Money blog: How your house number could knock thousands off price of your home (2024)

Junk food ads will be banned before the 9pm watershed, the health minister has announced.

Andrew Gwynne also said the government would introduce a total ban on paid-for online ads for junk food.

"These restrictions will help protect children from being exposed to advertising of less healthy food and drinks, which evidence shows influences their dietary preferences from a young age," he said.

Both bans will come into effect on 1 October next year.

Some customers are being saddled with "unfair" interest rates for paying monthly, according to Which?.

The consumer group called on the Financial Conduct Authority to act swiftly to prevent people from being "penalised" for being unable to pay for a year of insurance upfront.

Its analysis found annual rates as high as 45% could potentially be charged.

Which? asked 49 car and 48 home insurers how much interest they charged customers to pay for cover monthly, with the annual percentage range (APR) across car insurers being 22.33% and the average across home insurers being 19.83%.

Nearly 20% of female business leaders have been forced to delay or cancel their company plans due to difficulties securing financing, research suggests.

A YouGov survey commissioned by HSBC showed one in 10 women entrepreneurs said securing the financial support they need was their top challenge.

The poll of more than 1,000 female business owners revealed nearly half are planning to expand their businesses in the UK or overseas next year - but many are being held back by not being able to access loans or financing.

Nearly one in five (18%) of female business leaders consider access to funding a barrier to growing their business, while nearly a fifth (19%) had to postpone or cancel their business plans as they have not been able to access the necessary funding.

Anyone who has had to move into a rental property lately will know how challenging finding a new place can be, and we can now put a number on how tough the competition is.

Around 21 people compete for every rental property, according to property website Zoopla.

It said the average rent was £1,245 a month in July - £63 a month higher than a year ago.

Zoopla said a lack of supply remains a major challenge for renters.

Although the number of homes to rent is higher than last year, it remains lower than the pre-coronavirus pandemic average, it said.

One in eight (12.5%) of homes listed for sale on Zoopla in July were previously rented.

The website suggested higher mortgage rates have acted as an additional catalyst for landlord sales over the past two years, on top of longer-term tax and regulatory changes.

Nathan Emerson, chief executive of property professionals' body Propertymark, said: "The rental market has been suffering from a lack of supply against an ever-growing demand for a concerningly long period of time.

"The housing sector continues to see issues escalate year-on-year and the real-world effect is that renters face an increasing challenge to secure a suitable property for their needs."

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business reporter

It may be worth keeping an eye on US markets today amid recent signals that borrowing could become even cheaper in the US.

Officials from the US central bank, known as the Fed, have signalled a larger cut than firstpriced in may be needed - its decision will be announced next Wednesday.

Market expectations are now showing a 41% chance of the first interest rate cut in more than four years being 0.5 percentage points.

That's brought good news for those heading to the US on holidays or buying things in dollars, one pound is back buying $1.31, an amount that had been the greatest in more than a year.

There's little change for sterling against the euro with a pound equalling $1.1847.

Oil is ending the week slightly up from the multi-year low of $70 seen a few days earlier but still at the comparatively low sum of $72.43 for a barrel of the benchmark oil, Brent crude.

After yesterday's market rally, the benchmark UK stock index (the FTSE 100) was slightly down 0.07% this morning with the more UK-focussed FTSE 250 index up 0.38%.

Every Friday we take an overview of the mortgage market, hearing from industry voices and getting a round-up of the best rates courtesy of the independent experts atMoneyfactscompare.co.uk.

Halifax, Barclays and TSB were among the big lenders announcing cuts this week - as all eyes turn to next Thursday's base rate decision from the Bank of England.

As of yesterday afternoon, markets were pricing in just a 19% chance of a cut - with the strong expectation that the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee will hold fire until its next meeting at the start of October.

The momentum behind a lowering of interest rates has been helped by uncertainty in the US economy - fears of a recession eased somewhat at the end of last week with improved jobs data, but a struggling economy is likely to persuade the Fed to lower rates at a faster than expected rate.

That is helping to bring down swap rates - which dictate how much it costs lenders to lend.

Peter Stimson, from MPowered Mortgages, told industry news wire Newspage:"Fears of a US recession are proving a real fillip to UK borrowers.

"The two-year swap, which two-year fixed rate mortgages are priced off, is now at its lowest level for 18 months and is even lower than it was at the start of the year when lenders were cutting across the board. Five-year swaps are also falling."

Finance expert Rachel Springall said: "Fixed rate mortgage reductions have taken precedence so far this week, with a few prominent brands making tweaks.

"Home movers who want to lock into a longer-term fixed mortgage will find the average overall five-year fixed rate is much higher than it was back in September 2019, which was 2.79%. Week on week, the overall average two- and fixed rate fell to 5.50% and 5.17% respectively.

"Borrowers searching for a deal may find it encouraging that the average shelf-life of a mortgage product rose to 21 days, up from 17 days. Our analysis at Moneyfacts also revealed that the average two-year fixed rate is now at its lowest level since February 2024, the five-year is at its lowest level since March 2024."

Moneyfacts has looked at the best rates on offer now...

The comparison site also looks at what it calls "best buys" - which considers not just the rate, but other costs and incentives. These are their top picks this week...

Ipswich Town is the cheapest Premier League team to follow this season, according to a new study.

Topping this particular table, Ipswich Town - who were promoted to the league this season - comes out as the cheapest team when prices for food and drink in the stadium, adult tickets and season tickets are taken into account.

