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During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages.
Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here.
Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section.
What happens at the end of my trial?
If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.
For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.
You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.
Any changes made can be done at any time and will become effective at the end of the trial period, allowing you to retain full access for 4 weeks, even if you downgrade or cancel.
When can I cancel?
You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side.
You can still enjoy your subscription until the end of your current billing period.
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The number of people missing payments on essential household bills like energy, phone and water is as high as it was over the winter, according to consumer group Which?.
Household budgets have been under strain for more than a year.
Even though prices have fallen back slightly, around 2.4 million households missed at least one bill payment in the month to mid-July, Which? estimates.
Which? said 770,000 failed to make mortgage or rent payments.
One in twenty renters and one in thirty mortgage holders defaulted on a payment, it estimated.
January is usually when the highest number of households miss a payment, after paying for seasonal festivities. Last winter the steep rise in energy prices added extra pressure.
But the long squeeze on household budgets is taking its toll on people's ability to make ends meet now, said Which?.
Its consumer insight tracker, a monthly online poll of around 2,000 respondents, suggests that 8.6% of households missed at least one bill payment in July. In January it was 8.2%.
The figure for missed bill payments had fallen back slightly in May and June, but rose again in July.
Around 1.5 million missed payments on household bills such as energy, water, phone or council tax. Nearly two thirds of that group missed more than one payment.
Others failed to make credit card or loan repayments.
Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which? said the "human cost" of the cost-of-living crisis was continuing to rise.
"With interest rates predicted to rise again, these pressures on household finances are only set to increase," he said.
"We'd encourage anyone who's struggling to seek free debt advice and reach out to their bill provider for help".
Which? also called on businesses providing essential services like energy, food and telecoms to do more to support customers.
Less than a fifth of people asked said they thought their household financial situation would get better over the next 12 months, while four in 10 (37%) said they thought it would get worse.
What can I do if I can't afford my energy bill?
Check your direct debit: Your monthly payment is based on your estimated energy use for the year. Your supplier can reduce your bill if your actual use is less than the estimation.
Pay what you can: If you can't meet your direct debit or quarterly payments, ask your supplier for an "able to pay plan" based on what you can afford.
Claim what you are entitled to: Check you are claiming all the benefits you can. The independent MoneyHelper website has a useful guide.
House prices will likely fall further in the coming months after a closely-watched index reported the biggest drop in 14 years, experts predict.
It comes after Nationwide reported that annual property values declined by 3.8% in July - the sharpish fall since July 2009.
The average home is now worth £260,828 - a fall of 0.2% compared to the previous month but down 4.5% on the peak recorded in August 2022, the building society said on Tuesday.
Nationwide's chief economist Robert Gardner blamed the high cost of mortgages.
"As a result, housing affordability remains stretched for those looking to buy a home with a mortgage," he said.
To illustrate the pressure on prospective first-time buyers, Nationwide said a person earning an average wage - who has a typical first-time deposit of 20% and a mortgage with a 6% rate - would see 43% of their take-home pay gobbled up by mortgage payments.
Experts said they expected the trend of falling prices to continue - and even accelerate - in the short term, because many remain reluctant to lock themselves into mortgages with high rates, even as rents soar.
Imogen Pattison, an assistant economist at Capital Economics, said: "The slight fall in house prices in July is the first sign of the surge in mortgage rates since mid-May taking its toll.
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"As we expect mortgage rates to remain around their current level for the next 12 months, we expect further falls in house prices over the coming months."
She added: "House price falls are likely to gather pace over the coming months."
Gabriella Dickens, a senior economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said rising mortgage rates were to blame and "a further drop seems likely".
She said: "Consumers' confidence remains well below its long-run average, and expectations that house prices will fall further are well-entrenched.
"Accordingly, we think that house prices will have to fall by about 8% from their peak before demand and supply come back into balance."
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'Mortgage pain will be limited'
Nicola Schutrups, managing director at Southampton-based broker The Mortgage Hut, said: "Further falls in house prices are likely for the rest of 2023, but if inflation continues to come down and the jobs market remains strong, there's still a chance for a soft landing."
Iain McKenzie, CEO of the Guild of Property Professionals, said: "The latest inflation figures show some light at the end of the tunnel, and there is still a good chance that the year will be softer on the industry than was previously forecast."
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, added: "While we expect UK prices to fall by 5% this year, demand should prove more resilient than expected between now and the general election given the cushioning effect of wage growth, high levels of housing equity, lockdown savings, the availability of longer mortgage terms, forbearance from lenders and the popularity of fixed-rate deals in recent years."
Banking giant HSBC's profits have more than doubled as it benefited from rising interest rates around the world.
The London-based lender posted pre-tax profit of $21.7bn (£16.9bn) for the first six months this year, compared to $9.2bn a year earlier.
