Bigger than expected inflation jump worsens Bank of England dilemma
Here’s our analysis on the jump in UK inflation to 3.5% in April.
For households across Britain, April was an awful month. Rising energy bills, broadband costs and the sharpest increase in water bills since privatisation – despite public anger over the quality of service offered – all added to the cost of living squeeze.
Economists had forecast a jump in inflation based on the flurry of annual bill increases. But at 3.5% – the highest rate in the G7 – the rise was bigger than the 3.3% rate predicted in the City, and will raise concerns at the Bank of England.
Most of the increase was down to energy costs, after a well-telegraphed 6.4% increase in the Ofgem consumer price cap. However, there was a much bigger leap in water and sewerage bills, where prices rose by a whopping 26.1%, the biggest annual increase since February 1988.
Key events
Closing post
For households across Britain, April was an awful month. Rising energy bills, broadband costs and the sharpest increase in water bills since privatisation – despite public anger over the quality of service offered – all added to the cost of living squeeze.
Economists had forecast a jump in inflation based on the flurry of annual bill increases. But at 3.5% – the highest rate in the G7 – the rise was bigger than the 3.3% rate predicted in the City, and will raise concerns at the Bank of England.
Marks & Spencer has said it will take an estimated £300m hit to profits this year from a damaging cyber-attack that it expects to disrupt its online business into July.
A £25m post-Brexit border control post in Portsmouth may have to be demolished if the UK government’s deal with the EU removes the need for health and veterinary checks on food imports, according to the port’s director.
One of the UK’s biggest energy developers will cut its planned spending on new renewables projects in a blow to the government’s 2030 clean power targets.
SSE warned that it would be unlikely to meet its own renewable energy goals for the end of the decade after shrinking its five-year spending plans by £3bn to £17.5bn.
Keir Starmer has confirmed that his government will loosen the eligibility rules for winter fuel payments to pensioners after a backlash against the decision to means test the benefit.
Speaking at prime minister’s questions, Starmer said that more pensioners would be eligible for the payment.
Angela Rayner urged Rachel Reeves to consider a series of wealth tax rises, it has been revealed, in a move that underscores growing unease within the government over the chancellor’s tight spending plans.
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care! – JK
The German Council of Economic Experts has cut its forecast for Europe’s largest economy, and now expects it to flatline this year during a “pronounced phase of weakness”.
The academic body that advises the German government on economic policy had predicted the economy would grow by 0.4% this year in previous forecasts published in November.
Germany is the only member of the G7 group of advanced economies that failed to grow in the last couple of years years, burdened by fiscal restraints and an industrial downturn.
Veronika Grimm, a member of the council, told a press conference in Berlin:
The unfavourable effects of the overall economic weakness phase on the labour market continue.
The number of unemployed people in Germany is approaching the 3 million mark
for the first time in the last decade, and Donald Trump’s trade tariffs are expected to deal a major blow to the export-oriented economy. The US was Germany’s biggest trading partner last year.
Monika Schnitzer, chairwoman of the council, said:
The German economy will be significantly influenced by two factors in the near future: U.S. tariff policy and the fiscal package.
Ulrike Malmendier, another council member, told the press conference.
Even if tariffs are reduced, Trump succeeds with his ‘deal economy’ and countries simply trade and the tariffs are not that high, he has managed to introduce enormous uncertainty into the system.
Wall Street stocks have fallen as investors are nervous ahead of a key debate around Donald Trump’s tax cut bill that has fanned concerns around the US’ mounting debt pile.
The Dow Jones fell by more than 300 points, or 0.8%, while the S&P 500 lost 30 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq slid by 140 points, or 0.7%.
European indices are flat to slightly lower.
The dollar has slid by 0.5% against a basket of major currencies, extending a two-day decline.
Blow to UK’s 2030 clean energy targets as SSE cuts spending on renewables
One of the UK’s biggest energy developers will cut its planned spending on new renewables projects in a blow to the government’s 2030 clean power targets.
SSE warned that it would be unlikely to meet its own renewable energy goals for the end of the decade after shrinking its five-year spending plans by £3bn to £17.5bn.
The spending cuts will include investing £1.5bn less on developing renewable energy initiatives, including offshore windfarms and a hydropower project, with another £1.5bn cut from its planned spending on other energy and transmission projects.
SSE’s outgoing chief executive, Alistair Phillips-Davies, blamed “delays to policy and planning” and “a changing macro environment” for the spending cuts, which have cast fresh doubt on the government’s clean power goals.
