Alan Fletcher

Rates

At the point of writing, the news headlines indicate that UK wages have risen at their fastest rate in 20 years as British workers continue to battle for a fairer pay deal. On the surface, this may seem like great news, but unfortunately, it's a further headache for the Bank

Planning ahead

When researching the pertinent topics of the day to talk about in our blogs, one alarming factor regarding the unfolding planning situation is that the same issues have been in the headlines every year since 2019, with the only real nuance being the severity of the problems ever increasing. This

This land is your land

At the time of writing, homebuilding is fast becoming one of the key political battlegrounds, with Labour stepping into the fray and announcing the promise of sweeping electoral reforms that will potentially uproot the  1961 Land Compensation Act and allow Councils to buy up land at the agricultural value rather

Lindy effect

In this week's blog, at the time of writing, two breaking stories of equal gravitas are battling it out to dominate the financial headlines; on the one hand, the IMF has announced that its upgraded its 2023 forecast for the UK, and even with a backdrop of high inflation, it's

Renters’ Reform Bill

At the time of writing, the long-awaited Renter's Reform Bill is poised to be debated in Parliament and with up to 30 back-bench rebels considering an opposing vote, citing the damage these reforms may have on the UK landlord sector, it's proving to be a very contentious subject. With some

This town, is coming like a ghost town

In this week's blog, we have a look at what could be a rapidly unfolding situation in the commercial real estate market, the impact that may have on global markets, and how we feel that our asset class that primarily correlates with the success of our domestic residential housing market,

Healthy competition

In this week's blog, we are talking about IFISAs; with the product's merits recently being loudly discussed in the press, we attempt to debunk a few myths and talk a little about the importance of competition in fair and free consumer markets. Firstly, a quick history lesson, The Innovative Finance

A land of expensive bread and honey

At the time of writing, inflation has again hit the headlines, with the overall rate only slowing to 10.1pc from 10.4pc at the start of the year. Worryingly, food prices are going up faster than at any point in the last 45 years, and in this week's blog,

Crystal ball gazing

In this week's blog at the time of writing, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has just announced that the UK economic performance in 2023 will be the worst among the 20 biggest economies, known as the G20, which includes sanctions-hit Russia. With a perfect storm of macro conditions setting up

Neither blame or praise yourself

In this week's blog, we are looking at three narratives being presented as the core blame for the housing crisis; as the fingers are pointed, we explore the idea that it's much more complicated than what is being presented in the media and will potentially require a complex array of

No laughing matter

In this week's blog, we are unpacking a potential divide emerging between the interests of UK landlords and government legislation being introduced to protect tenants. These actions are a possible protective measure to target unscrupulous bad actors looking to profiteer from the more challenging economic conditions we find ourselves in.

Risky Business

In this week's blog, the apparent topical story to cover is the demise and takeover of Credit Suisse by their peer competitor UBS. But, as many are covering the finer details of how events unfolded, we are focusing on risk perception. Risk, the way it's packaged, accepted, considered and ultimately

Rebuilding

In this week's blog, it would be remiss not to mention the Development Remediation Contract deal that has finally been drawn up between some of the UK's largest homebuilders and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). This ensures the cladding problems uncovered post-Grenfell will finally be addressed,

Balancing Act

In all honesty, or by lucky coincidence, this week's blog was due to be about the benefits of a balanced portfolio; with ISA season drawing to a close and our firm belief that P2P should play a part in a balanced investment portfolio, there was a whole bit we had

All in the planning

The latest proposals from the UK Government regarding planning reform have been announced, and the hot topic of conversation is who's going to pick up the tab? This week's blog looks at the proposed substantial planning fee increases and the effect that could deter smaller developers from entering the market

Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA)

Investing in an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) is becoming increasingly popular for individuals to earn tax-free interest on their investments. As of 2022, the annual ISA allowance is £20,000, and there are several options available for how to invest that sum. One such option is the Invest & Fund IFISA,

ISA season begins

In finance, specific calendar references regarding investment strategies are primarily nonsensical in modern times, yet bizarrely, many still affect market sentiment to this day. "Sell in May and go away" is one of my favourites, referencing a period of history where Merchant bankers would sell up and head off on

Just one snag...

It's all changed again at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with Racheal Maclean appointed the Minister of State for Housing. In this week's blog, we unpack some of the ongoing issues facing SME homebuilders and how addressing those will solve the bigger housing stock problem we face.

Bull Trap?

This week's blog looks at a mixed bag of market sentiment, with lots of bullish projections on the tape from leading economic commentators. Could the worse be over for the Bank of England? What do the markets believe? Most importantly, how will P2P be impacted? Read on to find out.

Inflated Opinions

At the time of writing, we are days away from the next Bank of England base rate announcement, and speculation is again hotting up on the strategy to rebalance the nation's books. U.K. inflation peaked in October 2022 at 11.1%, according to the CPI and some tough decisions

The winning bid

This week brought the next flurry of announcements regarding the distribution of the government levelling-up fund, shortly followed by the anticipated angry voices and political commotion over the choices made. Is it possible to level up without a regional bias creeping in? Does there need to be further devolved powers

Cautious Optimism

There is something in the air that nobody anticipated towards the back end of 2022, a wave of cautious optimism, a reframing of the economic outlook; things may be, I say this hesitantly, looking a bit more optimistic? Have any of the fundamental indicators changed? Or have we finally priced

P2P: Resilient businesses

Historically, commercial banking doesn't always fare well during a recession, particularly in lending. Investment banks and hedge funds can usually capitalise on downward markets; however, balance sheet lenders have to contain with a slowdown, coupled with rising costs & delinquencies that inhibit growth, and over-leveraging quickly becomes a concern. In this

New Year's resolutions

Happy New Year, everyone; we hope you enjoyed the festivities and are suitably rested and ready for 2023! During the break, most banks published their January 2023 Investment Outlook Brochures for institutional investor clients; many will be landing on people's desks as we speak. These guides look at all elements

Trends for 2023

In our final mini-blog for 2022, we continue our series of articles on market trends for 2023 and beyond, speculating where the P2P sector could go and the potential market trends that could unfold. For the second offering, we focus on how investment attitudes and appetites may change as we