Every week, we pull together the most relevant stories for your personal finances.
📈 Inflation crept back up to 2.9% this month - here's why, and what it means for your money
🎟️ Booking a train, driving lesson or holiday? The CMA is investigating whether you're seeing the real price
🏠 Asking prices for homes just saw their biggest August drop since 2018 - here's what it means whether you're buying or selling
🗣️ This week we asked a coach: My fixed mortgage rate ends in a few months and I keep hearing rates are going up again - should I lock in a new deal now, or wait?
UK inflation has risen to 2.9%, a four-month high, after dropping slightly back in June. The main driver this time is higher energy costs, with the Chancellor highlighting the ongoing conflict in the Middle East having an impact on this.
It's a reminder that the cost of living situation isn't a problem that's simply "over" once it eases for a month or two - it can tick back up when global events, like energy prices tied to the conflict, shift again, and even if inflation slows, we have still experienced a 30% rise in the past 5-6 years. If your budget is based on an assumption that inflation would keep falling steadily, it's worth revisiting those numbers, particularly around energy costs specifically.
For savers, this also affects what your money is really earning. A savings account paying 4% interest is only growing your money by about 1.1% in real terms once 2.9% inflation is accounted for - this means it’s worth checking your rate is still one of the better ones available rather than assuming it still is.
For anyone with a mortgage, or about to take one out, inflation also feeds directly into the Bank of England's thinking on interest rates - a rise like this makes rate cuts less likely in the near term. Worth bearing in mind if you were hoping rates might drift down before you next need to remortgage (more on that below).
Not sure what changing inflation and interest rates mean for you? A Bippit coach can help you explore what it could mean for your budget, savings and financial plans.
The Competition and Markets Authority has opened formal investigations into Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School over "drip pricing" - showing a low headline price, then adding mandatory extra fees later in the booking process. Trainline's booking fees range from 59p to £2.79 on train tickets (£1.50 on coach bookings), Virgin Atlantic's package holidays can carry mandatory resort fees and local taxes adding "hundreds of pounds," and RED Driving School applies £7+ mandatory booking or "digital" fees on lessons.
Two companies caught by the same crackdown, AA/BSM driving schools and StubHub UK, have already been fined, and in total there have been £1.95m in refunds and £6.2m in fines processed from these and other companies.
If you've booked a train, a package holiday or driving lessons recently and felt the final price didn't quite match what you first saw advertised, this investigation is about exactly that experience - it's a genuinely common frustration, not something you're imagining. The practical takeaway for now: when comparing prices for trains, holidays or lessons, try to get through to the final "total cost" screen before deciding something's the cheapest option - the headline price isn't always the whole story, and a slightly higher-looking price elsewhere can sometimes work out cheaper once fees are included.
Worth knowing:
These are investigations, not findings of wrongdoing - none of the three companies has been found to have broken the law at this stage. But if breaches are confirmed, the CMA can order refunds and fine companies up to 10% of global turnover, so it's worth keeping booking confirmations for anything you've bought recently with these firms, just in case.
The average asking price for newly-listed homes fell 2.0% this month, down £7,360 to £364,999, according to Rightmove - the largest drop in the month of August since 2018, and prices are now 1.0% lower than a year ago, the steepest annual fall since December 2023. The number of homes for sale is at a 12-year high, with London seeing the most choice since 2010 and prices there down 3.1% annually. At the same time, the average two-year fixed mortgage rate has risen to 5.09%, up from 4.95%, as uncertainty around the conflict in the Middle East continues to feed through to lenders' pricing.
If you're selling, there's simply more competition right now than there's been in over a decade. More homes on the market means buyers have more choice, and it's taking longer to find one - the average time to secure a buyer has risen to 63 days. Pricing realistically from the outset tends to matter more in a market like this than it does when stock is scarce.
If you're buying, that extra choice and softer asking prices can work in your favour on the property itself - but it's partly offset by mortgage rates ticking back up, from 4.95% to 5.09% on the average two-year fix in a short space of time. It's worth getting a rate held or reserved as soon as you've found somewhere, since rates have been moving over weeks rather than months lately, not the other way round.
If you're remortgaging, don't assume rates will have fallen since you last checked - the recent trend has actually gone the other way. It's worth comparing deals sooner rather than later, especially if your current fix ends in the next few months (see this week's coach question below for more on that).
Buying, selling or remortgaging? Talk through what the changing property market could mean for your finances with your Bippit coach.
Based on what we're seeing right now, there's no strong signal that waiting will get you a better deal. The average two-year fix has just risen from 4.95% to 5.09%, and with inflation ticking back up to 2.9%, a Bank of England rate cut in the near term looks less likely than it did a few months ago - both point in the same direction, at least for now.
Most lenders let you reserve a new rate three to six months before your current deal ends, and many will let you switch to a cheaper rate at no cost if one becomes available before you complete - so locking something in early doesn't usually mean you're stuck if rates happen to fall. What it does do is protect you if they carry on rising, which is the more likely direction based on current conditions.
My guidance: it may not make sense to wait for a rate cut that isn't guaranteed to come in your timeframe. Instead, getting a rate reserved as soon as your lender allows it, and revisit it closer to completion if the market's moved is a better approach. And if you'd like a second opinion on your specific numbers and timing, that's exactly what we're here for.
Inflation's crept back up - should I be doing anything differently with my savings or budget right now?
I've recently booked something with one of the companies under CMA investigation - is there anything I should do now, or just wait and see?
House prices are falling in my area - is now actually a good time to buy, or should I wait to see if prices drop further?
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