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Fueled by a post-lockdown buying frenzy, the average UK house price hit a record £275,000 ($315,474) in December, a £27,000 increase on the previous year’s high. UK mortgage rates have been ticking upwards since spring, in line with rising interest rates. UK house prices fell 0.9% between September and October, the first decline in 15 months, according to data from Nationwide. A drop in buying power makes a significant drop in house prices inevitable, according to Andrew Wishart, a senior economist at Capital Economics. When house prices fall, homeowners feel less confident about their personal finances, causing them to cut back on spending and hold off on making additional investments.

☆ UK still faces 40 billion pound budget hole - Resolution Foundation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Britain still faces a 40 billion pound ($46 billion) budget hole that will need to be filled by tax rises as well as spending cuts, despite recent U-turns on measures proposed during Liz Truss's short-lived premiership, a think tank said on Tuesday. Previous finance ministers had also left a minimum of 12 billion pounds of leeway to achieve their budget goals, the think tank added. The government is reviewing a previous promise to raise pensions and welfare benefits in line with inflation, which will cost around 9 billion pounds. Around 17 billion pounds of Truss's tax cuts remain in place, largely the reversal of a 15 billion pound rise in payroll taxes introduced by Sunak when he was finance minister. "This reality means that the Autumn Statement is likely to involve tax rises, not just spending cuts."

☆ Britain's new PM is a fan of crypto. There are hopes he'll give the industry a boost
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Dan Kitwood | Getty ImagesU.K. cryptocurrency firms and investors have high hopes that new prime minister Rishi Sunak could turn around Britain's fading crypto aspirations. Crypto isn't exactly high up on his priority list, but industry insiders say there's reason to be optimistic. Before Sunak's appointment as PM, confidence in the U.K.'s position in the global crypto market had been waning. In a survey of 300 British fintech founders, only 9% believe it's leading the way on crypto. Yet the U.K. is home to a fairly active crypto market.

☆ UK house prices fall after 'mini-budget' turmoil - Nationwide
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] An estate agent's board is displayed outside a house on a terraced street in Blackburn, Britain, January 17, 2022. REUTERS/Phil NobleLONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - British house prices recorded their first monthly fall since July 2021 last month, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Tuesday, after the market was hit by turmoil during Prime Minister Liz Truss's short-lived premiership. Nationwide Building Society said house prices dropped 0.9% in October after being unchanged in September, while they are 7.2% higher than a year earlier, slowing from September's annual increase of 9.5%. "The market has undoubtedly been impacted by the turmoil following the mini-Budget, which led to a sharp rise in market interest rates," Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said. The monthly fall in house prices was the largest since June 2020, when the market was crimped by initial COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, while the annual rise was the weakest since April 2021.

☆ UK will not take action over Czech mogul's plan to raise Royal Mail stake
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Britain is no longer intervening in Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's plan to increase his stake in Royal Mail parent International Distributions Services (IDSI.L), sending the company's shares up more than 7% on Monday. In August, Royal Mail said it had been notified by then business minister Kwasi Kwarteng that he was exercising powers to look into proposals by Kretinsky's vehicle, Vesa Equity Investment, under the National Security and Investment Act. The Royal Mail review came days after the government decided not to take action over billionaire Patrick Drahi's stake in telecoms firm BT (BT.L). Vesa, Royal Mail's biggest shareholder which is ultimately controlled by Kretinsky and his business partner Patrik Tkac, in August said it had voluntarily contacted the government to inform them of its intention to increase its stake in Royal Mail, which is currently just over 22%. "Vesa Equity Investment welcomes the decision ... and reiterate our commitment to continuing long term investment presence in the U.K., including our partnership with Royal Mail," a spokesperson said.

☆ Truss phone was hacked by suspected Putin agents when she was foreign minister, the Daily Mail reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss's personal phone was hacked by suspected agents working for Russian President Vladimir Putin when she was foreign minister, the Daily Mail reported on Saturday. That includes regular security briefings for Ministers, and advice on protecting their personal data and mitigating cyber threats," the spokesperson added. The hack was discovered during the Conservative Party leadership campaign that led to Truss becoming prime minister, the Mail reported. Truss left office last week as prime minister and was succeeded by Rishi Sunak. The Mail said the messages that fell into foreign hands included criticisms of Johnson made by Truss and Kwarteng, "leading to a potential risk of blackmail".

