Inflation
- UK inflation was 2% in June - slightly higher than expected
- Blow for mortgage holders as interest rate cut forecasts rewritten
- Holiday money boost as inflation data sees pound fly
- Ed Conway analysis:No panic in Bank of England, but rate cut in two weeks now less likely
Essential Money blog reads
- Women in Business:'I set up business with £200 and went on Dragons' Den - now it's worth £1.5m'
- Basically...What happens when you go bankrupt?
- Money Problem:'A £16 phone bill debt has put a default on my credit record and now I can't get a mortgage - what can I do?'
- Risks from your child's first smartphone - and how to tackle them
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Inflation data was bad news for borrowers - but good for your holiday money
By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business reporter
While unexpectedly high inflation data is bad news for anyone borrowing money, particularly mortgage holders, it's good for the value of the pound.
That in turn spells good news for people going on holidays to the US or a Eurozone country or for importers paying in dollars or euro. One pound equals $1.30, a high not seen in more than a year, and €1.1915, a near two-year high.
Higher rates and the associated more expensive borrowing tend to strengthen currencies, hence today's data benefited the pound.
The UK-company FTSE 250 index of valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange was down 0.45% following stubborn inflation figures.
Similarly, the index of more international firms, the FTSE 100 composite of most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange, fell 0.09%.
Another price fall was more welcome - the oil price dropped to $83.96 for a barrel of Brent crude.
Rental reforms will make 'key changes' - but they will not be felt immediately
Rental sector reforms contained within the King's Speech today will push through "key changes" for the sector, Zoopla has said.
Laws will be introduced to give "greater rights and protections to people renting their homes", including ending no-fault evictions - an idea that was shelved by the last government.
"Draft legislation will be published on leasehold and commonhold reform," His Majesty said.
Executive director at Zoopla, Richard Donnell, welcomed the changes, particularly on ending no-fault evictions, but warned they will take time to impact renters.
No-fault evictions, also referred to as Section 21s, allow landlords to kick tenants out of their property without giving an explicit reason.
"Finding a balance to ensure we don't see more landlords selling up and putting more pressure on supply is crucial... the bill outline strikes the right balance," said Mr Donnell.
"It's also welcome news that the government has avoided implementing rent controls.
"The focus on growing supply across all tenures is the correct long-term solution but it will take time for this to feed through and positively impact buyers and renters."
Bitcoin surges but big tech has reason to fear JD Vance
Much is known about JD Vance, Donald Trump's running mate, not least his past criticism of the Republican presidential candidate, his tough working class upbringing and his time in the US Marine Corps.
What the business world is more interested in, though, is the Ohio senator's previous career in venture capital and his views on commerce - and what they might mean in the event of Mr Trump returning to the White House.
In particular, Mr Vancehas been strongly supportive of cryptocurrency, raising hopes in the sector that a second Trump administration could be positive for the asset class.
So, too, isMr Trumpwho, in May, became the first major presidential candidate to accept donations in crypto-assets. He has already accumulated almost $3m worth of such assets - $1.8m in Bitcoin and $900,000 in Ethereum.
What could this all mean for crypto and the wider tech sector? I take a look here...
Do these figure show young people are savvier spenders?
People aged between 25 and 34 are proving to be the UK's savviest spenders, Lloyds says.
The bank looked at how much different age bands increased their spending on non-essential items such as trips, subscriptions and eating out between 2022 and 2023.
Across all age groups it was up 4.3% - but Britons aged 25-34 increased their spending in this area by just 1.3%.
This compares with:
- Aged 55 to 64 - 6.8% rise
- 45 to 54 - 5.1%
- Over 65 - 9%
Spending in bars and pubs went up among most ages by 8.2%, but only 2.4% among 25 to 34-year-olds.
There are different interpretations for these figures, of course. It could be suggested that what Lloyds calls "savvier" spending is in fact down to necessity because, perhaps, younger people have faced higher living costs, for example being disproportionately impacted by rent hikes.
The data doesn't seem to back this up, however, as those aged 25 to 34 are also spending less on essentials. They spent 3.4% more on necessary items like food, electricity and gas - compared with 5.6% across the population as a whole.
