Investment

Renewables companies warn UK revenue cap could deter investment:

Renewable energy companies will tell UK ministers this week that a planned cap on the revenues they generate from sky-high wholesale power prices must not be more punitive than a similar EU policy — or they risk an investment exodus to Europe. Energy industry officials involved in discussions with the UK government say negotiations over the level of a cap will continue this week, with a meeting expected as early as Monday. The proposals could affect companies including EDF Energy, RWE, Octopus Energy, ScottishPower and SSE. This could effect lots of students in student hou

Investment

Investment advice must improve after the LDI crisis:

The liability-driven in crisis caused ripples in the pensions market and trustees are taking a step back to reassess the viability of LDI products and take stock of what happened and why. The defined benefit (DB) pensions sector was at the centre of the LDI crisis last week that caused a liquidity squeeze and forced the Bank of England to start temporarily buying long-dated gilts. The value-at-risk (VaR) model has been one of the most common risk measures used in the industry for the past decade or so. Advice from consultants has said that when schemes increase their hedge

Investment

The UK is in financial turmoil and investments and pension:

There has been a severe blow to ISAs and shares if they are in bond funds as they are now being sold as cautious, safe investments. The ones invested in UK gilts fell by 12% within 2 days of Kwasi Kwarteng's budget. Normally pension funds are steadier than the stock (equity) market, as they have a mix of shares, bonds and property. You have little to worry about if you have a final salary-style pension, where what you get is related to how much you earn. But they are mostly limited to the public sector now. This is almost always a sensible thing to do if you have spare cas

Investment

Investment zones could be allowed in England’s national parks:

Recent documents have been released which are suggesting a relax on planning laws and permission could be given even in the most protected national parks. This is to accelerate development. The deadline for councils to apply to host an investment zone is 14 October. The government says the zones “will benefit from tax incentives, planning liberalisation and wider support for the local economy” and will be granted after a “rapid” selection process. Key planning policies to ensure developments are well designed, maintain national policy on the green belt, protect our heritag

Investment

Investment Zones are attacking nature!

In order to develop areas across UK the government has planned for investment zones which have caused a great uproar by the wildlife trusts. This proposal by the government includes relaxation of planning rules to allow business development which are said to be "consent driven," however, there are fears of removing environmental protection from certain areas. Comments are being made such as : "These plans sound more like destruction zones than investment zones to us." There are already five West Midlands councils on the investment zone shortlist, with further applications

Investment

Foreign investment grows in Northern England but falls in the rest of UK:

The value of foreign investment has grown by almost 75% in the North of England in the last half decade. However, in the South of England, including London the picture is not the same. Figures even show that the number of FDI projects in the North have now reached approximately 33% and new jobs have risen by almost 20%. The agenda for growth in the South dwindled under the Tory leadership, it is now Truss' job to pick it back up. In London, FDI has fallen by 14% in comparison to the start of the decade. This has been carried out by the 'Northern Powerhouse' whose agenda it

Investment

Kwarteng to announce plans for low tax investment zones:

The creation of low tax, low regulation investment zones is set to be announced by Kwasi Kwarteng in the "mini budget" today. This is after the unanimous recognition that growth should be supported across the country and targeted action is required to increase the speed for this. In practice planning rules are set to be loosened, in turn land being "released" and development accelerating. There are 38 areas across England to be included in this plan. This is in line with Truss' leadership campaign where she mentioned bringing growth to the forefront when in power. _______

Property Consulting

More houses are being sold despite interest rate hikes:

The interest rates have risen six months in a row and therefore the property transaction prices are rising. There was a 4.4% month-on-month rise from July, and was 9.7% higher than levels seen a year earlier in August last year. The number also represents an elevated position when compared to pre-pandemic levels – transactions in August 2022 were up 2.5% compared to the 111,600 seen in the same month in 2019. According to reports, the prime minister and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will announce the measure to stimulate economic growth on Friday as part of the mini-Budget. _

Investment

Truss warned corporation tax cuts have not fuelled investment:

Business investment in the UK has fallen to the bottom of the G7 group of wealthy nations, despite the tax cuts. Ministers are preparing for £30bn of giveaways targeted at companies and high income workers. These cuts were put in place to help drive up economic growth towards a target rate of 2.5% a year. However, the IPPR said slashing the headline rate from 30% in 2007 to 19% in 2019, orchestrated by the former chancellor, George Osborne, did not spur higher private investment or faster economic growth. Studies have shown corporation tax cuts used by successive Conservat

Investment

Truss could slash personal taxes in ‘investment zones’ under economic plans

Liz Truss is considering plans to slash personal taxes in addition to business levies in new “investment zones” as she seeks to set the wheels of her economic strategy in motion. The proposed “investment zones”, dubbed “full fat freeports”, were a staple of Ms Truss’s campaign for the Tory leadership. Under her plan, Ms Truss said these areas would benefit from a low-tax burden, reduced planning restrictions and regulations tailored on a case-by-case basis. Ministers are also said to have discussed whether environmental protections could be watered down in these areas to c