Finanse

UK inflation held steady in June, remaining at the Bank of England's target rate of 2%, according to the latest official figures, external. Discounts on clothes in summer sales helped offset the soaring cost of hotel stays. Overall, inflation rose at 2% in the year to June, unchanged from May.more

A proposed average 21% hike in bills in England and Wales won't be enough to address problems including sewage leaks, water firms have warned. The firms are in a standoff with regulator Ofwat over proposed bill rises. Ofwat has said it wants firms to limit rises to an average of £19 per year until 2030.more

Millions of Brits claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefits, designed to provide financial assistance to people who have extra care or mobility needs, to help with living costs.more

Rachel Reeves has promised to "get Britain building again" by bringing back compulsory housebuilding targets as part of a wide-ranging plan to reboot the UK economy. In her first speech as chancellor, Ms Reeves also said she would overhaul planning restrictions and end the effective ban on onshore wind farms in England in order to speed up national infrastructure projects.more

Mortgage costs are still the biggest challenge facing homebuyers and those coming to the end of fixed-term deals, the UK's biggest mortgage lender has said.more

Bank branch closures are sweeping the UK with Lloyds, Barclays, Halifax and NatWest among the financial institutions leaving the high street in this month.more

Almost 1.8 million people are now in at least £50,000 of UK student debt, data obtained by BBC News reveals. More than 61,000 have balances of above £100,000, figures from the Student Loans Company (SLC) also show, while another 50 people each owe upwards of £200,000.more

Average private rents in Great Britain have climbed to record highs, prompting a call for the next government to prioritise measures to help create an extra 120,000 rental properties.more

Some NatWest customers with paid-for accounts have experienced a big change to their current account fees in the last few days.more

House prices in the UK remain unaffordable for many households despite wages rising above inflation for the typical earner, Nationwide has said. Britain’s largest building society said prices had risen slightly in June amid the impact of higher mortgage costs, with a 0.2% month-on-month increase.more

A drop in domestic gas and electricity prices has now taken effect, but costs are expected to rise again in October. Regulator Ofgem's new price cap for England, Wales and Scotland came into force on Monday, meaning a typical household's energy bill will fall by £122 a year.more

From 1 July, the minimum wage will increase to PLN 4,300 gross and the hourly rate to PLN 28.10. This is the second minimum wage increase this year, which will affect more than 3 million people. Compared to 2014, the minimum wage will be higher by PLN 2 620, or 156 per cent.more

Pensioners have gained more than working-age households from tax and benefit decisions since 2010, with the average pensioner £900 better off. A study by the Resolution Foundation showed that the average pensioner is £900 better off as a result of benefit policy changes since 2010, while the average non-pensioner household is £1,400 worse off.more

The British bank NatWest will withdraw from operations in Poland by the end of 2025, which will result in the entire staff of its Polish branch, numbering approximately 1,600 people, losing their jobs.more

The UK's annual inflation rate fell to 2.0 per cent in May, bringing it within the Bank of England's (BoE) inflation target for the first time in almost three years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said today.more

Firefighters, police officers and construction workers are the least likely to qualify for a 40-year mortgage, brokers have warned.more

Renting is now cheaper than owning a home in almost all of Britain as stubbornly high mortgage rates take their toll, analysis shows.more

London has jumped into the top 10 list in a global index which looks at the most expensive cities for expatriate employees. The city has moved up nine places since last year, to be ranked eighth in Mercer’s 2024 cost-of-living city ranking.more

60 percent Polish companies declare that they do not plan to increase salaries in the second half of this year, while 34 percent has such an intention - according to a report by the Randstad institute. 31 percent companies intend to start new recruitment in the second half of the year.more

Latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that GDP was unchanged during the month, which was marked by weeks of heavy rain that kept shoppers at home and delayed construction work.more

A host of pubs across the capital have put pint prices up by more than 20% since the start of last year, an Evening Standard analysis has found, while it can cost more than £3 more for the same beer in different parts of the capital. If a group of four friends each got a round in, that could add as much as £50 to the total bill.more

Never before have there been so many dollar millionaires in the world with so much wealth, according to a Capgemini report published on Wednesday. The increase in wealth was primarily due to the rise in share prices.more

Eight in 10 primary schoolteachers in England are spending their own money to buy items for pupils who are increasingly arriving at school hungry and without adequate clothing, according to new research.more

Rent prices have increased more in Brent than anywhere else in the UK over the last year. It costs £2,028 a month to rent the average home in Brent, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics which cover the year to April 2024.more

Hackers are attempting to sell what they say is confidential information belonging to millions of Santander staff and customers. They belong to the same gang which this week claimed to have hacked Ticketmaster. The bank — which employs 200,000 people worldwide, including around 20,000 in the UK — has confirmed data has been stolen.more