House prices 'to be 1.7% lower by end-2011' - papers

Britain's housing market is set to grind to a halt this year as worried consumers think twice before moving house and banks continue to be wary about lending, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

The CEBR economists said that after year-on-year growth of 6.4% in 2010, the housing market recovery would stall in 2011, leaving house prices 1.7% lower by the end of the year.

The decline could be good news for first-time buyers if they can come up with the large deposits now required by most lenders.

The thinktank believes affordability for first-time buyers will reach an eight-year high this year thanks to low mortgage rates and weakening house price growth. MORE...

Taxpayers 'subsidising banks by £30bn a year'

British taxpayers are subsidising the banks by more than £30bn a year on top of the vast state bail-out package extended during the financial crisis to prevent their collapse, according to a new report.

The New Economics Foundation (NEF) has calculated the value of the implicit Government guarantee, the fees charged on the emergency measures taken to stabilise the economy, and the excess profits taken on loans since competition in the market collapsed.

It says the figure is "at least" £32.5bn using "conservative" estimates.

Publication of the report comes the day before Barclays kicks off the banking reporting season on Tuesday, when the high street lender will inflame public anger by unveiling around £2bn in investment banker bonuses. MORE...

Fury as anti-Semitic banker to speak at LSE

A German banker who has said "all Jews share a certain gene" and described Muslims as "dunces" will speak tonight at the London School of Economics amid a row over free speech.

Anti-facist campaigners vowed to demonstrate outside the LSE during Thilo Sarrazin's appearance in a debte on multiculturalism.

The former executive member of the Bundesbank caused outrage in Germany last year with his comments, in which he also attacked Basques. MORE...