RICS report house prices in London rise in May

The RICS UK Housing Market Survey found that 57% of London Chartered Surveyors reported that they had noticed a rise in London house prices in May. This was up from 55% in April.

Fiscal Watchdog downgrades UK economic growth to 2.6%

The new independent fiscal watchdog has downgraded UK economic growth from the 3 to 3.5% estimate given in Labour’s budget by Chancellor Darling, to 2.6% in 2011.

Base rate remains at 0.5%

The Bank of England’s Monetary Committee has announced the base rate will remain at 0.5% for the fifteenth consecutive month. This was in line with market expectations. Economists are waiting for George Osbourne’s emergency budget announcement before predicting when the base rate will rise again.