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Having hiked mortgage rates after political turmoil drove up the cost of borrowing, British banks are now cutting home loan prices, albeit slowly, as markets calm since Liz Truss's government collapsed and Rishi Sunak took power. But as markets have stabilised and borrowing costs have fallen, the trickle of mortgage rate cuts has lagged behind. By contrast, average rates on two-year and five-year fixed-rate mortgages have fallen just 0.16 percentage points, Moneyfacts data shows. Reuters GraphicsFIXED RATESMortgage brokers say fixed-rate mortgage rates typically lag changes in swap rates, a trend which could be exacerbated this time as lenders focus on reintroducing products. Five-year mortgage rates have followed a similar pattern, Moneyfacts data shows.

Average two-year and five-year fixed rates hit 6.65% and 6.51% on Thursday, according to Moneyfacts, the highest since 2008. FALLING PRICESA drop in gilt yields following Rishi Sunak's victory in the Conservative Party leadership race could potentially feed through to lower mortgage rates. But the number of loans available for first-time buyers remains at less than half those on offer before the mini-budget, according to Moneyfacts. NEW FIXESAs well as first-time buyers, brokers are dealing with thousands of people whose fixed rate mortgages are due to expire in the coming months. Redmond, who has had an offer accepted in east London, said it felt as though every turn of political event only made the fixed interest rate higher.

"Policy stability is absolutely critical," Miles Celic, chief executive of finance lobby group TheCityUK told Reuters. Finance chiefs want Sunak to balance spending on infrastructure with easing immigration policy for skilled workers and investing in education, Celic added. Sunak confirmed on Tuesday that he was keeping Hunt as his finance minister, after he was appointed late in Truss' brief premiership to shore up confidence in Britain's finances - and tear up much of her planned tax-cutting agenda. Britain's 164 billion pound ($185 billion) financial industry was largely locked out of directly serving EU customers after Brexit. Any moves to extract more tax from banks are likely to be met with industry opposition.

☆ The ridiculous rise of the chief purpose officer — corporate America's half-baked attempt to fix the employee burnout crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Tracy Moore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Every company on Great Place to Work's ranked list of best employers has a chief purpose officer or purpose among the company's missions and goals. Its chief purpose officer, Kwasi Mitchell, who stepped into the role in 2020, told me that establishing purpose was a powerful talent-retention tool. The same is true for chief purpose officers. And a chief purpose officer can be used as a crutch, a way for a business to say, "Of course, we care," when employees raise issues with the culture. Instead of fixing the burnout problem, these executives can allow management to turn a blind eye and assume all is well, letting workplace rot set in even deeper.

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Investors welcomed Rishi Sunak as Britain's new prime minister on Monday, but they're likely to give him little leeway to diverge from spending restraint and tax rises after his predecessor shook their faith in the Conservative party's management of the economy. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterOutgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss's month and a half in power caused chaos in British financial markets. Yet Donovan said the mayhem of the last month means Sunak will have next to no room to make bold choices, lest he risk the market's wrath. And I don't think that the incoming prime minister has that." "The settling down of the situation in the UK means what is happening in politics is now more of an idiosyncratic thing just affecting UK markets, and in the UK too what global markets are doing will become more and more important."

☆ Rishi Sunak to be Britain's new prime minister as rival Penny Mordaunt drops out
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Rishi Sunak has been named as the U.K.'s new prime minister, after beating competitor Penny Mordaunt in the country's fast-tracked leadership race. Hollie Adams | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLONDON — Rishi Sunak will be named the U.K.'s new prime minister, following a fast-tracked Conservative Party leadership race initiated to fill the void left by Liz Truss' resignation. The 42-year-old takes over just seven weeks after placing second to Truss, who stepped down Thursday, bringing to a swift close her 44 days in office — the shortest tenure of any U.K. prime minister. Sunak, who is credited with steering the U.K. economy through the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, is broadly seen as a safe pair of fiscal hands. Indeed, after being berated by Truss during the race as a voice of Treasury orthodoxy, his critique of the PM's "unfunded tax cuts" appears to have been vindicated.

