Mortgage approvals are on track to slump to their lowest level since the financial crisis as high interest rates continue to hammer borrowers, figures show. Based on the current trajectory, the number of home loans agreed will fall this year to the lowest level recorded since 2008, according to Capital Economics. It comes as Bank

Inflation now seems firmly on the retreat across most developed economies. While concerns remain regarding the speed with which inflation is expected to fall back to target and the UK in particular seems to grapple with stubbornly high core inflation, the trend is encouraging. Still, if you were to ask two economists for the reasons

UK borrowing costs surged to levels last reached under Liz Truss’s ill-fated premiership after traders were spooked by unexpectedly strong inflation. The consumer prices index (CPI) dropped to 8.7pc last month from 10.1pc in March, but the Bank of England had expected a bigger fall to 8.4pc. Meanwhile, core inflation increased to 6.8pc in April, its

Compared to the gloomy forecasts at the nadir of the energy crisis last winter, recent months have seen widespread upward revisions to growth forecasts, particularly for the UK, which now looks set to avoid recession in the first half of 2023. The Eurozone, too, has fared less badly than predicted albeit growth remains anaemic and

UK inflation on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure slowed to 8.7% in April, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning in line with Cebr’s forecast for the month. The rate of price growth on the CPI measure has now fallen below 10% for the first time since August 2022. Core inflation,

New government data released in the past week has shown that the UK’s productivity has fallen over the last year. Output per person hour in Q1 2023 was down 0.6% on the same quarter a year ago and output per worker was down 0.9%.[1] Without productivity growth, the economy cannot prosper – a continuation of

As the cost of living crisis drags on, almost a third of UK adults have dipped into their savings to make ends meet, collectively withdrawing more than £53 billion, writes Bethany Garner. In the 12 months to April 2023, 29% of UK adults say they used savings to keep up with living costs, according to a study commissioned

The annual rate of inflation in the US, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), stood at 4.9% in April. This is according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday. Inflation on the CPI-U measure has now slowed for ten consecutive months since last June’s peak of 9.1%, with

Young people require a working week of tuition each year to be financially literate by the time they leave school, according to a new report. MyBnk, the education charity which led the Money & Pensions Service’s financial workshops for 16 and 17-year-olds, said that 30 hours of financial education each year for 11 to 18-year-olds

Britain’s economy lost another half a million working days to strikes in March amid the most severe round of industrial action in nearly four decades. The UK has now lost more than 3.5 million days to walkouts since the Office for National Statistics began collecting the data last June following a pause during the Covid

Financially desperate Britons are increasingly turning to gambling as a “quick fix” as wealth levels fall to historic lows, a study suggests. The annual LifeSearch Health, Wealth and Happiness Index compiled by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) fell 11 per cent over the last year to lows not seen since the height of the pandemic. The wealth index

The ongoing wave of industrial action that has been sweeping the UK has eased since the end of last year, but with little progress being made in negotiations between unions and government it looks set to drag on. In the nine months to February, more than 3 million working days were lost to strikes, and

Love them or loathe them, the royal family are up there with red telephone boxes and scones when it comes to images of Britishness. Souvenir shops are full of their faces, newspapers across the world discuss them, and television dramas based on their lives have never been more popular. Whenever people are critical of the royal family,

Deposit-free mortgages have returned for the first time since the financial crisis, as lenders help renters onto the property ladder. Skipton Building Society has launched a 100pc mortgage exclusively for renters aged over 21, who will not need a cash deposit to buy their first home. Instead, potential buyers must pass a credit and affordability check, as

The British public is refusing to let typical bank holiday weather spoil its Coronation plans and is gearing up for street parties and family celebrations. Around £200m will be spent on food and drink this weekend, according to the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). Supermarket chain Lidl said it had sold enough bunting to line

Recent economic data have painted a more positive picture of business activity for most developed economies. For example, service sector PMI data for April point towards expansion at the fastest rate in a year raising hopes that a more protracted economic slowdown can be avoided. Odds of a recession or even a single quarter of

Two devastating reports have revealed that Sadiq Khan’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion, taxing thousands of drivers each day, will cost London hundreds of million of pounds a year and hit 1.2 million cars in the commuter belt. The London Mayor had planned for the rollout to take place this Autumn but they are subject to

