Taking Stock on Friday 6th October 2023
Taking Stock: Is a look at today's top business news & investment views plus we cover the winners, losers, the most read company news & the most followed. Today this includes:
British house prices fell at the fastest pace since 2009 over the 12 months to September, data from mortgage lending Halifax showed today.
Halifax said house prices were 4.7% lower last month than in September 2022, compared with a 4.5% annual fall in August.
It was the biggest drop since August 2009 when the housing market was still in shock after the global financial crisis.
Prices fell by 0.4% in September from August, a less severe monthly drop than August's 1.8% slide.
The fall in house prices so far remains much less marked than the climb during the coronavirus pandemic which lasted into last year.
Halifax said the average price of homes remained £39,400 pounds above pre-pandemic levels at £278,601.
TOP BUSINESS STORIES
Troubled Metro Bank kicks off £3bn mortgage book sale
Metro Bank has kicked off talks about the sale of a £3bn chunk of its mortgage book as part of an increasingly urgent attempt to shore up its fragile balance sheet.
Sky News has learnt that advisers to Metro Bank - which saw its shares plunge on Thursday after acknowledging that it was seeking to raise new capital - have this week contacted a string of potential buyers of the assets.
Those sounded out by the London-listed high street lender included Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group, according to City sources.
UK new car market grew 21% in September, industry body says
Britain's new car market continued to grow in September, helped by a rise in registrations of the large fleet despite a challenging economic backdrop.
The 14th consecutive month of growth saw 272,610 new cars registered, up 21% from last year, with large fleets rising 40.8% and plug-in hybrid vehicles up 50.9%, data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed.
However, the sales of private battery EVs fell 14.3% as less than one in 10 private new car buyers opted for EVs last month, it added.
(Click here to read more)
British lawmakers call for pause in live facial recognition surveillance
A cross-party coalition of 65 British lawmakers called on Friday for a pause in use of live facial recognition surveillance on the country's streets.
The use of the technology in Britain has long been criticised by civil liberties groups such as Amnesty International, and faces a blanket ban in the European Union.
British police have previously deployed live facial recognition at a number of large-scale public events, including the recent coronation of King Charles II.