Economic malaise

Opinion Former Comments

CML: Gross mortage lending declines in April

Gross mortgage lending declined to an estimated £10.2 billion in April. Lending fell by 19% from £12.6 billion in March but was 2% higher than the total of £10.0 billion in April 2011, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

BSA: UK consumers adopt self-build but lag behind Europe

One in 10 new homes in the UK are self built and the market generates £3 billion annually for the UK economy, says the BSA as it publishes a toolkit to provide information to encourage lenders not yet in this market to offer self-build mortgage finance.

CPA: Construction Continues to Fall but Some Positive Signs

The latest Construction Trade Survey published today shows that construction continued to suffer during 2012 Q1 but there were positive signs for some parts of the industry.

BSA: Lending and Approvals Jump in March

Gross mortgage lending by building societies and other mutual lenders rose 58% in March 2012 compared to the same month last year, and by 40% in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the first quarter of 2011. Net lending by mutuals was positive for the sixth consecutive month.

CML: Stamp duty deadline boosts March lending for house purchase

Gross mortgage lending in March was an estimated £13.4 billion, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This represents a 30% rise from £10.3 billion in February and a 17% rise from March 2011 (£11.4 billion).

CML: Gross mortgage lending unchanged in February

Gross mortgage lending held steady in February and was an estimated £10.7 billion, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This is almost identical to January’s gross lending total of £10.65 billion and 14% higher than February last year (£9.4 billion).

CML news & views: Does interest-only lending have a future?

The future of interest-only lending forms a large part of the FSA's MMR consultation. Today we discuss the impact the proposed rules could have on a part of the market already changed substantially since the financial crisis. We also...

BSA comments on further quantitative easing

Following the decision of the MPC today to increase quantitative easing further, Adrian Coles, Director-General of the Building Societies Association, said:

Unite: "Government has done to nothing to support manufacturing or construction"

Unite, Britain's biggest union has slammed the government for its failure to support manufacturing and construction as Britain slides towards recession.

CPA: Construction Decline Adds to Economic Woes

Today’s GDP figures, published by ONS, show that the UK economy has fallen by 0.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2011 following growth of just 0.6 per cent in the previous two quarters. The main contributors to this fall were the manufacturing and construction sectors, which fell 0.9 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.

14/09/11

The UK's fraught economic recovery faces fresh strain after unions threatened strike action over public sector pensions.

One union leader said that industrial action would not just be confined to a single day and would instead take place over several to create more disruption.

Dealing with further strike action is a potential headache for the government, which has come under increasing fire for its refusal to change its public sector pension plans.

This problem is emphasised by an economic climate which can hardly afford to lose working hours to strikes.

Unemployment rose by 80,000 in the three months to July, exceeding 2.5 million, or 7.9%.

Labour: Unemployment figures show government's growth plan is hurting Britain

Chris Grayling: Unemployment figures show scale of challenge

NAHT: School leaders could strike for first time since union established in 1897

Francis Maude: Union members want to go to work not strike

Unison: Strike action is the fight of our lives

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No 10 unleashes Tory gay marriage opposition with free vote move

New York has already opened its doors to gay marriage

No eurozone answers as crisis drifts on

David Cameron wants 'decisive action soon'

Must try harder: £35bn remains in uncollected tax

HMRC: Are spending cuts becoming self-defeating?

Leveson vs Paxman: 'You could become an irrelevance'

Paxman: "Your challenge will be to stop yourself becoming a total irrelevance."

Cameron lashes out: Ed Balls branded a "muttering idiot"

Balls managed to rile up the prime minister today

Rees-Mogg: Coalition can't fix Britain

Jacob Rees-Mogg wants a Tory-only government to roll back the state

The Watson/Mensch love-in continues… sort of

Louise Mensch and Tom Watson: Friends across the aisle

Pseudo facts? New London Assembly gets off to a rocky start

City Hall: Mayor Boris faces his friends and enemies

Beecroft stings 'socialist' Cable

Vince Cable branded 'socialist' by Adrian Beecroft

Special event coverage

Festival of Social Sciences: Celebrating the Social Sciences

Evidence-based policy should not be a radical concept. It needs to be celebrated.

Festival of Social Sciences: 2 languages: 2 brains, 2 minds, 2 cultures?

As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences, the Deafness Cognition And Language Research Centre (DCAL) hosted an event exploring the powerful benefits of bilingualism in spoken and sign languages, for hearing and deaf people alike - benefits that reach hearing and deaf people alike.

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Voice: Feeling stressed? Understand yourself? Now, move forward Conference

Application forms are now available for an exciting conference in Manchester. The fun-packed day will give you practical solutions and advice on managing stress and time to help you achieve a work/life balance.

BHA: The Marriage Debate - ‘This house would legalise same-sex marriage in England and Wales'

Two weeks before the Government’s consultation on same-sex marriage draws to a close, Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association is participating in a debate hosted by Catholic Voices on the motion, ‘This House Would Legalise Same-Sex Marriage’.

BSIA: Information Destruction Exhibition and Conference

This one-day event is targeted at professionals operating in the information destruction industry, and aims at keeping delegates updated on recent developments in their sector, providing an opportunity to network with fellow professionals, whilst offering access to an informative exhibition and a comprehensive conference programme.

Economic malaise

14/09/11

Labour: Unemployment figures show government's growth plan is hurting Britain

Chris Grayling: Unemployment figures show scale of challenge

NAHT: School leaders could strike for first time since union established in 1897

Francis Maude: Union members want to go to work not strike

Unison: Strike action is the fight of our lives

Opinion Formers

Latest News

No 10 unleashes Tory gay marriage opposition with free vote move

No eurozone answers as crisis drifts on

Must try harder: £35bn remains in uncollected tax

Leveson vs Paxman: 'You could become an irrelevance'

Cameron lashes out: Ed Balls branded a "muttering idiot"

Rees-Mogg: Coalition can't fix Britain

The Watson/Mensch love-in continues… sort of

Pseudo facts? New London Assembly gets off to a rocky start

Beecroft stings 'socialist' Cable

Special event coverage

Festival of Social Sciences: Celebrating the Social Sciences

Festival of Social Sciences: 2 languages: 2 brains, 2 minds, 2 cultures?

Opinion Former Events

Voice: Feeling stressed? Understand yourself? Now, move forward Conference

BHA: The Marriage Debate - ‘This house would legalise same-sex marriage in England and Wales'

BSIA: Information Destruction Exhibition and Conference

ABI: The Future of Long-term Savings & Retirement Income - Automatic Enrolment and Beyond Conference

Take the Gold Challenge for St Dunstan's

TACT: 2013 Virgin London Marathon

14/09/11

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