Like Truss, Sunak promised a tough approach to illegal immigration and vowed to expand the government’s controversial Rwanda immigration policy. At the time Johnson was running to lead Britain's Conservative Party and Sunak was a member of Parliament. Danny Lawson/PA Images/Getty Images Sunak speaks during a general election debate in Cardiff, Wales, in November 2019. Danny Lawson/PA/Getty Images Sunak delivers a speech during the annual Conservative Party Conference in Manchester in October 2021. Hollie Adams/Bloomberg/Getty Images Sunak and Murty are seen with their daughters, Krishna and Anoushka, while campaigning in Grantham, England, in July 2022.

☆ VIEW Rishi Sunak to become Britain's new PM, UK markets rally
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Former British finance minister Rishi Sunak will be Britain's next prime minister after his rivals quit the race, which analysts said had relieved some of the nervousness around the outlook for the UK economy, boosting domestic markets. The new Prime Minister needs to confirm their leadership team as soon as possible and provide clarity on their strategy for stabilising the economy and their policy priorities. ART HOGAN, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, B. RILEY WEALTH, NEW YORK:"Coming to a very rapid decision on who the prime minister is going be certainly breathes a sigh of relief into the markets. RUTH GREGORY, SENIOR UK ECONOMIST, CAPITAL ECONOMICS, LONDON:"The fall in gilt yields on the news today that Rishi Sunak will become the UK’s next Prime Minister has reduced the chances of a significant fiscal consolidation. With the pound, just because we have a new Prime Minister in place, all of the issues don't just go away and we still have remarkable strength being enjoyed by the dollar."

☆ Sterling supported by expectations Rishi Sunak will become prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Alun John | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON Oct 24 (Reuters) - Sterling strengthened on Monday finding short term relief from the likelihood that former finance minister Rishi Sunak would become Britain's next prime minister after Boris Johnson quit the race. It rose as far as $1.1402 in Asian trading before paring gains to hold just inside positive territory at $1.1323. Former prime minister Boris Johnson had raced home from a holiday to see if he could enter the ballot. The so-called 'mini budget' also ultimately led to the removal of Truss as Prime Minister. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Alun John; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Cost of insuring UK debt against default drops as Sunak becomes PM
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The cost of insuring Britain's debt against default fell to its lowest since last month's "mini budget", according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence on Monday, after Rishi Sunak won the race to become Britain's next prime minister. Five-year sovereign credit default swaps (CDS) on UK government debt fell to 30 basis points, from 35 bps at Friday's close. This was their lowest since Sept. 23, when outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss and her then-finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled a fiscal plan that contained billions of pounds in unfunded tax cuts. Sunak, who served as finance minster under Boris Johnson, said on Monday Britain faced serious economic challenges and needed stability and unity. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Karin StroheckerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ BoE's Mann: bond purchases for stability were targeted and temporary
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann said on Saturday that bond purchases by the central bank in the days after the government's "mini-budget" fiscal plan last month to calm financial markets were "very targeted and temporary." "The financial stability approach, the requirements for financial stability was very targeted, and temporary," Mann said during an event organised by the Marshall Society at Cambridge University. The BoE announced it would intervene in Britain's government bond market on Sept. 28 after prices slumped following the announcement of planned tax cuts by former finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng. Its purchase programme ended on Oct. 14. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by William Schomberg, writing by Muvija MOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Britain’s next leader will be on a short leash
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Peter Thal Larsen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The British leader announced her resignation on Thursday after just 44 days in charge, making her the country’s shortest-serving prime minister ever. Truss will stay in office until the Conservative Party chooses a replacement by the end of next week. However, her tenure effectively ended last Friday, when she was forced to replace her finance minister and reverse massive tax cuts which had triggered a self-imposed financial crisis. Truss said she would step down as leader and remain prime minister until a successor is chosen “in the next week”. “I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative party,” Truss said.

