Clearer
Faster
Braver
News
Section
Bills, pay, consumer rights and decisions that affect your pocket.
Nationwide says prices dipped 0.2% in September and annual growth slowed to 0.8%. Here is what the lender’s index actually measures, and why local markets and mortgage costs matter more than one national number.
The government is launching Great British Grid to speed up electricity connections and push business power costs towards European levels. The promise is large; delivery depends on cables, substations and queue reform.
Ministers say a new England-only scheme will help first-time buyers purchase eligible new-build homes. The deposit headline is real; the income limits, local price caps, cost and start date are still to come.
From April 2027, eligible young people on health benefits will be offered voluntary paid work after their assessment, with government covering wages for six months. Access, job quality and what happens next will decide whether it works.
A Citi/YouGov survey says households expect 4.5% inflation over the coming year, up from 3.9% in August. Expectations influence behaviour, but they are not a prediction of the official CPI rate.
England is cutting the wait before councils can seek an Empty Dwelling Management Order from two years to six months. The power concerns management, not confiscation, and its impact will depend on councils using it.
The CBI says retailers cut orders at a survey-record rate in September. A separate consumer-confidence reading improved overnight. Both can be true.
Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays and HSBC have completed Britain’s first interbank transactions using tokenised commercial-bank deposits.
Ineos says three Hull plants employing almost 4,000 people cannot compete while British gas costs far more than in the US or China.
The CBI’s order-book measure reached its strongest level since July 2023, while expected price rises eased and output confidence improved.
Britain’s motor industry warns that draft EU rules could exclude UK-built cars from fleet incentives, carbon credits and public contracts in its largest market.
The Institute of Grocery Distribution forecasts food inflation of up to 6.6% in 2027 as energy disruption, input costs and severe El Niño weather reach supermarket shelves.