Ministers have been urged by MPs, economists and motoring groups to rethink plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. Criticism is growing over the most significant government intervention in the car market to date, amid claims that regulation is not needed to promote electric vehicles (EVs). The sale of

When Tim Cook arrived in India earlier this month to open Apple’s first physical store in the country, he was welcomed like a hero. The CEO was greeted with cheers and applause, presented with a vintage Macintosh and held court with the country’s officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Cook’s visit, the latest by a top global executive, exemplifies the

As May approaches, the UK eagerly anticipates not only three bank holidays but also the once-in-a-lifetime Coronation ceremony for King Charles III. With an extended weekend and pubs allowed to stay open for longer, it should be a joyous occasion. How will these celebrations affect the UK economy? The Coronation weekend promises to bring a

Parents forced to take time off work for childcare during teachers’ strikes are planning for a possible six-day weekend. The majority of state schools in England were closed to some or all pupils on Thursday and are expected to close for further strikes after the Bank Holiday on Tuesday, forcing tens of thousands of parents to take time off

The chancellor is facing renewed pressure from the retail industry to reintroduce tax-free shopping for tourists. The scheme allowed visitors from non-EU countries to recover the VAT on purchases bought within the trip but was withdrawn by the Treasury on December 31, 2020, during the pandemic. Last autumn, when Jeremy Hunt said he would keep

Figures today lay bare how British stores are missing out on millions of pounds from international visitors after the removal of tax-free shopping for overseas tourists. As the campaign to scrap the hated tourist tax widens, data shows how holidaymakers are spending far more on the Continent than Britain. European shops have enjoyed their best month for

The VAT Retail Export Scheme was withdrawn after December 2020 despite protests from retailers and from Global Blue, the company that specialises in obtaining VAT rebates for tourists. Post Brexit the government would eventually have had to extend the scheme to tourists from the EU as well as from outside the area. Paradoxically, because of the Northern Ireland Protocol,

The UK will miss out on more than £3bn of tourist spending this year as “Europe eats Britain’s lunch” after a tax raid on travellers by Rishi Sunak, new data suggests. Figures show that spending by visitors from the US and Gulf states has surged in France and Italy while barely reaching pre-pandemic levels in the UK after the

After months of steady improvement, consumer confidence fell from 100.4 to 99.4 (-1) in March 2023, according to the latest analysis from YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).   YouGov collects consumer confidence data every day, conducting over 6,000 interviews a month. Respondents answer questions about household finances, property prices, job security,

They say that Romans celebrated 135 feast days a year, and that a mediaeval peasant worked for only half the year. Thanks to the coronation, the UK will enjoy nine bank holidays this year, instead of our usual eight – still miserly by modern European standards (see chart).  In economic terms, bank holidays are a double-edged

By the middle of 2022, China’s top leadership had stopped mentioning their target for GDP growth. It was already clear that they’d fall short of the 5.5 per cent figure set at the beginning of that year, with the Politburo instead saying that they strove for “the best possible results”. In the end, a series of fierce

The UK government’s rush to act on Net Zero is resulting in a failure to recognise that there are more (and less) efficient methods to decarbonise the economy. This is leading to some policies which are, at best, excessively costly, and at worst, both costly and environmentally ineffective. As an economic thought leader, Cebr has

A lobbyist and campaigner for motorists claimed the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK in 2030 will cost five times more than any environmental benefits. Howard Cox, CEO of FairFuelUK, said: “There will be about £75 billion worth of benefits in environmental jobs and all those sorts of things,

The hit to the economy from strikes is lower than originally feared, experts have said. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said that the impact of industrial action on GDP between June last year and the end of April is estimated to be £1.4 billion, or £127 million per month. The forecaster had

UK – Consumer confidence fell in March, with the most serious declines seen in short-term job security and business activity, according to research by YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). The research registered a one-point drop in consumer confidence from 100.4 to 99.4, the first decline seen in YouGov and the

Pounding around his first London Marathon last October, Jeremy Hunt spotted a placard thanking participants for “showing the government how to run things”. Given that he was then merely a backbench MP, the twice-failed Tory leadership contender saw the funny side. When he tackles the race again next weekend, it will be rather different. The

With inflation still near record-highs and real wages falling, it would be easy to see how UK consumers are drawing down their savings to pay for their bills. Cebr previously reported on the forced savings accumulated during the pandemic[1] and it would seem sensible for the savings rate to fall precipitously now that many households

