博鱼体育集团

The cavalry grows

A new coronavirus vaccine developed by the American pharmaceutical company Novavax has been shown to be in large-scale UK trials. The jab is also 85.6% effective against the new variant and the government has 60 million doses on order.

Israel provides an interesting case study as to what the future might look like as its vaccination campaign leads the world - we've been tracking inward investment in these notes. The government has inoculated 30% of the population, including 82% of those over-60 and yet to get case loads under control.

That suggests reopening is likely to be a drawn out process, even as rates of inoculations climb. New research published in this morning's Times, for example, indicates hospital pressure enough to allow the reopening pubs and restaurants until May if this year follows the same trajectory as last spring.

Consumers to lead the recovery

We covered the improving outlook for the global economy on Wednesday after the IMF revised upwards its forecast for growth. Flora Harley has more this morning.

New for the UK economy indicate GDP is likely to fall by 3% to 4% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of 2021, a much smaller shock than last year, partly due to lessons learned from previous lockdowns. The company expects a 5% rebound for the full year and 6.5% growth in 2021.

A pick up in the second quarter is likely to be led by consumers, given the extremely high savings ratios. ONS data currently has consumer spending about 35% pre-crisis levels.

The land market supply crunch

The UK's residential land market is suffering from a lack of good quality sites available for purchase as a number of sellers opt to hold off bringing forward new opportunities in light of current restrictions, particularly with regards to overseas travel, writes Anna Ward.

The supply pinch is being exacerbated by planning delays - official figures show that 55 local planning authorities delivered less than 75% of their housing requirement in the three years to March 2020, with most located in the South East, East of England, and London. Some councils are also delaying work on their local plans due to the government's white paper proposals for radical changes to the system.

With their sales outlets still open, housebuilders will now be looking to finish as many units as possible during the stamp duty holiday and while former owner occupiers can still benefit from the Help to Buy scheme. Chris Druce has more on the land market in a new agents' diary.

Brexit for second home owners

The UK's decision to leave the European Union means Britons owning second homes in Europe will have to limit their stays to 90 out of every 180-day period.

For the majority of owners this isn鈥檛 a gamechanger, most spend around one to two months at their property each year, and although remote working is on the rise, many will also be keen to maximise rental income once the pandemic is under control and travel resumes.

For those that do want to spend longer than 90 days in their holiday home, Kate Everett-Allen has this round up of your options, from residency by investment to long term visas and work permits.

Understanding Hong Kong's new visa route

About 300,000 people are expected to for Britain using a new visa route which opens on Sunday, the government said yesterday. The visa was announced in July after China imposed a new security law in Hong Kong.

There are 2.9 million citizens eligible to move to the UK, with a further estimated 2.3 million dependants. On Monday, we'll convene a panel of experts to explain how this is likely to impact investors and families. .

In other news...

Later life finance expert David Forsdyke on the new approaches to inheritance being adopted by the wealthy.

Plus, Rishi Sunak has an if he wants to help people move home and boost the economy, first real-world data on vaccination effectiveness shows results, Wall Street鈥檚 new mantra: , Dubai for festive parties as coronavirus cases surge, Melbourne鈥檚 homebuyers head to the , and finally the worst in US GDP since the Second World War