Autumn budget 2018 - buy to let and the high street
JLL's UK research team has been speaking to us ahead of the Autumn Budget which has just been announced for the 29th October. Amendments to the 'Help to buy' loans scheme and a possible increase in stamp duty for buy-to-let landlords, may feature in the Chancellor's Autumn budget at the end of next month. Nick Whitten, Director of Residential Research at JLL states that he expects stamp duty to remain unfavourable to residential buy to let investors. When asked about what wo
Green mortgages and energy efficiency
The Behavioural Economics Forum has carried out research in the past with the law firm Eversheds into the uses of 'green bonds'. The newly branded law firm Eversheds Sutherland this summer advised Faro Energy on the first certified Green Bond for solar energy in Brazil. According to the law firm, the bond will fund a series of solar projects in Brazil for the generation of electricity on a distributed basis. It states that 'given the scope and size of the issuance, the transa
Savings and culture - new research from the London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science has published new research to suggest that how much a person saves could be influenced by their grandparents' place of birth. Dr Becky Ozcan from the Department of Social Policy says ' Our research show that culture should be taken into account when designing incentives and policies for saving behaviour'. Published in the PLOS One journal, it states that UK-born grandchildren of immigrants tend to mirror the money saving be
Launch of The China UK Business Incubator
Education and business leaders from Sheffield are joining forces to launch a new hub set to help build links and generate investment from China. China UK Business Incubator (CUBI) is launching today with support from the University of Sheffield, Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, New Era and Sheffield Hallam University. CUBI is a not-for-profit enterprise with the aim of stimulating more economic activity between Sheffield City Region and China at a time w
Hong Kong and digital disruption in insurance
Blue - the Hong Kong digital insurance joint venture owned by Aviva plc, Hillhouse Capital and Tencent Holdings has opened, with plans to shake up the insurance market with zero commission, easy-to-use, digital insurance. Hong Kong customers will be able to buy term life and critical illness products directly online. Aviva is viewing this as a significant change in a market until now dominated by intermediaries. Blue is ideally suited to customers who want to take charge of t
Pensions Dashboard - PLSA says industry must not be left alone
The Pensions Lifetime Savings Association has welcomed the UK government's commitment to the delivery of the Pensions Dashboard, saying that it will be an essential tool to help savers plan their retirement income. However, it has also warned that it is absolutely vital that the government does not 'leave this solely to the industry and remains closely involved. Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy and Research at the PLSA said: 'The PLSA has long said that government participati
Sheffield's economy boosted by new station master-plan
The continued concern to ensure the north of England's economy starts to grow rapidly often concentrates around the opening up of station infrastructure. An SNC Lavalin's Atkins Business-led consortium has now been appointed to lead the development of the Sheffield Station Master-plan. World-class architects and engineers will work on Sheffield Midland Railway Station, transforming it in preparation for the arrival of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR). Atkins - a member
Unemployment down by over 1.1 million
As the challenge to Theresa May's Brexit plan continues, the Department of Work and Pensions, has today released new figures suggesting a significant growth in jobs over the last six months. The UK's unemployment rate the department states is 4.% and has not been lower since the 1970s and the employment rate remains at a near record high of 75.5%, with 1.15 million fewer unemployed people since 2010. The UK it says, saw a sixth continuous month of real terms pay increases, wi
Sainsbury's says accidental landlords may rise this year
The supermarket is releasing research to suggest that a change in income, current housing and rental markets as well as inheritance, are the main drivers of growth in the current buy to let market. The findings from Sainsbury's Bank Mortgages indicates 9% of UK adults have shown interest in taking out a BTL mortgage in 2018 and this means that across the UK around 4.8 million adults could become landlords by the end of the year. While a third of those considering such a mortg
Insurance risk and travel pitfalls
With the summer holidays over and winter looming ahead, it is tempting to book an autumn break abroad for those last rays of sun or even organise the adventure holiday to take your mind of work for a moment. However Insurance Times alerted readers this week to the surprising fact that 80% of those booking holidays don't check their insurance cover and with a proportion of those taking part in adventurous sports such as jet-skiing and ski-diving - that's worrying! As the arti