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| Thursday briefing: House of cards – Britain's broken property market | Thursday briefing: House of cards – Britain's broken property market |
| (6 months later) | |
| Top story: A hard sell – even harder to buy | Top story: A hard sell – even harder to buy |
| Hello – it’s Warren Murray with the news first thing in the morning. | Hello – it’s Warren Murray with the news first thing in the morning. |
| Britain’s housing market remains distorted 10 years on from the global financial crisis, with first-time buyers struggling to scrape together the much bigger deposits they need today, existing owners unable to “climb the ladder” and a gaping price divide between London and regional cities, according to a report out today. | Britain’s housing market remains distorted 10 years on from the global financial crisis, with first-time buyers struggling to scrape together the much bigger deposits they need today, existing owners unable to “climb the ladder” and a gaping price divide between London and regional cities, according to a report out today. |
| The average house price has grown to £478,142 in London compared with the national average of £209,971. A decade on from the 2007 crash, prices have only just started gaining ground in Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside and the north-west, while values in the north-east are down 9%, according to analysis by the real estate company Savills. | The average house price has grown to £478,142 in London compared with the national average of £209,971. A decade on from the 2007 crash, prices have only just started gaining ground in Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside and the north-west, while values in the north-east are down 9%, according to analysis by the real estate company Savills. |
| Nationally the typical deposit has doubled to £26,224 while in the capital it has quadrupled to nearly £100,000. In the year to the end of March, about £4bn out of £10.2bn in first-time buyer deposit money came from either the “bank of mum and dad” or government help-to-buy schemes. Interest-only mortgages – which were key to going up the housing ladder – have become a thing of the past, and owners are staying put rather than selling. | Nationally the typical deposit has doubled to £26,224 while in the capital it has quadrupled to nearly £100,000. In the year to the end of March, about £4bn out of £10.2bn in first-time buyer deposit money came from either the “bank of mum and dad” or government help-to-buy schemes. Interest-only mortgages – which were key to going up the housing ladder – have become a thing of the past, and owners are staying put rather than selling. |
| The market has slowed overall with a “dramatic slump” in transactions. The HomeOwners Alliance says little more than a third of houses put on the market in London are selling. Those that do sell are taking longer, and owners are having to accept a bigger cut to their asking price. Overall the 2007 crash is “still shaping the UK housing market” and will for years to come, Savills predicts. | The market has slowed overall with a “dramatic slump” in transactions. The HomeOwners Alliance says little more than a third of houses put on the market in London are selling. Those that do sell are taking longer, and owners are having to accept a bigger cut to their asking price. Overall the 2007 crash is “still shaping the UK housing market” and will for years to come, Savills predicts. |
| ‘Total lack of preparation’ – The government has asked for a report on EU migrants’ contribution to Britain – but it won’t get answers until a few months before Brexit takes place. Amber Rudd is being criticised by the opposition parties for acting “a year too late” to find out the part EU nationals play in the economy. The Migration Advisory Committee is due to deliver its findings in September 2018 – Britain formally exits the EU in March 2019. Ed Davey, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, said: “The NHS, businesses and universities that depend on European citizens need answers now, not in another 14 months’ time.” The Confederation of British Industry said the review was a welcome step but both EU workers in Britain and the companies employing them urgently needed certainty. | ‘Total lack of preparation’ – The government has asked for a report on EU migrants’ contribution to Britain – but it won’t get answers until a few months before Brexit takes place. Amber Rudd is being criticised by the opposition parties for acting “a year too late” to find out the part EU nationals play in the economy. The Migration Advisory Committee is due to deliver its findings in September 2018 – Britain formally exits the EU in March 2019. Ed Davey, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, said: “The NHS, businesses and universities that depend on European citizens need answers now, not in another 14 months’ time.” The Confederation of British Industry said the review was a welcome step but both EU workers in Britain and the companies employing them urgently needed certainty. |
