“A serious plan for growth” On 26 March, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered her Spring Statement unveiling updated economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), announced further reductions to welfare spending and confirmation of a rise in defence spending. The Chancellor reiterated her commitment to “just one major fiscal event a […]
Author Archives: matthew
Residential Property Review – March 2025
Housebuilding falls to seven-year low as planning delays persist Housebuilding in England has dropped to its lowest level since 2017, excluding the pandemic period, with just 217,911 new homes completed in 2024. This marks a 6% decline from 2023’s total of 231,000 and continues a four-quarter trend of falling completions, according to Energy Performance Certificate […]
Commercial Property Market Review – March 2025
Regional office investment rebounds as confidence grows Investor sentiment in the regional office market has improved, with total investment reaching £2.9bn in 2024, up 10% from 2023, according to Savills. The Big Six regional cities saw office take-up of 4.6 million sq. ft, 15% above the five-year average and the highest since 2019. Opportunistic investors […]
Advised investors are ‘less vulnerable’
Investors who receive financial advice are four times less likely to be vulnerable than the general population, according to analysis1. The study looked at a cohort of more than 5,000 advised investors, assessing them using a psychometric financial wellbeing questionnaire. Designed by an in-house behavioural psychologist, the questionnaire was designed to find and evaluate indicators […]
Pension pulse – a reminder for ‘25
Aside from the change announced about bringing unused pension pots into IHT from April 2027, other announcements relating to pensions were thin on the ground during the Budget speech. The Chancellor confirmed that the State Pension will increase in line with average earnings, rising by 4.1% in April 2025. The new flat rate State Pension […]
End of tax year IHT recap – gen up on gifting allowances
Recent HMRC data shows that IHT receipts rose to £4.3bn during the period from April to September 2024, a £400m increase on the same period the previous year. With 27% of 18 to 34-year olds (1.1 million people) holding out for an inheritance before going ahead with major life events and 12% of UK adults […]
The changing face of retirement – as the traditional ‘hard-stop’ is consigned to history
Catalysed by the 2011 abolition of the Default Retirement Age, a combination of economic and socio-demographic trends are changing people’s outlook to retirement; and this, in turn, is heightening the need to adopt a more fluid approach to retirement planning. Carry on working Research1 suggests the traditional ‘hard stop’ retirement is increasingly being consigned to […]
Narrowing the gender protection gap
You’ve probably heard about the gender pay gap. You may even have heard about the gender pension gap. But did you know there is also a gender protection gap? Women are typically less likely than men to have insurance that protects them financially against the risk of being unable to work due to illness or […]
Economic Review February 2025
Growth stronger than expected in late 2024 Data released last month by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the UK economy unexpectedly grew in the final three months of last year, although more recent survey evidence still points to a sluggish outlook. The latest gross domestic product (GDP) statistics showed that economic output […]
Residential Property Review – February 2025
The Bank of England cut Bank Rate from 4.75% to 4.5% in early February Housing market activity in January 2025 was around 13% higher than the same time last year The government has announced new plans to simplify the homebuying process Falling Bank Rate offers boost to mortgage holders The Bank of England cut Bank […]