Deposit-free mortgages are about to return to the housing market – but experts have warned they pose a risk of negative equity and threaten to destabilise the banking system. Skipton Building Society plans to launch a new loan that would allow borrowers to bypass standard deposit requirements by using their rental payment history. Borrowers typically

Watermelon bubble gum, blueberry sour raspberry, gummy bear, ginger cola… no, not some of the sugary treats on the shelves of your childhood sweet shop, but just a few of the flavours of electronic-cigarette liquids being bought across the country every single day. Vaping, which is the inhaling of a vapour created by an e-cigarette,

The annual rate of inflation in the US, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), stood at 5.0% in March. This is according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this afternoon. Inflation on the CPI-U measure has now slowed for nine consecutive months since June’s peak of 9.1%. March’s month-on-month slowdown

Korea’s growth miracle: 1953 – present In the aftermath of the Korean War, South Korea was one of the poorest economies on the planet. The war caused mass casualties and displacement of people, while also devastating the country’s infrastructure. In 1953, South Korea’s GDP per capita was lower than those of Somalia and Haiti, which

The UK’s non-residential building stock (excluding land value) was worth £899 billion at the end of 2020, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) Blue Book [1] data. Then, by mid-2022 the value of these buildings had probably risen to around £1 trillion. But since then, the market has collapsed and Schroders Research [2] estimates the value

A wave of rising bills and tax hikes coming into effect in April will leave a family on a £50,000 annual income almost £700 a year worse off, according to a study of the damaging effects of the cost of living crisis. Unions have warned that an increase in the minimum wage will not be

Good times, for a change? Well, we might not go that far. But consumer confidence increased from 98.3 to 100.4 (+2.1) in February 2023, according to the latest analysis from YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), amid positive movement across almost every measure.   It paints a radically different picture from February

People taking sick days because of work-related stress or burnout is costing the UK economy £28bn a year, according to new research which highlights the financial toll of poor mental wellbeing. More people said they were struggling in the UK than in any other nation, the survey of 30,000 adults across 16 European, Asian and American countries by insurer Axa

Fiscal drag will pull 55,000 working parents into Jeremy Hunt’s childcare tax trap over the next five years, analysis by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) shows. The number of parents who will find it harder to go back to work or will be incentivised to keep their salaries low will swell by

The BT-owned business said the roll-out of full fibre broadband across the country was part of an ambitious £15 billion infrastructure project. Since the pandemic, the UK’s internet usage has soared, doubling in 2020 and increasing year on year with more data downloaded last year than ever before. As well as improving the broadband that

UK inflation on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure stood at 10.4% in February 2023, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning. Inflation therefore increased from 10.1% in January, marking a divergence in the recent trend of deceleration seen in the prior  three months. Consequently, February’s headline reading for annual inflation was higher than both

The announcement of two new freeports in Wales is good news for businesses moving goods over the Irish Sea, trade and customs experts have said. The two freeports, one in Anglesey and one in Port Talbot and Milford Haven, are the first to be confirmed in Wales and the 11th and 12th in the UK

When the Chancellor stood up to deliver his budget last week, the latest quarterly GDP data showed UK GDP 0.8% lower than pre pandemic three years earlier while we remain pretty well at full employment.  The problem of dealing with stagnation existed even before the banking crisis became apparent. Since then, with liquidity now in short supply, the issue is even more

The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank draws attention to the continuing problems of the tech sector both in the US and here in the UK. While the Bank of England claims that there are no systemic issues in the UK resulting from the collapse it appears that many UK tech companies, perhaps a third, had relationships

Jobseekers remain optimistic about their job security and career progression prospects, according to the Robert Half Jobs Confidence Index (JCI) released on Monday. Created in association with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), the Index reports on socio-economic factors influencing confidence in the UK labour market. The research revealed that while the JCI

India will spend about 980 billion rupees ($12 billion) over the next two years on airports, with airline orders for hundreds of new planes to meet resurgent travel demand putting pressure on existing infrastructure.  The world’s fastest-growing aviation market aims to boost the number of airports to 220 by 2025 from the current 148, for which private builders will

Swiss banking was long regarded as the Rolls Royce of finance – a byword for discretion, exceptional service and above all, safety.  But as Credit Suisse teeters on the brink, that reputation is so tarnished as to appear irrecoverable. Instead, years of dysfunction and mistakes mean parts of the industry are becoming regarded as the