| Long march for gay rights – Donald Trump’s announcement that transgender people will be banned from the US military jars somewhat with today’s 50-year anniversary of England and Wales decriminalising homosexuality. In all, 72 countries around the world still have prison sentences – or, in Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and others, the death penalty for non-heterosexual relations. In Uganda, one athlete went from being feted as a Commonwealth Games star to being chased by a mob and hounded out of the country because of her sexuality. In Russia the government has stoked intolerance by introducing a ban on gay “propaganda”. Stonewall’s Matt Horwood says: “All we can hope is that in 50 more years, we will have lots more progress to look back on.” | Long march for gay rights – Donald Trump’s announcement that transgender people will be banned from the US military jars somewhat with today’s 50-year anniversary of England and Wales decriminalising homosexuality. In all, 72 countries around the world still have prison sentences – or, in Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and others, the death penalty for non-heterosexual relations. In Uganda, one athlete went from being feted as a Commonwealth Games star to being chased by a mob and hounded out of the country because of her sexuality. In Russia the government has stoked intolerance by introducing a ban on gay “propaganda”. Stonewall’s Matt Horwood says: “All we can hope is that in 50 more years, we will have lots more progress to look back on.” |
| Air war – The government’s plan to ban diesel and petrol cars by 2040 has been criticised as a “diversionary tactic” from the harmful air pollution blighting public health in Britain. Critics say the government is breaking the law by failing to take more comprehensive action. There are fears, too, that a switch to electric vehicles will put extreme strain on the National Grid, while the British car industry is warning of more than 800,000 jobs at risk unless the government supports the swap to building battery-powered cars. Amid criticism of the clean air strategy from doctors, environmental campaigners, Labour and councils, there are rumblings of further court action against the government. | Air war – The government’s plan to ban diesel and petrol cars by 2040 has been criticised as a “diversionary tactic” from the harmful air pollution blighting public health in Britain. Critics say the government is breaking the law by failing to take more comprehensive action. There are fears, too, that a switch to electric vehicles will put extreme strain on the National Grid, while the British car industry is warning of more than 800,000 jobs at risk unless the government supports the swap to building battery-powered cars. Amid criticism of the clean air strategy from doctors, environmental campaigners, Labour and councils, there are rumblings of further court action against the government. |
| Inside Grenfell – Commanders from the London Fire Brigade have told how crews put their lives on the line to save others when they raced to the burning Grenfell Tower and set about tackling the huge blaze. “Every single person within that building was willing to lose their own life to try to save others. Every single person,” Richard Welch, one of the senior officers on the scene, told an ITV documentary. Work is to begin within weeks to erect scaffolding and wrapping around Grenfell as the burnt-out hulk is painstakingly picked apart. | Inside Grenfell – Commanders from the London Fire Brigade have told how crews put their lives on the line to save others when they raced to the burning Grenfell Tower and set about tackling the huge blaze. “Every single person within that building was willing to lose their own life to try to save others. Every single person,” Richard Welch, one of the senior officers on the scene, told an ITV documentary. Work is to begin within weeks to erect scaffolding and wrapping around Grenfell as the burnt-out hulk is painstakingly picked apart. |
| Stop the pills – The standard doctor’s advice to finish your whole course of antibiotics may be wrong and contribute to bacteria becoming resistant, researchers have warned. Patients in many cases could probably stop taking them once they feel well, says Martin Llewelyn, an infectious diseases at Brighton and Sussex medical school. He and colleagues have published an analysis in the British Medical Journal backing up their argument. A number of other experts have backed the study, though the Royal Society of GPs urged caution about cutting treatment short. The UK clinical health authority, Nice, is currently reviewing the issue. | Stop the pills – The standard doctor’s advice to finish your whole course of antibiotics may be wrong and contribute to bacteria becoming resistant, researchers have warned. Patients in many cases could probably stop taking them once they feel well, says Martin Llewelyn, an infectious diseases at Brighton and Sussex medical school. He and colleagues have published an analysis in the British Medical Journal backing up their argument. A number of other experts have backed the study, though the Royal Society of GPs urged caution about cutting treatment short. The UK clinical health authority, Nice, is currently reviewing the issue. |
