The Bank of England (BofE) has maintained the base rate at 4.75 per cent.

At its latest meeting, the BofE Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted six to three to keep the base interest rate at 4.75 per cent. Three members wanted a reduction of 0.25 percentage points, bringing the rate to 4.5 per cent. Since the previous meeting, annual inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), increased from 1.7 per cent in September to 2.6 per cent in November. This increase was slightly higher than expected, after stronger inflation in core goods and foods, while services consumer price inflation also remained high. Headline CPI inflation is expected to increase slightly in the short term. Although household inflation expectations have mostly settled, some measures show recent upticks. The committee said that it closely monitors risks associated with persistent inflation and will assess the evidence on whether constrained supply that might sustain inflationary pressures or weaker demand. This could lead to the creation of spare economic capacity and push inflation down. This will be reviewed again on 6 February 2025.

Legal and General (L&G) Affordable Homes has acquired 487 homes from Birmingham City Council, in Perry Barr.

The acquisition, funded by L&G Institutional Retirement, forms part of L&G Affordable Homes’s commitment to offering affordable housing options across the UK. With 187 homes for affordable rent, 159 for shared ownership, and 139 for social rent, the development is one of its biggest to date and will generate a “significant boost” to the local economy as well as provide affordable housing. L&G Affordable Homes is a strategic partner of Homes England and worked in collaboration with Homes England to enable the acquisition of the homes with funding from the 21-26 programme. This forms part of a plan to create a new neighbourhood with over 5,000 homes and supporting infrastructure, including new commercial space.

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) and Octopus Real Estate have partnered with Elysian Residences to deliver a retirement village in Henley-on-Thames.

The Senior Living Investment Partners (Slip), comprised of PIC and Octopus Real Estate, has invested in a 100-unit integrated retirement community. It will include a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom homes and is part of a wider strategic partnership with Elysian Residences. The development is funded by a Slip joint venture with Elysian and is the third site it has invested in. In addition to this, it is the fifth site with Elysian across the Octopus-managed retirement living funds.

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