Recession hits

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.

Recession confirmed

The figures are out - we’ve recorded our second quarter of downturn in a row which means the UK is officially in a recession for the first time since 2009. The economy shrunk by 20.4% overall from April to June. But that decline all happened in April - the bounce back has already started. GDP grew slightly in May and showed 8.7% growth in June.

Fewer first-time buyers

There are tens of thousands fewer first-time buyers* per year than there used to be, according to new research by the Bank of England. It found that the number of people getting onto the property ladder has dropped by a quarter since 2006.

Adviser comment: "This could actually be good news for those first time buyers who are in a position to be able to buy. If there are fewer buyers than sellers, then sellers may be prepared to accept lower offers."

No autumn budget?

Chancellor Rishi Sunak could delay the autumn budget if we’re hit by a second wave of coronavirus. Why? He might want to put off announcing measures such as tax rises or spending cuts, if we’re already dealing with a spike in new cases. If that happens, the budget would be postponed to spring 2021, and we’d get an autumn spending review instead.