Phillips-Davies said the company had faced delays to two Scottish renewable energy projects – the Coire Glas hydropower project in the Highlands, and the Berwick Bank offshore windfarm development, which was submitted to the Scottish government for approval in late 2022.
Together these renewable energy projects would power the equivalent of approximately 9m households in the UK once operating. SSE has also faced delays to the second phase of its Arklow Bank offshore windfarm off the Irish coast.
Sarah Butler
Asda is planning to raise £400m from the sale and leaseback of 20 supermarkets to help fund the turnaround of its business.
The grocer has appointed property advisor Eastdil Secured to sell the stores, which it plans to lease back over the next 20 years, as first reported by Green Street News.
The deal comes four years after the £1.7bn sale and leaseback of Asda’s warehouse network in 2021 formed a key part of financing the takeover of the supermarket by private equity group TDR Capital and the British billionaire Issa brothers.
The group, which trades from 580 supermarkets, almost 500 convenience stores and 769 petrol forecourts, also cut debt with a £650m deal to sell – and lease back – about 25 supermarkets to US-based company Realty Income Corporation in 2023.
It comes after Asda’s new chairman Allan Leighton warned that profits were likely to decline this year as it invested more in cutting prices and putting more staff in shops.
The chain’s listed rivals – Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer – had £4bn wiped off their stock market values amid fears that it would be costly for them to respond.
A spokesman for Asda, which is now controlled by TDR, said:
Sale-and-leasebacks have been a feature of the retail industry for many years.
While maintaining a strong freehold base remains central toAsda’s property strategy, we will consider suitable opportunities to unlock value from our property portfolio as part of our material programme of investment into the business.
Liberty Steel considering sale of Yorkshire business
Jasper Jolly
More on Liberty Steel: the group has confirmed that it is considering a sale of its Speciality Steel UK (SSUK) business in South Yorkshire, saying that “change is essential”.
This business operates an electric arc furnace at Rotherham and a related works at Stocksbridge.
The company claimed today that Liberty’s owner, Sanjeev Gupta, had invested £200m in the business over the last four years to cover losses and pay salaries, but added that it faced industry-wide pressures on the steel industry.
It came after London’s high court granted it eight more weeks to pursue talks with an unnamed potential new investor if it cannot agree a deal to restructure debts.
Jeffrey Kabel, Liberty’s chief transformation officer, said:
Today’s adjournment is a positive development, allowing us the necessary time to finalise options including a sale of the business while we continue to pursue our debt restructuring efforts.
We remain committed to finding the right solution that preserves electric arc furnace steelmaking in the UK, a vital national asset serving strategic supply chains.
SSUK has been involved in complex debt restructuring since the collapse of Greensill Capital in 2021, restricting its access to capital. However, like all steel producers in the UK, SSUK has faced long-standing competitiveness challenges dating back decades.
We recognise that change is essential to set the business on a positive trajectory and provide certainty for our creditors, employees, and stakeholders.
It is understood that the company will continue to pay salaries for employees for May.
Bigger than expected inflation jump worsens Bank of England dilemma
Here’s our analysis on the jump in UK inflation to 3.5% in April.
For households across Britain, April was an awful month. Rising energy bills, broadband costs and the sharpest increase in water bills since privatisation – despite public anger over the quality of service offered – all added to the cost of living squeeze.
Economists had forecast a jump in inflation based on the flurry of annual bill increases. But at 3.5% – the highest rate in the G7 – the rise was bigger than the 3.3% rate predicted in the City, and will raise concerns at the Bank of England.
Most of the increase was down to energy costs, after a well-telegraphed 6.4% increase in the Ofgem consumer price cap. However, there was a much bigger leap in water and sewerage bills, where prices rose by a whopping 26.1%, the biggest annual increase since February 1988.
Liberty Steel in talks with a potential new investor to save Yorkshire sites
Jasper Jolly
Liberty Steel has said it is in talks with a potential new investor to step in and save its ailing steel operation in South Yorkshire, as a judge granted it more time to avoid a liquidation that could put 1,500 jobs at risk.
The company’s subsidiary, Speciality Steel UK Limited, was granted until 16 July to carry out talks with the unnamed investor, at an insolvency hearing at London’s high court today. The company operates an electric arc furnace at Rotherham and a related works at Stocksbridge.
Judge Prentis this morning granted an adjournment of eight weeks, until 16 July, for the company to try to work out a sale, after a supplier filed a winding up petition with the court to try to reclaim £4m in unpaid debts.
Those debts were part of more than £600m owed by Speciality Steel, which is ultimately owned by Sanjeev Gupta. A proposed restructuring plan to cut those debts failed earlier this month, with Gupta’s global GFG Alliance metals empire under severe financial pressure.
