Office for National Statistics

Rental prices have risen three times faster than inflation, new figures find

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/rental-prices-have-risen-three-times-faster-inflation-new-figures-find

CAMPAIGNERS intensified demands for limits on rent hikes after damning new research found that rents are soaring at triple the rate of inflation.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown that the average rent in Britain has increased by 7.7 per cent to £1,332 in the last 12 months to March.

The increase is three times more than the current level of Consumer Price Index inflation, which measures how much the overall price of everyday goods and services has increased.

The figures show a steep 8.9 per cent increase in Wales, where the average rent is £792. In Scotland, rents were up by 5.7 per cent to £1,001.

According to a December 2024 report from Zoopla, rents for new lets are now £270 per month higher than they were three years ago.

The figures mean that a staggering £3,240 has been added to the annual cost of renting since 2021, equating to a 27 per cent increase.

Generation Rent chief executive Ben Twomey said: “When we are forced to spend too much of our income on rent, the effects ripple across the rest of our lives.

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Continue ReadingRental prices have risen three times faster than inflation, new figures find

Top 10% have more financial wealth than the other 90% combined, new figures show

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/top-10-have-more-financial-wealth-other-90-combined-new-figures-show

THE top 10 per cent of Britain’s population has more wealth than the other 90 per cent combined, according to TUC analysis of official Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures released today.

The huge inequality between rich and poor has widened under 14 years of Tory rule, which saw an “explosion” in insecure work and a decline in living standards.

Under the Conservatives, real wages grew by just 0.3 per cent a year — compared with 1.5 per cent from 1997 to 2010 under Labour.

The TUC estimates that the average worker would be £117 a week better off had pay increased since 2010 at the same pace as between 1997 and 2010.

Pay growth during Conservative-led governments from 2010-2024 was worse than for any other period of government since the 1920s.

The Tories also oversaw the worst fall in living standards since records began in 1955, the TUC said.

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Continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/top-10-have-more-financial-wealth-other-90-combined-new-figures-show

Continue ReadingTop 10% have more financial wealth than the other 90% combined, new figures show

Cost-of-living crisis still hammering households as recession predicted

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/cost-living-crisis-still-hammering-households-recession-predicted

Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

THE cost-of-living crisis is still hammering households in every corner of the country, the TUC warned today, as inflation figures remained unchanged and Britain is believed to have slipped into recession.

The union body called for ministers to extend cost-of-living payments which are set to end by March after figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation remained at 4 per cent in January.

Food prices fell for the first time by 0.4 per cent since September 2021, with the cost of bread and cereals, cream crackers and chocolate biscuits falling, the ONS said.

The costs are still 7 per cent higher than a year ago.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted that the economy has “turned the corner” following the data.

But the ONS is due to publish gross domestic product (GDP) figures for December on Thursday and is predicted by experts to reveal that Britain’s economy contracted for the second quarter in a row in the final three months of 2023.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/cost-living-crisis-still-hammering-households-recession-predicted

Continue ReadingCost-of-living crisis still hammering households as recession predicted

Brexit, climate change and ‘greedflation’: The principal reasons behind the spiralling cost of food

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Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

https://leftfootforward.org/2023/05/brexit-climate-change-and-greedflation-the-principal-reasons-behind-the-spiralling-cost-of-food/

In March 2023, the inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose to 19.2 percent, according to Office for National Statistics. This is the fastest rate food inflation has risen in 45 years. ONS figures also show that more than half (51 percent) of adults in the UK are worried about the price of food.

Analysis of official figures by the Lib Dems, shows that customers face higher prices in supermarkets, despite wholesale costs having fallen.  For example, a loaf of wholemeal bread has risen by 26 percent, even though the cost of breadmaking wheat has fallen by 14 percent. Similarly, the price of tomatoes has soared by 13 percent despite farmers having dropped prices by 7 percent.

Separate figures from Which? show that meat, yoghurt and vegetables doubled in price in the year to March.

As inflation continues to rip through family budgets, and consumers are forced to pay sky-high food prices, the government has come under fresh pressure to crackdown on supermarkets. This week, farmers, supermarket bosses, food manufacturers and consumer group representatives gathered at 10 Downing Street to discuss Britain’s food security. But what [are] the reasons behind the UK’s crippling food inflation?

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https://leftfootforward.org/2023/05/brexit-climate-change-and-greedflation-the-principal-reasons-behind-the-spiralling-cost-of-food/

Continue ReadingBrexit, climate change and ‘greedflation’: The principal reasons behind the spiralling cost of food

Children in care 10 times more likely to end up in prison by age 24, figures suggest

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HMP Wormwood Scrubs, London. Image: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0
File:Main gate to the HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs in spring 2013

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/children-in-care-10-times-more-likely-to-end-up-in-prison-by-age-24-figures-suggest

CHILDREN in care are 10 times more likely to end up in prison by the time they reach 24 than those who grew up outside the system, official figures suggest.

The study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published today found that looked-after children were more at risk of coming into contact with the criminal justice system during early adulthood than their peers.

Looking at children in care who were born in the academic year ending 1994, the ONS found that more than half had received a criminal conviction by the time they turned 24.

This compares to 13 per cent of children who were not in care.

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Prison reform campaigners said the figures show more needs to be done to address the criminalisation of children in care.

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Continue ReadingChildren in care 10 times more likely to end up in prison by age 24, figures suggest