This is Money Podcast

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The tense situation between tenants and landlords is escalating: the former have seen rents spiral but the latter have faced a big jump in costs jump too.Meanwhile regulation has become a bugbear between the two sides, is there not enough of it or too much?What can be done to improve things in the rental market and have we come down too hard on buy-to-let?That’s the question asked on this week’s podcast, as Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert debate the problems in the rental market.But before that, it’s time for Rishi Sunak.He was once the Chancellor tasked with calming our nerves during the pandemic, but now Rishi is the Prime Minister expected to settle things down after a bout of financial chaos.Will he be able to pull that off, soothe jittery markets, navigate Britain through a painful cost of living crisis winter, and somehow please the nation while taking money off people instead of dishing it out?The team look at what Prime Minister Rishi could mean compared to Chancellor Rishi – and what the implications for our finances could be.Also on the agenda, there was good news for savers from NS&I this week, as rates were raised across the board, but they can get better deals elsewhere, so what should they do? Plus, what can you do to track down old pension pots and why is John Lewis annoying its loyal credit card customers? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a new Chancellor in town and he means business. Serious business.After Kwasi Kwarteng tried to spread some joy to get growth going with tax cuts for all, Jeremy Hunt and the fun police have stepped in to stop the markets freaking out.The fallout from Kwarteng's ill-fated mini-budget has now claimed his Chancellorship and Liz Truss's Premiership - with Britain achieving the rare feat of losing two Prime Ministers in less than four months.But with Hunt's stern reversal of the tax cuts in place and a firm commitment to not come up with any more cunning plans that might upset the markets, is Britain now on a firmer economic footing.Or will our quest for yet another Prime Minister spell more trouble ahead?On this podcast, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert look at Hunt's rapid reversal of Kwarteng's cuts and whether they will steady the ship and prove a good idea.The team also discuss the decision to stick with the triple lock - an expensive promise the Government decided to keep, but did it really have any choice after ripping up the guarantee for pensioners last year.Plus, will the rapid rise in mortgage prices sink house prices? Many think so, but our 18 year property cycle guru Fred Harrison says otherwise.And finally, how much does it cost you to use your cooker vs an air fryer or a slow cooker and if you really want to save money is it an energy saving dad you need? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you were asked to name a world-class place to surf, a field near Bristol isn’t the first location that would spring to mind.But this slice of the English countryside is home to The Wave, an artificial surfing lake that is one of just a handful in the world to use cutting edge technology and was the first of its kind.The Wave is the fruit of the ambitions of Nick Hounsfield, a pioneering British entrepreneur who wanted to build a unique business that had a positive social impact, with improving health and wellbeing for surfers and non-surfers alike baked in.For this special bonus interview episode of the This is Money podcast, Simon Lambert visited The Wave to meet Nick, be shown around and hear the story of his more than decade-long journey to get waves breaking and people riding them.It’s a fascinating tale, not least because Nick didn’t come from a background in property or business, but was an osteopath, who started with £500 in his bank account and managed to raise £27million to build his dream. He tells Simon about the challenge of doing that when potential investors thought it was a great idea but were reluctant to take the risk on it, with a theme of ‘we’ll back the second one, but not the first one’ coming through.Eventually Nick and his business partners got traction in raising the funds to get the Wave off the ground, but he says it was important to find the right people to back it: those who bought into the social impact element as well as making money.