The Chancellor’s budget was well delivered and obtained a rousing reception (from his own side) in the House of Commons. We’ve now had a chance to read the supporting documents and it looks a bit less impressive. What appeared to be quite an expensive and carefully worked out programme to bring people back into the

With business travel across domestic and international markets showing a rebound post-pandemic, some 77% of Indian businesses expect to increase their travel budget in 2023 compared with 2022, a survey commissioned by American Express India with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) said on Thursday. Manish Kapoor, VP and Head, Global Commercial Services (GCS),

Consumer confidence in February was positive for the first time since September 2022’s disastrous mini-Budget, according to a monthly survey by YouGov for the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). The YouGov/Cebr Consumer Confidence Index was 100.4 in February, with a score above 100 indicating positive sentiment. The  index had plunged by 4.2 points in September – the month of the mini-Budget –

The markets may have been unimpressed by yesterday’s Budget. But we will never know. The fall in both the equity and bond markets on Wednesday was all about the emerging banking crisis as the share price of Credit Suisse collapsed, not the Budget. While British economists were distracted by the Budget, one of the world’s

British consumers grew more confident in February, adding to signs of an improving economy, but households are still worried about the squeeze on their living standards, a survey published on Wednesday found. A YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) survey showed consumer confidence rose 2.1 points last month, increasing from 98.3

Today’s Budget is the first against a background where economic growth in the UK has virtually ground to a halt. Official estimates of GDP for the end of last year (Q4) is estimated to have been 0.8% lower than in Q4 2019 pre pandemic and yet the labour market remains tight with unemployment stubbornly below 4%.

The UK unemployment rate stood at 3.7% in the three months to January, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning. This was unchanged on the previous three-month period, ending in October. Indeed, the unemployment rate has remained constant for each of the last four readings. This measure is currently down

The connectivity specialist, which says it builds and maintains the UK’s largest broadband network, is expanding its hi-tech offering that is up to ten times faster than the average home broadband connection in urban areas like Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Stirling and Glasgow and rural parts of regions including Fife, East Lothian, Highland, Aberdeenshire and Dumfries and Galloway during 2023. It adds

As early as 1870, Victoria Woodhull became the first female stockbroker and Muriel Siebert also referred to as the “first woman of finance”, was the first woman to join the 1,365 male members of the stock exchange on 28 December 1967. She owned a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and was the first

The deep freeze on tax thresholds will cost taxpayers billions of pounds more than initially expected, new analysis has revealed, because of the impact of soaring inflation.  The Prime Minister’s decision not to increase income tax bands with inflation will cost taxpayers an estimated £78n in extra tax between 2022 and 2028. The analysis, which

The UK economy grew by 0.3% month-on-month in January, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning. This followed December’s 0.5% contraction, meaning that overall, the economy flatlined in the three months to January. While it is encouraging to see a return to growth for the UK economy, we believe that a recession in

Cebr has consistently pointed out that the fiscal outlook is nowhere near as bleak as official forecasts had indicated and data has emerged supporting our view, especially the borrowing data for January. In the past week, other organisations have joined the debate. The venerable National Institute for Economic and Social Research is alleged to have

A report has found 62 per cent of over 65s – as many as 7.75m – live in inefficient properties (EPC ‘D’ or below), compared to 48 per cent of under 30s. The energy inefficiency of their homes is leading over 65s to pay £611 more per year on average for their energy bills compared

Women working in financial services could unlock up to £147bn of value for the UK economy by 2035 if wages increase and the gender pay gap shrinks, according to a report by the London Stock Exchange. Analysis from the Centre for Economics and Business Research on behalf of the UK exchange found the contribution from

The link between employees’ financial wellbeing and the overall health of a business may not seem obvious. But how staff feel about money – and the state of their finances – is potentially an important (if overlooked) aspect of business resilience. A workforce that is comfortable with personal finances can arguably increase a company’s productivity

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz declared almost a decade ago that 2014 “was the last year in which the United States could claim to be the world’s largest economic power.” It was, he claimed, the start of the “Chinese century”. He was wrong: the US remains the world’s largest economy. Yet experts keep predicting that

Recent news on inflation has been mostly positive in the UK. In January, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed that annual price increases slowed for a third consecutive month to reach 10.1%, down from a near-term high of 11.1% last October. However, forecasts that inflation will now quickly fall back to the Bank of England’s 2%

