RICS report says rise in repossessions will add to supply while soaring interest rates price buyers out of market Homeowners will struggle to make mortgage repayments and repossessions will rise next year as soaring interest rates and falling prices mark the end of the UK’s 13-year housing market boom, according to a sobering report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The number of inquiries from potential homebuyers fell for a fifth month in

Below-inflation rise would save exchequer tenth of £40bn to be given out through tax cuts, says thinktank If the government raises benefits in line with earnings rather than inflation next year, it would drastically cut the incomes of poorer working-age families, while saving less than a tenth of the cost of recent tax cuts, a leading economic thinktank has calculated. Such a change, which would mean a significant real-terms cut given that wages are rising

Settlement was down from £41.7bn, reflecting payments already made to cover UK obligations The UK’s Brexit “divorce bill” stood at €41.8bn (£36.7bn) in 2021, according to the EU’s official auditors. The European court of auditors’ annual report revealed that the UK was expected to make €10.9bn in payments to the EU during 2022. Continue reading… ​Settlement was down from £41.7bn, reflecting payments already made to cover UK obligationsThe UK’s Brexit “divorce bill” stood at €41.8bn

In government, party says it would stop inflation-busting price rises and take action on mid-contract hikes A Labour government would enforce a cheap broadband tariff for low-income families as well as taking action on mid-contract price hikes, the shadow culture secretary will announce. Labour will say broadband is an essential utility and that figures from the regulator Ofcom show almost a third of households (8 million) are having problems paying their broadband, phone and streaming

Relatives of Dorset teenager call for ‘Gaia Principle’ so officers must check if rape suspects are facing other allegations The man accused of raping the Dorset teenager Gaia Pope the year before she disappeared in 2017 was under investigation before she went to police and should have been more closely monitored, the teenager’s family said on Wednesday. Following a long-running inquest into the teenager’s death, which found that multiple agencies including the police and health

PM accused of ‘trashing’ Conservative values and a PMQs performance that was ‘just appalling’ Liz Truss’ leadership was in fresh peril on Wednesday with calls growing among senior Conservatives to reverse more proposed tax cuts and MPs accusing her of “trashing” Conservative values. As the cost of government borrowing soared further, Truss used her second PMQs appearance to “absolutely” rule out further spending cuts, instead allowing borrowing to rise over the next few years. Continue