House prices on the move

Get straight to the good stuff every day with the Multiply Minute; a lightning-quick round-up of the money news and how it affects you.

House prices fall

House prices were 0.1% lower in June 2020 than the same time last year. It’s the first time the property market’s seen an annual decline since 2012. The data from Nationwide also shows that homes are 1.4% cheaper now than they were in May this year, as the impact of lockdown hits.

Adviser comment: Lower prices are good for first time buyers, but at this stage you should take this data with a pinch of salt because of low volumes and high uncertainty. We concur with the conclusion of the article - it will be the next 6 months that gives a true indication of the market.

Citizenship for Hong Kong residents

The Prime Minister has extended an offer to almost 3 million Hong Kong residents to settle in the UK, and ultimately apply for citizenship. The invitation was prompted by an increasingly fraught situation in the former British territory, where new security laws threaten to violate its people’s freedoms.

We want strings attached

Should bailouts come with strings attached? 63% of people think big companies should only receive public money if they agree to protect jobs and reduce carbon emissions. Yesterday, Bank of England boss Andrew Bailey committed to reviewing the impact of the Bank’s bailout scheme. It has doled out £18 billion so far to the UK’s major firms, many of which are still cutting jobs and burning fossil fuels.

Ryanair bookings take off

Ryanair has reported “very strong” bookings for the summer. It was back to business as usual on Wednesday, with planes full of mask-wearing passengers jetting overseas for the first time in months. The budget airline is taking the government to court on Friday in the hope of overturning the 14-day quarantine for anyone coming into the UK, including Brits returning from holiday.