Cebr’s Head of Environment, Infrastructure, & Local Growth Rowlando Morgan gave evidence last week at the Lords Digital Committee’s digital exclusion hearings. Drawing on work carried out by Cebr for The Good Things Foundation on the economic impact of digital skills and inclusion in the UK, the committee heard that an investment of £1.4 billion

Jeremy Hunt will send Britain in a “drastically anti-investment direction” if he forges ahead with a planned increase in corporation tax, BT has warned. The telecoms giant said the country was hurtling towards a “cliff edge deterioration in the tax environment for investment” ahead of an increase in the tax rate in April from 19pc to

Broadband should be made more accessible to people on benefits by encouraging them to use discounted deals designed for them, experts say. They told the Lords Digital Committee’s digital exclusion hearings that cutting VAT on broadband could help people who struggle with “digital exclusion”. Rocio Concha, of consumer group Which?, urged action to get more people on

Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this week provide rich insight into the nation’s recent experience with financial vulnerability. [1] The data, covering September 2022 to January 2023, reveal that respondents’ housing status is one of the strongest predictors of individuals’ likelihood of experiencing some form of financial vulnerability, even when controlling for

Public sector net borrowing in the UK was in surplus of £5.4 billion in January 2023, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning.  Compared to a surplus of £12.5 billion in January 2022, the public finances were in a worse position on an annual basis. Aside from public sector net borrowing

China’s economic reopening will provide a limited boost to world growth this year and is unlikely to lead to a surge in global energy price inflation, a think tank has said. The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that China’s shift towards domestically generated consumer growth means there will be far more limited “spillover”

China’s abrupt dismantling of its ‘zero-Covid’ policy towards the end of last year has provided optimism amidst the gloom associated with the global economic landscape. Indeed, many analysts believe that China’s reopening can provide an uplift to global GDP in an otherwise bleak outlook for the rest of the world, amidst elevated inflation, tighter monetary

There is no doubt that the immediate economic picture for the UK is challenging and is likely to get worse before it will get better. Research shows SMBs will be instrumental to economic recovery in the UK.   There is no doubt that the immediate economic picture for the UK is challenging and is likely to

Consumer confidence increased by 2.4 points in January 2023   Short-term (+5.7) and forward-looking (+10.5) household finance measures saw significant improvements   House value measures for the past 30 days (+3.7) and next 12 months (+5.8) also trended upwards  Job security and business activity metrics declined  Improving household finance and house value measures helped consumer confidence jump

LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) – British households’ expectations for their personal finances over the next 12 months recorded a record jump in January as wholesale gas prices fell, according to a monthly survey by market research company YouGov and economics consultancy Cebr. The overall YouGov/Cebr consumer confidence index rose by 2.4 points to 98.3, while

Liz Truss is on manoeuvres. She is spending lots of time where she is most comfortable, inside Westminster’s thinktanks, preaching her version of free-market economics. There are rumours she might assemble a new thinktank of her own, or work with an existing one, to set up an alternative to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s growth

Rising interest rates spell disaster for these debt burdened homeowners Older millennials are the age group most vulnerable to financial problems after taking on disproportionately large debts when interest rates were low. Buyers in their late 30s took out the largest mortgages in the 2021-22 financial year and will be under the most pressure when

Will the UK economy swerve recession in 2023? If you’ve paid any attention to the news over the last few weeks, the answer would seem to be a resounding no.  Yet the latest forecast from the respected National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIES) think tank is for mild growth in every quarter next year, and

Less than 20 per cent of people and businesses who can upgrade to Ultrafast Full Fibre across Newport have done so – with thousands still missing out on faster, more reliable broadband services. Following a £9.3 million pound local investment, Openreach engineers have been busy building the network to make ultrafast speeds of up to one gigabit per second

Competitive manufacturing centres are needed to ensure the cost of low-carbon technologies continues its precipitous fall over the past decade. If the energy story of the first two decades of this century was China, that of the period to 2050 will be India. Over the next two decades, the South Asian giant will see more

A new Department focused on the energy portfolio is a step forwards, and reflects a realisation by the government of the growing importance of energy. However, “Energy Security and Net Zero” sounds like a dichotomy – can we really have both? I think that there is a way, but it will require bold decisions and

