Money, in brief

John Healey, the UK chancellor, gives his first Budget on Wednesday 28 October. The Budget is the yearly speech where the UK government sets taxes and spending. [1][4]

This weekend the UK Treasury, which runs the government's money, said the Budget will add more than 1bn pounds for social and affordable homes in England. [1]

That takes the UK government's ten-year homes programme past 40bn pounds. [1]

Social rent means a home let at about half the usual market rent, with strict rules on who can apply. [3]

In August ministers named where the first 70,000 homes from the programme would go, and 60% of them were for social rent. [3]

1.34 million households in England were on waiting lists for social housing in March 2025, the latest UK government count. [3]

Councils will be able to borrow from the UK government at lower interest rates than usual to build homes. [1]

England's mayors, the elected leaders of its city regions, get 285m pounds of seed money next year to spend on their own choices. [1][2]

From 2028 they also get a 1.5bn-pound fund to borrow from, and some of the income tax raised in their areas will go straight to them. [1][2]

The UK Treasury says this means less money handed out through 'fragmented bidding pots', where each area competes for each project. [1]

Another 150m pounds will help councils hire the skills to run bigger budgets, because UK Treasury officials doubt some can cope. [2]

Separately, the UK Treasury's adviser on new businesses, Alex Depledge, said she will quit, saying start-ups were treated as a 'sideshow'. [1]

Why it matters. The test is Wednesday's Budget, on 28 October: whether it says how many homes the extra 1bn pounds will build, and which taxes pay for it. [1][4]

Healey is likely to offer a modest energy support package of perhaps 1.5bn pounds, aimed at those who need it and for a limited time, the Guardian reports. [4] He is expected to raise a few billion pounds in taxes, including on banks, and give some back to households. [4] The Bank of England, the UK's central bank, is widely expected to raise interest rates the week after the Budget. [4] The cap on household energy prices may rise by another 16% in January. [4]

Why it matters. A rate rise would hit people with mortgages, the Guardian says. [4] Inflation is expected to top 4% in the new year, so the help would have to stretch through rising prices. [4]

BBC Verify, the BBC's fact-checking team, added up three taxes Healey could raise without touching income tax, National Insurance or VAT rates. [5] Raising the extra tax banks pay on profits from 3% to 5.5% could bring in 1bn to 2bn pounds a year. [5] Doubling the tax on gambling machines from 20% to 40% could raise 275m to 460m pounds. [5] Making sites such as Amazon and eBay collect VAT could raise about 1bn pounds. [5] Together that is about 3.5bn pounds at most. [5]

Why it matters. Economists think the chancellor's spare room under his own borrowing rules may have fallen from about 24bn pounds to as little as 11bn. [5] Three small taxes cannot fill a gap that size, and the BBC lists cutting benefits as the fourth option. [5]

Capital gains tax is the tax on the profit from selling something that grew in value, such as shares or a second home. [6] It raised 24.3bn pounds in the 2025-26 tax year, up from 13.7bn the year before, the Guardian reports. [6] Its tax-free allowance was cut from 12,300 pounds to 3,000 pounds, and its rates rose in 2024. [6] Partly because of the smaller allowance, payers rose 45% in a year, to a record 584,000. [6]

Why it matters. Income tax, by comparison, is paid by more than 34 million people. [6] Nearly half of capital gains tax still comes from gains of 5m pounds or more, and Healey is reported to have turned down calls to raise its rates. [6][7]

Inheritance tax is a 40% tax on what a person leaves above a tax-free amount of 325,000 pounds. [6] It raised a record 8.5bn pounds in 2025-26, and about 5% of estates pay it. [6] From April 2027, money left in a pension savings pot at death will count towards it for the first time. [6] UK government figures expect 10,500 estates to pay that did not before, and 38,500 to pay more. [6]

Why it matters. The average bill for those estates rises by about 34,000 pounds once pensions count. [6] Morningstar, an investment research firm, says the tax could be reshaped to pay for social care, perhaps with a 10% charge on every estate. [7]

Dawn Fazackerley-King and her husband in Ipswich earn about 70,000 pounds a year between them. [8] When their fixed mortgage deal ends, its rate could rise from 1.4% to about 5.3%, adding about 250 pounds a month. [8] In August, 55% of adults told the UK statistics office their cost of living had risen in the past month, against 79% in April. [8] Food, fuel and energy were the most common reasons. [8]

Why it matters. The UK's budget watchdog expects household income after tax and prices to grow 0.75% a year to 2030, against 3% a year from 2000 to 2007. [8] Dawn says there is 'no more fat to trim'. [8]

A publisher in Tavistock, Devon, told the BBC he is not filling two jobs because hiring costs too much. [9] Since April 2025 employers pay National Insurance, a tax on pay, at 15% on wages above 5,000 pounds, up from 13.8% above 9,100 pounds. [9] The minimum wage for over-21s rose to 12.21 pounds an hour at the same time. [9] Hotels in Plymouth want VAT on hospitality cut from 20% to 10%. [9]

Why it matters. The publisher says these costs mean firms like his are not employing young people. [9] The UK Treasury points to tax relief for firms hiring workers under 21 and apprentices under 25. [9]