That figure was also boosted by a $1.5bn provisional gain from its purchase of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank's British business (SVB UK).
Central banks have increased interest rates as they try to curb price rises.
"There was good broad-based profit generation around the world, higher revenue in our global businesses driven by strong net interest income, and continued tight cost control," said HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn.
Despite the surge in profit, the bank - which gets around two-thirds of its revenue from Asia - warned of the uncertain economic outlook.
It noted that UK customers may come under particular pressure as a combination of the high inflation and rising interest rates squeeze households.
"With more mortgage customers due to roll off fixed-term deals in the next six months, and further rate rises expected, tougher times are ahead," Mr Quinn said.
Banks and building societies in the UK have come under pressure to pass on the interest rate rises to savers.
On Monday, banks offering unjustifiably low savings rates to their customers were told they will face "robust action", the UK's financial watchdog said.
The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) warning came as part of a plan to ensure banks are passing on interest rate rises to savers.
The Bank of England has now raised its base rate 13 times in a row in an attempt to reduce inflation, and is expected to increase it again on Thursday.
However, while interest rates on mortgages have risen quickly, savings rates have not grown as fast, particularly for easy access accounts.
During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages.
Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here.
Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section.
What happens at the end of my trial?
If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.
For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial.
You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.
Any changes made can be done at any time and will become effective at the end of the trial period, allowing you to retain full access for 4 weeks, even if you downgrade or cancel.
When can I cancel?
You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side.
You can still enjoy your subscription until the end of your current billing period.
What forms of payment can I use?
We support credit card, debit card and PayPal payments.
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Changes to alcohol duties are “bad news” for the hospitality sector, Wetherspoon’s boss Tim Martin has warned.
The increases to a number of drinks, set out in the Spring Budget, are set to come into force on Tuesday.
The new method, described as the “biggest single alcohol duty increase in almost 50 years”, will measure the alcohol content in a drink, and some products that previously had a low duty rate will see greater increases.
The Treasury said the historic duty changes mean that the duty paid on drinks on tap in pubs will be up to 11p lower than at the supermarket, and described the changes as designed to help pubs compete on a level playing field with supermarkets.
However, founder and chairman of Wetherspoons Tim Martin told The Independent the changes will cost his business an extra £8 million a year, and warned of “tax inequality” between pubs and supermarkets.
“The compounding factor is that pubs pay 20 per cent vat in respect of food sales, whereas supermarkets pay nothing,” he said.
“Pubs also pay about 25 pence per pint in business rates, whereas supermarkets pay a fraction of this amount - perhaps two pence a pint or so. Supermarkets use this tax advantage to subsidise beer and wine prices.
“The combo of tax inequality and tax increases is bad news,” he said.
Mr Martin said the hospitality industry is “struggling”.
“Rather than the historic British/Irish melting pot, where people congregate daily, pubs risk becoming more of a special occasion, with the daily couple of pints consumed by regulars being replaced by home drinking, to the social detriment of the country,” he said.
Mr Martin said the tax changes were ‘bad news’
(PA Archive)
The changes will see duty rise by 44p on a bottle of wine, which when combined with VAT will mean consumers will pay an extra 53p, according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA).
Meanwhile, the total tax on a bottle of gin or vodka will go up by around 90p.
WSTA chief executive Miles Beale claimed the Government’s new duty regime “discriminates against premium spirits and wine more than other products.”
Ebel Simkovicz, owner of Shoreditch Wine House told The Independent prices have increased by up to £1 per bottle of wine, and warned his business may need to increase prices.
It is the “wrong time” to be increasing alcohol duties, he said. “Ever since Covid, inflation has gone through the roof. There are much much less people coming to the bar as the cost of living crisis takes its toll.”
Hospitality Ulster chief executive Colin Neill warned increased duties on alcohol are set to “cripple” hospitality businesses.
Tim Martin warned pubs may change
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)
He said businesses are already under pressure in terms of inflation, rates, National Insurance contributions and insurance, and will be forced to raise the prices they charge for alcohol.
“The immediate future remains challenging, and it is vital that we ensure our valued customers understand the price increases are down to the Government – not hospitality businesses,” said Mr Neill.
“This has left hospitality businesses, who are fighting to break even, no choice but to pass on the significant duty increases to customers.
“This is heaping misery on customers and will damage hospitality businesses at the same time.”
He said taking into account overheads for labour and bills, a publican is likely to be making around 50p on a pint.
“That’s just not sustainable at a time when costs are rising all around us,” he said.
“The hospitality sector is one of the highest taxed and undervalued sectors in the UK, but we will continue to work in partnership with UK Hospitality to press the British Government to recognise the importance of the industry.”