Sports companyFlashscore, which published the study, also compared the price of a standard home shirt and average ticket price.

Arsenal was found to be the most expensive team to follow this season.

The Emirates sells the joint most expensive beer, at £6.30 a pint, while Arsenal's cheapest season ticket - at £1,073 - is the most expensive in the league.

It also sells the most expensive adult ticket at £141.

At £372 Ipswich has the second-most affordable season ticket, with the most expensive adult ticket at £48 also under the league average of £71.25.

West Ham have the cheapest season ticket at £345, but scored more highly on other prices.

The cheapest ticket at £29 is also under the £31.07 average.

Once inside Ipswich's Portman Road Stadium, a pint of beer costs £3.50 - one of the cheapest in the league.

Below is the full ranking of all 20 Premier League clubs:

Feeling priced out of supporting your club? Pints getting more expensive each time? Share your stories with us in the box at the top of the page.

A three Michelin star meal will soon be available for delivery for £80.

Uber Eats has teamed up with one of the most celebrated British chefs, Simon Rogan, to offer customers dishes from his restaurant L'Enclume.

The menu has been created using ingredients grown on Rogan's farm in the Lake District, and aims to be the most sustainable in the UK.

It consists of fivecourses, with snacks consisting of a Park House pudding glazed in birch sap, a chicken offal doughnut, and Diana radishes with lovage emulsion, followed by a salad with 51 ingredients.

The centrepiece of the meal is a heritage breed beef short rib from Lake District farmers served with fermented cabbage, chanterelles and an indulgent beef sauce featuring ramson stems, pickled tapioca and ramson oil.

The menu will conclude with petit fours (little bite-sized desserts).

It will be available to London-based customers on the 18 and 19 September between 5pm and 10pm, priced at £80.

Pairing wines will also be available for £30. The first night will be available to Uber One users only, and the second night will be available to all customers.

It will be delivered in biodegradable packaging and transported using electric vehicles.

"My cooking philosophy has always been influenced bythe natural environment, while sustainability is at the forefront of everything we do. Uber Eats have truly gone above and beyond to match this ethos with this project," Simon Rogan said.

The Money blog has won an award that recognises innovation in journalism.

Money was recognised in the live journalism category at the Press Gazette's Future of Media Awards, beating competition from the Financial Times, the Telegraph, Bloomberg and the Athletic among others.

The judges said: "This is a great idea for the audience. Responds to readers' questions by delivering the content they ask for, as well as real-time reporting. It is what interactive journalism should do."

Highlights of the year include:

• WeeklyMoney Problems, where experts answer your money issues
• An investigation into the rocketing price of olive oil
• An eight-part Women in Business series, hearing the stories of female founders and the challenges they face
• Investigations into hospitality struggles for pubs and nightclubs
• Our Basically… series - condensing and explaining financial jargon
• Cheap Eats, where the country's top chefs share their favourite budget restaurants and recipes every week
• Series on the struggles of unpaid family carers
• Weekly mortgage and savings guides, including advice from industry experts

A big thank you to all our readers for your contributions to Money since we launched in January.

Keep sending in your Money Problems and any thoughts you have on the stories we cover - we couldn't have done it without you.

You can send us a message in the box at the top of the page - and ourWhatsAppis always open too.

A union has won a Supreme Court battle against Tesco over so-called proposals to "fire and rehire" workers on less favourable terms.

The Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers took legal action over the 2021 proposals.

Five Supreme Court justices ruled unanimously that Tesco should be blocked from dismissing the staff, after the supermarket chain appealed a previous High Court decision also in the union's favour.

The ruling was called an "important victory for workers across the country" by TUC general secretary Paul Nowak who said practices like fire and rehire have no place in a modern economy.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has cut interest rates for the second time this year as eurozone inflationslows, and the economy falters.

The ECB, which is the central bank for 20 countries, lowered its deposit rate by 25 basis points to 3.50% in a move that was widely expected.

It's not thought to impact rates here in the UK - with the Bank of England widely expected to hold its own rates when it makes a decision next week.

Online fashion retailer Boohoo will stop using its US warehouse only a year after it opened in Pennsylvania.

Instead, all orders from the US will be fulfilled at the company's distribution centre in Sheffield in the UK, which the company said would expand the range of products on offer to American customers.

The decision is expected to take a £34m hit on the capital that had been pumped into the US warehouse, according to Shore Capital.

Boohoo said it "remains excited about the opportunity in the US" but Katie Cousins, an analyst at Shore Capital, said the retailer had been forced to back-pedal because it had "failed to gain traction in the US despite investing to grow market share and improve delivery times for consumers".

The boss of Ryanair has stepped up his efforts to curb drinking at airports - saying he is prepared to introduce a two-drink limit on his planes if bars in the terminal do the same.

Michael O'Leary first called for a limit on airport drinking last month after a rise in disorder on flights - but some critics pointed out that there is also no limit on how much passengers can drink on Ryanair journeys.

Now, when asked by Sky News if he would restrict passengers to two alcoholic drinks, Mr O'Leary said he would be "happy to do it tomorrow".

His call for restrictions comes after a "spike" in violent disorder among passengers over the summer.

On Sunday, a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Ibiza was diverted to Toulouse in France after a group of passengers became disruptive.

Mr O'Leary added: "If the price of putting a drink limit on the airport, where the problem is being created, is putting a drink limit on board the aircraft, we've no problem with that.

"The real issue is how do we stop these people getting drunk at airports particularly as, like this summer, we've had a huge spike in air traffic control delays."

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