Daniel Judd, representing the company, told the court the company was “urgently considering its options”, including talks with an unnamed “third-party investor”.
Urgent meetings have been taking place to advance this.
The judge said that an adjournment “is in the circumstances fine” after hearing brief arguments about the importance of the plant to the economy in South Yorkshire.
UK gilt auction disrupted by Bloomberg outage
A UK government bond auction has been delayed, after the data and news company Bloomberg suffered an outage to its terminals, used by traders and other financial professionals.
The UK Debt Management Office, which conducts gilt auctions, said it had extended the bidding window for this morning’s auction of gilts – as UK government bonds are known – maturing in 2031.
Due to the ongoing market-wide Bloomberg system issues, the bidding window for this morning’s auction of the 4% 2031 is being extended.
Traders and market sources reported that live pricing and market data was not functioning and screens were blank.
“My Bloomberg terminal is currently not working, only the chat function is still up,” a Bloomberg user told Reuters.
UK house prices grow faster while rent rises slow
House prices grew at a faster rate in March, while rent increases slowed last month.
The Office for National Statistics said the average UK house price increased by 6.4% to £271,000 in the year to March, up from an annual rate of 5.5% in February.
Average private rents climbed by 7.4% in the year to April, down from 7.7% growth in March.
House prices increased to £296,000, up 6.7%, in England’ £208,000, up 3.6%, in Wales, and £186,000, up 4.6% in Scotland, in the 12 months to March.
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said:
Stripping out the impact of the stamp duty deadline, the pressure on house prices this spring is downwards. Inflation is proving to be stubborn, which will prevent mortgage rates from falling as quickly as hoped, and buyers are hesitant due to growing household financial pressures and wider economic concerns.
On top of that, asking prices will need to reflect the fact that supply currently far outweighs demand. Demand is likely to get stronger later this year as more interest rate cuts move onto the radar for the Bank of England.
Rents increased to £1,390, up 7.5%, in England; £795, up 8.7%, in Wales; and £999, up 5.1%, in Scotland, in the 12 months to April. In Northern Ireland, average rents increased by 7.8% to £843 (7.8%) in the 12 months to February.
In England, private rent increases were highest in the North East (9.4%), and lowest in Yorkshire and The Humber (4.0%).
Bill said:
Rental value growth is still stubbornly high due to robust demand and supply that is falling as more landlords leave the sector. The Renters’ Rights Bill was designed to benefit tenants but the risk is that it has the opposite effect by cutting supply and keeping rents at levels that remain historically high.
Average UK house prices increased by 6.4%, to £271,000 in the year to March 2025, up from 5.5% in the 12 months to February 2025.
Average UK private rents increased by 7.4% in the year to April 2025, this is down from 7.7% in March 2025.
➡️ https://t.co/9bzGCzHKPV pic.twitter.com/HWFwf8Ss3w
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) May 21, 2025
Angela Rayner urged Rachel Reeves to consider a series of wealth tax rises, it has been revealed, in a move that underscores growing unease within the government over the chancellor’s tight spending plans.
A memo sent by the deputy prime minister to the chancellor before March’s spring statement proposed eight potential tax measures worth an estimated £3bn to £4bn a year, including reinstating the pensions lifetime allowance and increasing the corporation tax rate for banks.
The proposals were not adopted, with Reeves opting instead to announce cuts to public spending in March, in line with her self-imposed fiscal rules.
While the memo, obtained by the Daily Telegraph, was framed as a discussion document, it is likely to be seen as Rayner staking out ground for Labour’s left wing within a cabinet increasingly shaped by Starmer-aligned centrists.
Another April inflation spike will add to the Bank of England’s unease, said JPMorgan economist Allan Monks.
He noted that wage growth remains high.
Combined with the BoE’s recent hawkish rhetoric – including Huw Pill’s comments yesterday, but more specifically the three or four hawks in the centre-ground identified in the March minutes – this CPI [consumer prices index] release likely closes the door to a June cut and increases the risk that the BoE will pause in August.
We maintain our August call for now, with plenty of data still to come. We expect the BoE will still be surprised to the downside on GDP and wage growth.
Average annual household bills in the uK have increased by £112 to £5,606 – up from £5,494 last year, according to the comparison site Compare the Market.
The research shows energy, council tax, and water bills have risen by a combined average of £391.
However, the cost of car insurance has fallen by £268, on average, year-on-year. The average cost of home insurance is also down, by £11 year-on-year in April to £212.
