Finanse

The cost of renting in the UK has seen a sharp rise over the last few years, new data shows, increasing by an average of £221 a month in just three years. This makes the cost of renting 21 per cent more expensive than three years ago, the analysis by Zoopla finds, far outstripping inflation.more

NHS bosses are putting patients at risk of harm in the upcoming doctors' strike, the British Medical Association says. The union believes NHS England's plan to limit the number of routine treatments being cancelled will stretch senior doctors covering for striking resident doctors too thinly.more

In 2026, entrepreneurs will pay almost PLN 153 more per month to ZUS, or PLN 1,836 per year, according to the latest government forecasts, as reported in today's “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”.more

People retiring in 2050 will be worse off than pensioners today, the government has warned, unless action is taken to boost retirement savings. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is reviving the Pensions Commission, which first reported nearly 20 years ago, to look at how to tackle the issue.more

Job hunters face significant financial losses and potential criminal records from scam advertisements, Lloyds Bank has warned, reporting a staggering 237 per cent surge in "advanced fee" job scams this year. more

A further 300,000 households have stopped paying the licence fee, as the BBC said it was looking at overhauling the payment to secure the corporation’s future “for the long term”.more

Krakow is among the fastest growing metropolises in the country, according to a report by PwC Poland. At the same time, the authors of the study draw attention to the city's high debt and are convinced that human capital could be better utilised.more

The taxman has no idea how much is being collected from billionaires amid mounting calls for a wealth tax, a powerful Commons committee has found. With Rachel Reeves seeking billions of pounds to plug a gaping hole in the public finances, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) cannot identify how much tax is paid by Britain’s billionaires. more

Prices rose by more than expected in the year to June, pushing inflation to 3.6%, the highest it has been since January 2024. Higher prices for food and clothing, air and rail fares - and a lower drop in fuel prices than this time last year - contributed to higher inflation, official figures show.more

Banks will push Britain’s savers to invest in the stock market under plans drawn up by Rachel Reeves. Savers with money piling up in low-interest accounts will be offered investment opportunities by their banks in a bid to funnel funds into British businesses, the Treasury has announced.more

The pound has dropped to a three-week low after the governor of the Bank of England said it could make bigger cuts to interest rates if the job market slows too quickly. Andrew Bailey said “slack” was opening up in the UK economy, as higher taxes have squeezed employers.more

People have been urged to beware of scams linked to winter fuel payments after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) received more than 15,000 reports of bogus activity last month. HMRC received a total of 15,100 reports of bogus activity in June, with fraudsters targeting vulnerable people using texts and phishing websites.more

One pub will close every day this year as Labour’s tax raid makes it “impossible to make a profit”, bosses have warned. The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) predicted that 378 pubs will shut across England, Wales and Scotland before the end of the year – up from 350 closures last year. It will take pub numbers to their lowest level in a century, the BBPA warned.more

Self-assessment taxpayers who make 'payments on account' have less than one month to settle the second instalment of the year or face an interest penalty of 8.25%.more

Children in England are living in “almost Dickensian levels of poverty” where deprivation has become normalised, the children’s commissioner has said, as she insisted the two-child benefit limit must be scrapped.more

The energy regulator has ordered Octopus Energy to pay £1.5m in refunds and compensation, after an investigation found thousands of errors on prepayment meter bills.more

Aldi has been named the cheapest supermarket in June, with an average household basket full of groceries and other essentials coming in at £131.52, a study by consumer group Which? found.more

The Government's welfare system revamp could force 150,000 individuals below the poverty line, including those who receive universal credit (UC) and personal independence payments (PIP). Sir Keir Starmer is facing strong pushback on his welfare reforms from those within his own party, with a humiliating rejection of the proposed bill last week.more

The cost of a taxpayer-funded grant for the UK monarchy will increase by over 45 million pounds in the 2026-2027 year, sparking renewed controversy about the royal family’s spending. more

Households have been urged to send in meter readings ahead of the energy price cap falling by 7% on Tuesday. The typical household bill for those who have still not signed up to a fixed tariff will drop by £129 to £1,720 per year when the regulator’s new price cap – which sets the limit on how much firms can charge customers per unit of energy – comes into force.more

The royal train is going to be taken out of service by 2027, in a cost-saving measure announced by Buckingham Palace. There have been dedicated trains for monarchs since Queen Victoria's reign, but as part of a "drive to ensure we deliver value for money" it's been decided to decommission the historic rolling stock.more

Struggling households owe billions of pounds in unpaid council tax, but bills are expected to keep rising in the years ahead. Newly-published figures show £6.6bn is owed to local authorities in England, with an extra £642m having been added to those arrears in the year to April.more

The extreme poverty rate in Poland in 2024 was 5.2%, which means a decrease of 1.4 percentage points year-on-year - the Central Statistical Office reported today.more

Defence was also a key theme of the report - and researchers found about 40% of Britons support spending more money on weapons and troops.more

Financial services company SunLife has found that a funeral in London costs 27% more than the average for the UK, which was £4,285 in 2024.more