The Renters' Rights Act, in force in England since May, ended fixed-term tenancies with private landlords. [10] Eddie Lever, 20, left a house in Exeter on two months' notice to start a new course in York. [10] University halls and purpose-built student blocks are exempt. [10] The National Residential Landlords Association, which speaks for landlords, warns student houses may now sit empty over summer. [10]

Why it matters. Some landlords may raise monthly rents to cover empty months, or stop letting to students. [10] Sue Lawes, who lets three houses in Norwich, has moved her tenancies to start in August to cut that risk. [10]

The average UK savings account that lets you take money out at any time has paid 2.53% since July, Moneyfacts figures show. [11] Moneyfacts is a firm that tracks savings and loan deals. [11] Fixed-term bonds, where the money is locked away, have risen steadily since March, and the best now pays 5.37%. [11] The Bank of England's own rate has been 3.75% since December 2025. [11]

Why it matters. Banks pay more for money when they know how long they can use it, Which? explains. [11] Some higher-paying accounts limit withdrawals to three a year, or ask for 95 to 150 days' notice. [11]

Medicare is US government health insurance for people 65 and over, and Medicare Advantage is the version run by private insurers. [12] More than half of Medicare's 70 million members choose it. [12] Insurers are leaving many areas, and 193 counties will have no such plan next year, up from about 120. [12] At least 2 million people may lose their plan, and some estimates reach 5 million. [12]

Why it matters. People whose plan ends can switch to traditional Medicare and buy extra cover without the usual health checks. [12] Insurers may now cap sign-ups to some plans, so those who wait may find them full before open enrollment ends on 7 December. [12]

Since 1 October many immigrants living legally in the US no longer qualify for Medicaid, the government health cover for people on low incomes. [13] They include refugees, people granted asylum and victims of sex trafficking, under the Republicans' 2025 tax law. [13][14] Nine states and Washington DC expected more than 281,000 to lose cover in October, nearly 177,000 of them in Florida. [14]

Why it matters. The same law cuts Medicaid spending by about 900bn dollars through 2034. [13] Next year it also takes many immigrants off health-plan subsidies and Medicare. [14]

Sam Fender, a British singer, told fans on Instagram that prices for his 2027 stadium tour are 'getting changed'. [15] Standing tickets at Wembley had been split into front standing at 130.75 pounds and standing at 98.85 pounds. [15] He said prices should only rise with the cost of putting on the show. [15] Tickets are due to go on sale on Friday, after a presale on Wednesday morning. [15]

Why it matters. Fender said the split between front and back standing 'won't be happening' on his tour. [15] Zara Larsson, a Swedish singer, also criticised the price of tickets for her own show in Bangkok in August. [15]

Grimsby, once the world's largest fishing port, in Lincolnshire, is starting to spend 20m pounds from the UK's Pride in Place programme. [16] The programme gives 284 poorer communities up to 2m pounds a year for ten years, 5.8bn pounds in all. [16] It shares the money out using published data on need. [16] Earlier schemes put almost 12bn pounds into town centres in seven years without bringing widespread renewal. [16]

Why it matters. At least 1bn pounds of the 4.8bn-pound levelling up fund was still stuck in 2024, Power to Change, a campaign group, found. [16] A researcher at the Centre for Cities, a research group, says 20m pounds is unlikely to pay for buying and rebuilding large empty buildings. [16]

Legalaes, an Estonian legal services firm, studied 1,764 money videos on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, Kiplinger reports. [17] It flagged 29% as misleading, using its own rules on promises and promotion rather than checking each fact. [17] Flagged videos averaged about 556,000 views, against 326,000 for the rest. [17] Only 2.2% of the 1,266 creators showed a financial qualification. [17]

Why it matters. A study by an education fund linked to FINRA, which oversees US brokers, found 61% of investors aged 18 to 34 had acted on a social media personality's tip. [17] That fell to 6% of those 55 and over. [17]

Entry-level job postings in design, media and writing fell by 40.6%, a report from the Partnership for New York City found. [18] The partnership is a business group, and it found starter jobs shrank most in the work most exposed to AI. [18] A call-in show on Twitch, a live video site, now gives job seekers advice. [18] One caller, Hans Romine, had one interview from about 50 applications. [18]

Why it matters. The Schultz Family Foundation, which backs the show, says AI is an extra barrier for young people looking for work. [18] Romine got a job after the hosts told him to talk up his months at a research station in Antarctica. [18]

A survey found 36% of UK shoppers plan to celebrate Halloween this year, up from 27% in 2025, the BBC reports. [19] Many parents now swap costumes in Facebook groups or buy them second-hand. [19] Mandy Thomas, a mother in Birmingham, says she usually pays a quarter of the original price on eBay or Vinted. [19] An RSPCA charity shop in Coventry saves donated costumes all year for October. [19]

Why it matters. Most costumes are worn a handful of times, so buying used costs less and leaves less waste. [19] Some businesses told the BBC Halloween now matters more to them than Christmas. [19]

The Christmas Kindness Appeal Jersey collects donated presents for children up to 18, in Jersey, a Channel island. [20] Its organiser, Charlotte Riley, says more families ask for help every year since it began in 2024. [20] She names unemployment, illness and the high cost of living as the reasons. [20] Donations close on 14 November. [20]

Why it matters. More people are also offering to help, including some who received gifts in earlier years. [20] The appeal gives parents wrapping paper and labels so they can wrap the gifts themselves. [20]