House prices slump as Iran war and interest rates hit demand Property House prices slumped in July after the Iran war and higher interest rates squeezed demand and triggered a slowdown in sales. Annual house price growth slowed to 1.8 last month, down from 2.2 per cent the prior month. Month on month, average house prices remained broadly flat, rising by just £58 to reach £277,542, up [...]
Mark Kleinman: Nationwide’s pride should be dented by member election bid Business Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his Morning Wire column Nationwide’s pride should be dented by member election bid ‘Proud to be different’, ran the long-running Nationwide advertising slogan. Well, quite: it’s hard to see any of Britain’s big high street banks making quite the same mess [...]
Nationwide rebel claims he was offered sweetener to drop boardroom bid Banking A rebel Nationwide customer vying for a board seat at Britain’s biggest building society claimed it offered to help him land a directorship at another firm if he dropped his boardroom bid. James Sherwin-Smith, who is on the ballot at next week’s annual general meeting to join Nationwide’s board, told Morning Wire he had a [...]
House prices stay flat in June as Iran war fallout continues to weaken the market July 1, 2026 UK house prices were flat in June as the conflict in the Middle East and looming political uncertainty continue to subdue consumer confidence. The average price fell £540 in June, hitting £277,484. This was a slight drop from £278,024 the prior month where prices fell 0.6 per cent, according to the latest Nationwide house price [...]
City launches new Digital ID framework against AI fraud June 30, 2026 Canada Corporation has unveiled plans for a new digital identity framework it claims could unlock more than £5bn for the UK economy, as policymakers and the financial sector race to tackle increasingly sophisticated AI-enabled fraud. A blueprint published on Tuesday proposes a “Digital Verification Orchestrator”, or DVO – a system set to [...]
Barclays and Lloyds join banking sector plan for digital ID June 25, 2026 Barclays and Lloyds are among a group of top UK lenders working on a plan that would see customers able to use digital identification tools in their banking app. The collective of banks – which also includes HSBC, Nationwide, Natwest and Santander – are working with industry body UK Finance on a process where users’ [...]
Nationwide fires starting gun on mortgage deals ahead of interest rate decision June 16, 2026 Nationwide has slashed its mortgage rates for the second time in the space of a week, ahead of the Bank of England’s interest rate decision on Thursday. The building society has taken the chop to its home loan prices, with a 0.28 percentage-point reduction. It follows a 0.12 cut on 10 June. The move comes [...]
Nationwide boss Debbie Crosbie banks £4.7m payday after Virgin Money deal June 8, 2026 The boss of Nationwide has seen her pay almost double since the building society’s blockbuster takeover of Virgin Money. Debbie Crosbie, who has steered the mutual since 2022, bagged a £4.7m pay packet in the last financial year, up from £2.5m the year prior. The mammoth uplift was driven by the cash and bonuses from [...]
Natwest to pump £50m into branches after shuttering over a thousand June 5, 2026 Natwest is planning to beef up its branch network after being one of the leading banks to take the axe to its physical presence over the last decade. The blue-chip banking giant will pump £50m into its network over the next 18 months and has pledged not to close any branches until at least 2029. [...]
House prices fall again as property market ‘deteriorates’ June 1, 2026 House prices fell again in May as the mortgage rate hikes and surging energy bills caused by the Iran war continued to take their toll on the UK’s fragile property market. The UK’s average house price fell by 0.6 per cent to £278,024 in May, compared to 0.4 per cent growth in April, according to [...]