☆ Why the market crisis that ousted the UK's prime minister would never happen in the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss' tax plan sparked immediate market backlash and, eventually, her resignation. Prime Minister Liz Truss, just 22 days into her leadership role, unveiled a mini-budget that proposed tax cuts that primarily benefited the wealthy. The prime minister announced her resignation on Thursday, just 45 days after taking office. The prime minister was dealt a less-than-ideal hand when she entered office. The checks and balances throughout the US government also stand in the way of such rapid-fire economic policy.

☆ 3 charts showing the market turmoil wreaked during UK PM Liz Truss’ tenure
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Hannah Ward-Glenton | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Dan Kitwood | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss was in office for just 44 days before she announced her resignation on Thursday. Her time as leader may have been short, but the impact her tenure had on the British economy was huge. Here are three charts showing how markets behaved during Truss' brief time at 10 Downing Street. Soaring gilt yields Yields on U.K. government bonds – known as gilts – soared after the government announced its mini-budget, which means that prices have crashed as bond yields move inversely to prices. Gilt yields fell as Liz Truss delivered her resignation speech but they flattened out later in the day.

☆ Moody’s lowers UK’s outlook to negative
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The affirmation of the Aa3 rating is a reflection of the UK’s economic resilience, Moody’s said in a statement. Credit ratings are essentially credit scores for governments and companies. Germany, Canada, Switzerland, Australia and the United States have some of the best credit ratings in the world, while Argentina, Nigeria, Pakistan and India have some of the lowest ratings. Soaring food costs drove the annual rate of inflation to 10.1% in September, returning it to July’s 40-year high. As well as driving up borrowing costs for the government and adding pressure to public spending, any credit ratings downgrade would only weaken investor appetite for UK assets.

LONDON — Her tenure as Britain’s prime minister began in the early days of fall, but it didn’t even last until winter. The plan was criticized not only by the opposing Labour Party, but also President Joe Biden and the International Monetary Fund. Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng and British Prime Minister Liz Truss attend the annual Conservative Party conference on Oct. 2. Truss told Parliament on Wednesday, “I am a fighter, not a quitter,” after repeatedly being told she was unfit for office by opposition lawmakers. Under an expedited process, leadership challengers must win the support of 100 fellow Conservative Party lawmakers (out of a total of 357) by Monday afternoon.

☆ British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after economic plan sparked turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Patrick-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Patrick Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON — British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced Thursday that she would resign after just six weeks in office, following a disastrous and rapidly reversed economic plan that sent the pound plunging and her government into chaos. Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside No. She ended the brief statement by saying: "I will remain as prime minister until a successor is chosen." Liz Truss is now the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. Her personal approval rating fell to minus 70, according to pollsters at YouGov, making her the most unpopular party leader in British history.

☆ Fracking: What's all the fuss about it in the UK?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Reuters Christian Edwards | Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves drilling into the Earth and injecting water and chemicals at high pressure to break rocks and release the gas trapped inside. Since only few test wells have been drilled, there are no estimates of proven reserves to confidently predict how much shale gas would be technically and economically viable to extract by fracking. Cuadrilla, 96% owned by Australia’s AJ Lucas, was the only one of these firms to receive consent to begin fracking. Former British Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said in March when he was Business and Energy secretary gas fracking would not lead to lower British gas prices. “With the best will in the world, private companies are not going to sell the shale gas they produce to UK consumers below the market price,” he tweeted.

☆ Truss and UK market turmoil: What you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Following are latest events, comments and context:POLITICS* Truss is meeting with Graham Brady, the head of the 1922 Committee of Conservative lawmakers, a source in Truss's Downing Street office said. The Guardian's political editor Pippa Crerar said on Twitter that Truss had called the meeting. * Conservative lawmaker Simon Hoare, in parliament for seven years, said Thursday and Friday were crunch days for the government. * Truss has promised disciplinary action against Conservative lawmakers who abstained or failed to support her party in a vote about fracking amid a total breakdown of unity and discipline. * Truss has lost her interior minister, Suella Braverman, who quit on Wednesday, less than a week after she fired her finance minister.

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