Price rises, BHS, current accounts and property

Bicycle prices could rise following the Brexit vote, because the cost of importing bikes from Asia has increased. The head of Halfords Jill McDonald said the retailer was in talks with its suppliers following the pound’s fall. ‘For bikes bought in Asia in US dollars, we are seeing prices beginning to move.’ According to The Guardian, McDonald also said Halfords, the UK’s biggest bike seller, was better positioned to tackle price rises than smaller businesses because 90 per cent of the bikes it sells are own labels. Evictions

More than 100 households were evicted each day from their rented homes in England last year, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice.

The BBC reports that some 39,723 homes were repossessed by bailiffs in the 12 months to September 2016 – equivalent to 108 per day. The MoJ also says that 137,773 renting households are at risk of losing their homes. BHS The Pensions Regulator is chasing millions of pounds from Dominic Chappell and Retail Acquisitions in regards to the £571 million deficit in the BHS pension scheme. The Guardian reports that sources close to the situation say warning notices sent by the regulator to Chappell and his company show it wants to receive ‘multiples of £1 million’. The regulator has started legal proceedings against the former BHS owners Chappell and Sir Philip Green in an attempt to plug the pension deficit. Sterling The pound rose above $1.26 for the first time in five weeks on Friday and is on track for its best fortnightly performance in eight years, according to the BBC. Sterling ‘seems to be riding the resurgent dollar’s coattails, driven by excessive short positioning that leaves the pound the least vulnerable against the strengthening dollar’, said Valentin Marinov at Credit Agricole. Current accounts

In the latest blow to hit current account customers, the two most lucrative cash switching deals on the market have been scrapped.

Thisismoney reports that ‘HSBC and the Co-op Bank have both abandoned their generous cashback offers, at a loss of £200 and £150 to new customers respectively.’

Loans

Thisismoney also reports that Sainsbury’s Bank has once again trimmed its personal loan rate to a new historic low rate of 3 per cent. The new offer beats previous best-buy deal from Swedish challenger, Ikano Bank, by 0.1 percentage point, saving £15.44 in interest on a £10,000 loan repaid over three years.

Property

House hunters are returning to the UK residential market after the June referendum, but may face a lack of purchase options as the supply of available homes remains restricted, according to the October RICS UK Residential Market Survey. Across the UK, interest from prospective homebuyers increased for the second consecutive month with 10 per cent more respondents reporting a rise in demand from buyers in October rather than a fall.  Prices continue to rise, with 23 per cent more respondents seeing growth, rather than a decline, up from a net balance of +18 in September. London remains something of an the exception, recording an eighth consecutive monthly decline with  16 per cent more respondents in the capital reporting a fall rather than rise in prices –  this figure more closely reflects inner London rather than the outer boroughs, many of which are still seeing significant price growth. More generally, the rise in prices has been fuelled by a continued fall in the number of new properties on the market, a trend that has been continuing for well over two years.  Respondents reported a further slight decline in new instructions over the month and anecdotal evidence suggests that the tight supply conditions continue to be a very dominant feature of the market across the UK.