Great British Menu contestant picks popular chain among favourite Cheap Eats
Every Wednesday we ask top chefs to pick their favourite Cheap Eats where they live.This week we speak toAndrew Sheridan of 8 By Andrew Sheridan in Liverpool, who some might recognise from BBC cooking competition Great British Menu.
Hi Andrew,can you tell us your favourite places in Liverpool where you can get a meal for two for less than £40?
Me and the guys in 8 head to Chop Chop for lunch most weeks. It's some great Asian food, amazing katsu.
Duke Street Marketis the place to go when you don't know what to eat as they have everything you could wish for under one roof.
What I love about this place is the guys in the kitchen love what they do and the food is super tasty and consistent.
Mowgli Liverpool has super tasty Indian food and is around the corner from 8 in Liverpool.
Nisha Katona, the founder (and GBM judge), is an amazing businesswomen and has created a brilliant brand. Nisha is a regular alongside her family in 8 and naturally I can't help but visit Mowgli for something super tasty and reasonably priced.
We've spoken to lots of top chefs - check out their cheap eats from around the country here...
Poll reveals UK's favourite supermarket
Aldi has come top in a poll of Britain's most popular supermarkets.
Polling data from YouGov, covering the three months to June, puts the budget chain at the top of the list just ahead of its budget rival Lidl.
It also pipped the traditional "big four" supermarkets ofTesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.
YouGov's popularity ratings take into account what proportion of people have heard of a supermarket chain and how many of those people view it positively.
Aldi came out top with a popularity rating of 78%. Lidl came a close second, also on 78% (but with a slightly higher negative rating), and M&S Food was third on 76%.
The findings contradict another poll - of 3,000 people by Which? - in February which looked at value for money, staff helpfulness, queuing time and range of products.
This had M&S top, followed in this order by Aldi, Waitrose and Sainsbury's. Morrisons came last in ninth spot.
Meanwhile, Aldi was named by Which? as the UK's cheapest supermarket again last month - with the company topping the list every month for 2024 so far.
UK economy to grow faster than expected but short of Labour pledge, IMF says
The International Monetary Fund has confirmed it is expecting the UK economy to grow faster than previously expected this year.
The Washington-based fund, which was predictingonly last Octoberthe UK would be the slowest of all the G7 nations this year, now expects it to be firmly in the middle of the pack.
The upgrade - which takes expected growth this year from 0.5% to 0.7% - does not reflect the recent change of government, since it wasfirst announced in May, when the IMF conducted its annual assessment of theUK economy. However, it was welcomed by new ChancellorRachel Reeves, who has pledged to improve Britain's economic growth.
She said: "While it's welcome that the IMF is forecasting growth to pick up this time, I am under no illusion to the scale of the challenge facing the economy and the inheritance this new government faces. That is why we are already taking the tough decisions to fix the foundations of our economy, so we can rebuild Britain and make every part of our country better off."
House prices shown to rise in revised figures
The average UK house price increased by 2.2%, to £285,000, in the year to May 2024, in freshly revised figures.
The Office for National Statistics moved the figures up from a previous estimate of growth of 1.3%.
Yorkshire saw the highest annual growth, with London still the lowest, though the capital saw an annual rise in prices for the first time in a year.
On the rental side, the average UK private rents increased by 8.6% in the year to June 2024, down from 8.7% last month.
Reacting to the figures, ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said: "House price growth continues to increase, hitting its highest annual rate since March 2023.
"Rental price rises slowed slightly, but remain near record annual rates across the country.
"Within England, London continued to see the strongest growth in rents, with the North East the lowest."
We're going to start bringing you wider personal finance and consumer news now
This morning has been dominated by June's inflation data and what it means for interest rates.
We'll have more reflection on this through the day, but we'll also now start bringing you our regular Money blog news and features.
How does UK inflation compare with other countries?
The UK's CPI inflation rate was below France's (2.5%) and Germany's (2.5%) in the 12 months to June this year.
It's also slightly lower than the latest figure from the Eurozone (2.6%).
The Eurozone figure is for May, but economists predict a drop (when June's data is released) to 2.5% - in line with both Germany and France.
The UK is also comfortably below the US's latest figure of 3%.
