to be the preserve of those whose elderly parents had grown too frail or dependent to live alone – hence the term ‘Granny annex’. Now, however, annexes are coming in useful for a wide variety of purposes. So popular are they, in fact, that councils received approximately 9,000 […]

Financial advice and wellbeing to hand in hand

According to a recent study1, those who take financial advice are four times more likely than those without, to have high levels of financial wellbeing. The study also revealed that the average advised client accumulated almost three times more pension savings (£246,000), compared to non-advised people (£95,000). Advised clients also accumulated total non-pension savings of […]

Economic Review – November 2021

Inflationary pressures mount Official statistics show the UK headline rate of inflation now stands at a 10-year high, with surveys pointing to further upward pressure as firms continue to report rapidly-rising cost burdens. Data released last month by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 12-month rate – which […]