New statistics released in the past week show that UK public sector productivity, far from rising from its depressed post-Covid level, had actually fallen by 1.3% in Q3 of last year compared with Q2. And in in the second quarter it was already 6.8% lower than three years earlier pre covid or 8.6% lower than it

North-South wealth divide deepens, as St. James’s Place’s Financial Health Index reveals extent of economic disparity across the UK Overall financial health is seven times higher in the South East than in the North East – a significantly greater gap than this time last year In the last year, regions in the North of England have seen

Small misjudgments can have real-world impacts – including the Chancellor’s decisions on tax and spending They call it the “dismal science” for good reason. The supposed oracles of economic forecasting have been forced to eat humble pie on more than one occasion. Christine Lagarde famously asked if she had to apologise “on my knees” to

Tens of thousands of teachers march in London Prime Minister Sunak condemns strike Government says big pay rises will fuel inflation Schools shut, most trains not running LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Up to half a million British teachers, civil servants, and train drivers walked out over pay in the largest coordinated strike action for

Modelling by the Centre for Economics and Business Research shows the direct cost of the single day’s action will be £94m, with a further estimated £100m hit to hospitality sectors as footfall vanishes Britain will be plunged into an effective “mini lockdown” on Wednesday as half a million workers go on strike and millions of

The IMF’s latest forecast for the UK shows that, after the fastest growth in the G7 for two consecutive years, the UK is expected to show the slowest growth in 2023 and indeed be the only G7 economy with negative annual growth. Remainer Twitter, having ignored the UK’s rapid growth of the two previous years, is all a flutter

Global stock markets slid Tuesday as Wall Street weakness offset positive economic data, while investors looked ahead to key interest rate decisions due this week. “A sense of nervousness has been creeping into the markets in recent sessions, evident by another bad showing on Wall Street,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. “That’s extended

In diesen Zeiten wirtschaftlicher Turbulenzen sind alle Augen auf die Wirtschaft gerichtet. Wie es um sie steht, darüber gibt die im Januar 2023 veröffentlichte Sage-Studie „Der Mittelstand: Treiber für wirtschaftlichen Aufschwung“ Auskunft, an deren Durchführung auch das Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) beteiligt war. Und das ist das Ergebnis. Es mag überraschen, doch

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) property valuation techniques could help to unlock development opportunities for the construction industry outside urban centres, according to new research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). The Sustainable Buildings Monitor: Redefining Value report for contractor ISG, released earlier today, argues that a “reframing of property valuations and a readjustment of

Construction contractor ISG has commissioned economists to come up with a new way to value property that includes their ethical worth. ISG commissioned economics consultant Centre for Economics & Business Research (CEBR) to produce a comparative index of “holistic potential property value” across the UK. The methodology uses traditional financial and commercial metrics, alongside environmental

Why should we establish a new, purpose-driven framework to measure the true value of property? After three years of radical global change, our lives are different. The rules of property demand are changing, with less focus on footfall and commutability, and our asset valuation must be as flexible and multifaceted as the market. We can

Calls remain unanswered. Emails are routinely ignored. Appointments are missed, meetings are rescheduled and the post doesn’t get sent out.  We already knew that the UK had a dismal record on productivity, with output stubbornly refusing to rise and the economy flat-lining for year after year. And yet, far from being improved, it is getting worse. 

Would you expect an economy with a high tax burden and one of the earliest retirement ages in the developed world to be amongst the top performers in the years since the pandemic? France is that economy, being relatively resilient amidst considerable global volatility, despite having the second highest tax-to-GDP ratio in the OECD and

Many at the World Economic Forum in Davos described India as a bright spot on the world stage. Infrastructure spending, foreign investment, the digital transition and inflation heading lower were cited as causes for optimism. However, some analysts argue the country is largely benefiting from weak comparisons. With 2023′s World Economic Forum in Davos dominated

Legal & General Home Finance customers continue to use property wealth to provide financial support for families and to invest in their homes. The desire to help loved ones will likely remain consistent throughout 2023. Lifetime mortgage customers are continuing to use the value of their property to help financially support their families and to

Ex-business secretary hits out at ‘middle rank’ of employees as productivity languishes Tens of billions of pounds in additional funding will be required to keep public services running this year because of a collapse in productivity that experts blamed on weak management and working from home. Public sector productivity fell 1.3pc in the three months to September