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(Sharecast News) - First-time buyers are expected to drive the UK housing market in 2026, with further interest rate cuts likely to improve stretched affordability. The for-sale market should accelerate moderately, with prices rising by 2% to 4%, while rent rises are likely to slow from the rapid increases of recent years, according to lenders and estate agents. With mortgage rates falling, earnings growth running ahead of inflation, and house prices rising slowly, monthly mortgage costs for first-time buyers as a share of income are at their lowest level since 2022, according to Halifax. - Guardian
The future of upmarket fashion chain LK Bennett has been thrown into doubt after it filed an intention to appoint administrators for the second time in six years. The retailer, a favourite brand of the Princess of Wales, submitted the notice at the High Court on Tuesday, according to court records. Such a move suggests the company is likely to collapse into administration if the application is granted by the court. - Telegraph
Middle class Americans are being swamped by credit card debt as the US cost of living crisis spirals, a leading charity has warned. The share of people struggling with debt who have a four-year university degree or a masters has surged from 34pc in 2021 to 43pc this year, according to American Consumer Credit Counseling (ACCC), which offers debt advice. Kenneth Mohammed, from the ACCC, said credit card debt was becoming a problem not just for the poorest households but for wealthier, educated Americans too. - Telegraph
A Cornish clothing brand is pressing ahead with plans to open about ten new shops a year, defying a retail sector hit by weak consumer confidence and squeezed incomes. Seasalt, which sells raincoats, knitwear and jersey dresses, is in the final stages of securing three new stores across the UK for early next year, with further openings planned in the second half. - The Times
Pay for newly qualified lawyers at the City's elite law firms has doubled over the last decade to average salaries of about 140,000, a report has revealed. Leading English practices still trail their US rivals, however, with average pay for graduate lawyers at the London offices of American firms also having doubled to more than 160,000. - The Times
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