Author: Perry

The British Property Federation has called on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to remove council tax on newly developed build-to-rent homes. As it stands homes are liable for council tax three months after completion, despite the letting of larger developments typically taking at least 12 months. The organisation also called for the reinstatement of Multiple Dwellings Relief (MDR), which was removed by the previous government in 2024 and disincentivises high density housing. Melanie Leech, chief executive, British Property Federation said: “Despite welcome moves to reform the planning system, investor sentiment remains fragile, as evidenced by the collapse in construction activity across the…

21 October 2025 Six in 10 UK small businesses were hit by at least one cyber attack in the last year, leaving them at risk of “immediate and significant harm”, according to a new study by Wakefield Research for Hiscox insurance.   As ransomware attacks on major British companies like Marks & Spencer and the Co-op make headlines, the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2025 is a reminder that it isn’t just big businesses who face a growing threat. Small businesses (those with fewer than 50 employees) also frequently find themselves targeted – many of them multiple times.  A successful attack can…

The new lawsuit accusing Salesforce of using stolen works to train its xGen large language models is another example of legal action aimed at holding tech vendors responsible for how they train their AI models.Novelists Molly Tanzer and Jennifer Gilmore filed a class action complaint on Oct. 15 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, accusing Salesforce of copyright infringement when the CRM and CX giant allegedly used thousands of books to train its xGen series of LLMs.The authors say in the suit that Salesforce “unlawfully downloaded, stored, copied and used the datasets to develop” the models.Fair Use and Pirated…

Investors are climbing a “wall of worry,” when it comes to all-important U.S. assets. That shouldn’t deter them, says Indosuez Wealth Management’s chief strategist. Source link

By Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank Falling gilt yields may give the government more breathing room but possibly not enough to prevent new property taxes in next month’s Budget The length of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s observation window – the period when it takes a snapshot of the economy to inform its forecasts – came under scrutiny last week. It may sound like a dull technical detail, but it could have real consequences as the Treasury decides which taxes to raise in the Budget. The trigger was the reaction on financial markets to last…

15 October 2025 Almost two-thirds of invoices sent by UK small businesses in the past year were paid late, new research by FreeAgent shows. The study analysed millions of invoices from FreeAgent’s 200,000-plus customers to uncover the scale of the late payments crisis faced by small businesses. It reveals “a serious and growing challenge” for small businesses, says FreeAgent CEO Roan Lavery, one that’s “not just inconvenient, it’s a fundamental threat to business survival and growth”. “It’s vital that we see action from both policymakers and the business community to create a culture of prompt payment and to support small…

Imagine playing a new, slightly altered version of the game GeoGuessr. You’re faced with a photo of an average U.S. house, maybe two floors with a front lawn in a cul-de-sac and an American flag flying proudly out front. But there’s nothing particularly distinctive about this home, nothing to tell you the state it’s in or where the owners are from.You have two tools at your disposal: your brain and 44,416 low-resolution, bird’s-eye-view photos of random places across the United States and their associated location data. Could you match the house to an aerial image and locate it correctly? I…

Bitcoin has faced another retrace in the past day that has brought its price to the short-term holder cost basis, a level that has acted as support thus far. Bitcoin Is Making Yet Another Retest Of The STH Realized Price As explained by CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn in a new post on X, Bitcoin could be at the fourth step of the short-term holder (STH) Realized Price cycle. The “Realized Price” here refers to an indicator that measures the average cost basis of the investors on the BTC network. When the value of this metric is greater than the spot…

Homebuyers in Wales should pay less Land Transaction Tax (stamp duty equivalent) when purchasing a home in serious disrepair – but many don’t take advantage of reliefs. Research from tax consultants SCA Tax shows that 11% of buyers overpaid, missing out on reliefs worth on an average refund of £12,909. It’s not just big developers; many ordinary buyers, landlords, and renovation-project owners are affected. A home is deemed in serious disrepair in Wales if it has no working kitchen, no bathroom and unsafe electronics. Sean Swimby, director and founder of SCA Tax, said: “People assume that if they’re buying a…

Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty ImagesFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET’s key takeawaysLocal job listings are returning to Facebook.You’ll find openings through a dedicated tab in Marketplace.Job seekers can filter and sort listings to narrow their search.If you’re looking for a job, you probably find yourself getting distracted with social media. Thanks to the return of an old feature, though, you might actually find your next job through Facebook.Starting Monday, local job listings are returning to Facebook, Meta said in a blog post.Also: I tested Meta Ray-Ban Display alternatives, and these are better in several ways for less…