Monday newspaper round-up: Interest rates, house prices, Hargreaves Lansdown

(Sharecast News) - The recent rise in interest rates has been blamed for ending Britain's wealth boom and causing total household wealth to plunge by a quarter since the Covid-19 pandemic. A report by the Resolution Foundation, a thinktank, and Abrdn, the asset manager, said the fall was due to a drop in house prices and pension pots, which account for about £4 out of every £5 of total wealth, and played a leading role in rising wealth across the country over the 40 years leading up to the pandemic. - Guardian House prices have fallen in every local property market in the south and east of England this year, as higher mortgage rates have weakened demand for new homes, figures have shown. About 80% of markets in the UK registered house price falls over 2023 compared with last year, the property portal Zoopla found. - Guardian

The approval of 27 new drilling licenses in the North Sea has been hailed as a victory by Energy Minister Claire Coutinho, who said it will reduce Britain's reliance on expensive imports. A new set of offshore oil and gas fields has been announced by the Government, marking a clear division between the Conservatives and Labour ahead of the next election. - Telegraph

Jeremy Hunt is walking a financial tightrope. The Chancellor is under pressure to offer a boost to voters before next year's general election, whether in the form of tax cuts or extra spending. However, estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) suggest that just £6bn of headroom will be available for next month's Autumn statement - the smallest margin since the watchdog was set up in 2010 and minuscule compared to Britain's £2.6 trillion debt pile. - Telegraph

Hargreaves Lansdown has fired a warning shot at its billionaire co-founder after the tycoon publicly attacked bosses at the company. Disclosures in the FTSE 100 wealth manager's latest annual report show that the business had "shared protocols" with Peter Hargreaves, 77, its biggest shareholder, and his board representative to "ensure a common understanding of how interactions will take place". - The Times