‘We talk about profits with purpose’, says Nick. ‘But generally, I think across the finance industry, it seems that people are understanding how important it is to be future facing - from a profit perspective but also looking after people and the planet at the same time and how important that is in building a brand and building a business.’He adds: ‘Right at the beginning we very much set out our stall that we were going to be environmentally conscious and socially conscious, but also be profit making.’But Nick’s rollercoaster ride hasn’t just been about getting a hugely ambitious business off the ground, he also faced a double whammy of unexpected events as it finally opened its doors.The Wave started welcoming surfers in late 2019 but shortly afterwards Covid and lockdowns struck throwing plans into disarray.Yet Nick was already facing his own personal challenge, as he had suffered a stroke in February 2020, which left him in hospital for weeks and then needing six to nine months of rehabilitation at home through the disconcerting times of the first Covid lockdown.Nick tells the story of how he found himself working alone in the water at The Wave, while it was shut during lockdown, and benefitting himself from the impact of ‘blue health’: the idea that spending time in or near water is good for people, which is a cornerstone of his business dream.The Wave has flourished since it was allowed to open again during the Covid lockdowns and there are now plans for more facilities in the UK, including one in north London’s Lee Valley, close to the Olympic water sports facilities.Nick shares more details on those plans, explains more about how The Wave works and what visiting surfers can expect and need to know – and at the end of the podcast Simon – a self-described painfully average on-and-off surfer – explains what it was like to ride the waves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When gilts hit the headlines it’s a clear sign that trouble has not only been brewing but has been unleashed.Government bond yields only tend to break through into the mainstream when things aren’t going well and they have been firmly in the spotlight since Kwasi Kwarteng’s ill-fated mini-budget.But what is a gilt, why does its yield matter, what’s that got to do with prices and why do we worry about such things?On this podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert, take a step back from the maelstrom to explain gilts, why investors worry about government bonds, what’s causing ructions in the pensions industry and what this all means for normal people.Chancellor Kwarteng has now departed – in fact, news of his imminent exit from the job while the team were recording the podcast, triggering a breaking news style interruption – but will Chancellor Jeremy Hunt fare any better (and last longer)?The team discuss why the mortgage market is key to the answer to that and also look at what first-time buyers should do in this scenario.There are some for whom the current rapid rate rises aren’t bad news though and that is savers. We now have a top savings rate above 5 per cent for the first time in many years, but is it worth taking?It requires locking in for five years, but that’s the sort of return knocking on what could reasonably be expected from the stock market, where you also have to take the risk of losing money.And finally, investors are hunkering down at the moment, but when share prices fall the stock market is on sale – and if you look at some investment trusts there is a double sale going on, as discounts have widened to 13 per cent on average.Should you be greedy when others are fearful, as Warren Buffett is often quoted as saying, or exercise some caution rather than having your head turned by knockdown prices? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rocketing rates have sent the average two and five-year fixed rate mortgage through the 6 per cent barrier.This is a level that would have been considered unthinkable a year ago, when there were 50 mortgage deals on the market at below 1 per cent.The Bank of England belatedly playing catching up with inflation has sent base rate from 0.1 per cent last December to 2.25 per cent now - and with inflation far from tamed and the US Federal Reserve going in all guns blazing on monetary policy, rates are likely to keep going up from here.But the catalyst for the past month's big jump in mortgage rates has been the turmoil triggered by the Chancellor's ill-received mini-Budget and the flurry of borrowing Britain will have to do to fund it.So, what happens next to mortgage rates, what should people who need to fix now do, and will this send house prices sinking?On this week's podcast, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert dive into the mortgage market to look at what is happening and why - and what borrowers can do about it.Are expensive fixes now worth taking, what should you do if you are buying a home and is a variable rate mortgage really now the answer?They answer these questions and more.Plus, while rate rises are bad for mortgage borrowers they are proving good news for savers, who have been starved of decent deals for many years. The top fixed rate savings are knocking on the door of 5 per cent, but how high will savings rates go and should you fix and risk out on better ones in future?The ill-fated mini-Budget also brought about the abolition of the 45p tax rate, except that's now been abolished itself as Kwasi Kwarteng staged a screeching U-turn this week. Nonetheless, Simon has some middle-class tax cutting ideas that he reckons make more sense and could be popular.And finally, a reader wrote to This is Money telling us they had some letters written to them in the 1960s by a rock star who then died young and they could be worth £20,000... but will they have to pay tax if they sell?And more to the point, who could the mystery rock star be? