AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE HITS A NEW RECORD

The average house price has hit a record high for the third month in a row, rising above £360,000, according to Rightmove’s monthly index of property prices (The Times). Prices rose by 1.6 per cent this month, slowing slightly from a 1.7 per cent rise in March (Reuters).

Properties are achieving 98.9 per cent of their final advertised asking price on average and the time taken to sell has also halved over the past three years – from an average of 67 days three years ago to 33 days now (Sky News).

HALF OF SMALL COMPANIES SAY RISING COSTS WILL HIT GROWTH

Almost half of small UK companies have warned that the rising costs of doing business will stall growth this year, according to a survey carried out by the Federation of Small Businesses (Financial Times).

Rising fuel and energy costs, primarily the result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and tight oil and gas supplies, are some of the main factors affecting small firms (City AM).

NEWS IN BRIEF

The European Union is preparing “smart sanctions” against Russian oil imports designed to minimise economic damage to the continent’s economy (The Times).

HM Treasury has formally launched a new UK Transition Plan Taskforce to develop a regulation-ready gold standard for firms’ climate transition plans (Reuters).

The UK’s hopes of a favourable post-Brexit trade deal with the US risk being undermined by the government’s lack of engagement on workers’ rights, trade unions have warned (The Guardian).

The Office for National Statistics will use millions of real-time figures for car sales and rail fares as part of changes to the way in which it measures inflation (The Times).