| Lunchtime read: You are something of a star | Lunchtime read: You are something of a star |
| Moby’s wobbly vocals told us that “we are all made of stars” – now it turns out nearly half the atoms in our body blew in on the solar wind from beyond the Milky Way. | Moby’s wobbly vocals told us that “we are all made of stars” – now it turns out nearly half the atoms in our body blew in on the solar wind from beyond the Milky Way. |
| Astronomers have modelled how suns blow up and sprinkle the raw materials for comets, planets and life into neighbouring galaxies. | Astronomers have modelled how suns blow up and sprinkle the raw materials for comets, planets and life into neighbouring galaxies. |
| Sport | Sport |
| Manchester United closed their pre-season tour of America on a dissonant note with a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona in what was a pedestrian showing from José Mourinho’s side. United, along with Tottenham, are on red alert after Everton manager Ronald Koeman said Ross Barkley is not part the clubs’s future and will be sold this summer. | Manchester United closed their pre-season tour of America on a dissonant note with a 1-0 defeat to Barcelona in what was a pedestrian showing from José Mourinho’s side. United, along with Tottenham, are on red alert after Everton manager Ronald Koeman said Ross Barkley is not part the clubs’s future and will be sold this summer. |
| Joe Root is prepared to hand out three new England caps today in an attempt to wrestle back control of the Test series with South Africa. Tyson Fury has appeared to announce his retirement once more as he waits to receive a date for the resumption of his UK anti-doping hearing. And England play Portugal in Euro 2017 tonight, aiming to become the first senior national side to emerge from the group stage of a major tournament with a 100% record since 1982. | Joe Root is prepared to hand out three new England caps today in an attempt to wrestle back control of the Test series with South Africa. Tyson Fury has appeared to announce his retirement once more as he waits to receive a date for the resumption of his UK anti-doping hearing. And England play Portugal in Euro 2017 tonight, aiming to become the first senior national side to emerge from the group stage of a major tournament with a 100% record since 1982. |
| Business | Business |
| China’s yuan has firmed against the US dollar overnight, putting it on course for its best day in nearly two months, after the greenback was hit by diminished expectations of a further US rate hike by year end. | China’s yuan has firmed against the US dollar overnight, putting it on course for its best day in nearly two months, after the greenback was hit by diminished expectations of a further US rate hike by year end. |
| Overnight the pound was buying US$1.31 and €1.12. | Overnight the pound was buying US$1.31 and €1.12. |
| The papers | The papers |
| This morning the Mirror splashes with a businessman found guilty of mixing horse meat (pet ponies, the paper says) with beef in order to make pies. The Mail has a go at supreme court judges who have decided a £1,200 fee imposed by the government for employees to make industrial tribunal claims was unlawful. The Mail’s headline is “Queue here for the gravy train”. The Guardian leads with criticism of the government’s “weak and inadequate” clean air strategy. | This morning the Mirror splashes with a businessman found guilty of mixing horse meat (pet ponies, the paper says) with beef in order to make pies. The Mail has a go at supreme court judges who have decided a £1,200 fee imposed by the government for employees to make industrial tribunal claims was unlawful. The Mail’s headline is “Queue here for the gravy train”. The Guardian leads with criticism of the government’s “weak and inadequate” clean air strategy. |
| The Sun’s headline is “Diana body snatchers” and quotes Earl Spencer saying thieves tried to rob the Princess of Wales’s grave four times. The Telegraph splashes with “Don’t take full course of antibiotics”, highlighting the warning by “eminent specialists” that using all the pills may be driving up drug resistance. | The Sun’s headline is “Diana body snatchers” and quotes Earl Spencer saying thieves tried to rob the Princess of Wales’s grave four times. The Telegraph splashes with “Don’t take full course of antibiotics”, highlighting the warning by “eminent specialists” that using all the pills may be driving up drug resistance. |
| The Times leads with a claim that the body tasked with regulating the UK’s care homes allegedly kept hidden a number of disturbing sexual incidents. The FT’s headline is “Rudd promises door will be kept open to EU workers after Brexit” while the Daily Express goes with “Britain ready to quit EU exit talks”. | The Times leads with a claim that the body tasked with regulating the UK’s care homes allegedly kept hidden a number of disturbing sexual incidents. The FT’s headline is “Rudd promises door will be kept open to EU workers after Brexit” while the Daily Express goes with “Britain ready to quit EU exit talks”. |
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