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As markets went haywire and the Bank of England staged a bond market intervention earlier this week, it felt like a mini-financial crisis had been triggered.It has been an incredibly turbulent week for the UK economy as the Bank of England stepped in to protect pension funds, the pound hit a record low against the dollar before rebounding and lenders pulled mortgage deals to re-price them at far higher rates.So, is the UK economy in crisis… again? How much is the Chancellor's 'mini' Budget to blame? Or was this the culmination of problems that stem from the Bank of England? And what can the Government and Bank do now?This week, Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce tackle what has been a truly remarkable one in the world of personal finance with a message of: don't panic.Simon gives an economics 101 on why the pound fell and why the Bank of England stepped in, seemingly with a u-turn on plans for quantitative tightening.What is happening to mortgages? With lenders pulling deals and replacing them with higher rates, how will that impact first-time buyers, those looking to remortgage and the property market in general?Will base rate continue to head higher and what does that mean? And a chink of light for savers: this week, NS&I boosted Premium Bonds, while savings rates continue to race higher.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this excerpt from the This is Money podcast, Simon Lambert and Georgie Frost discuss why the mini-Budget has combined with last week's interest rates decision to send the pound tumbling and UK government borrowing costs spiking.Find the This is Money podcast's full look at the mini-Budget and what it means for you here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain's new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng delivered a blistering mini-Budget this week that was anything that small.A wave of tax cuts were unleashed. Some had been heavily trailed, such as spiking the National Insurance hike and a stamp duty reduction, but there were also two rabbits out of the hat: a cut in basic rate income tax to 19p from April and abolishing the 45p income tax rate too.Those tax cuts joined a wave of spending commitments, most notably the huge energy price guarantee bailout for Britain's households and businesses.Paul Johnson, of the IFS, said: 'Mr Kwarteng is not just gambling on a new strategy, he is betting the house.'On this week's podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert discuss what the going for growth mini-Budget means for people, how much they may save in tax, and whether it will work or cause the UK economy even more problems down the line.One thing was clear in the aftermath, markets didn't like the break from the orthodoxy that they saw: the pound tumbled below $1.10 and UK gilt yields jumped.But how much does that have to do with the mini-Budget and how much does it have to do with the Bank of England's rate decision that delivered a bumper rise of 0.5 percentage points, which was still considered small next to the US Federal Reserve's 0.75 percentage point bazooka?And finally, we've heard lots of the glass half full verdicts on our current economic situation but what is the glass half full one? Simon has a crack. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bank of England is tipped to raise interest rates by at least 0.5 per cent this week, but the pound fell to a 37-year low last week - reaching $1.351, a level not seen since 1985.That comes against a backdrop of inflation edging down slightly to 9.9 per cent - taking Britain out of the double-digit inflation club - with a colossal rescue plan to save households and businesses from spiralling energy prices about to kick in.The details on that energy price guarantee rushed out by new Prime Minister Liz Truss - and how it's potential £150billion cost will be paid for - are still sparse, but are expected to be sketched out in more detail this week.Meanwhile, on Friday a mini-Budget is due to arrive with a rumoured round of tax cuts as Truss and her new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng go all out for growth.On this podcast episode, Georgie Frost, Helen Crane and Simon Lambert look at the pound, energy bills, inflation and interest rates, how all these issues connect and what could happen next?Also on the agenda for discussion are rising savings rates and whether savers should fix or stick with short-term easy access deals, and a question over a life-changing £500,000 early inheritance and where the balance lies between saving, paying off the mortgage or investing.And finally, overshadowing all the financial events of a whirlwind fortnight, Queen Elizabeth II died, ending her 70 year reign, and ushering in a period of national mourning that came to a close under the eyes of the entire world with her funeral.But what will happen now to Britain's money and when will we start to see King Charles III on our cash? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.