Follow the real estate jun, let's take a look at what is worth paying attention to today in the UK:
- The UK today saw the largest rail strike in nearly 30 years, as did the London Underground. Under the double influence, a large number of railways in the United Kingdom were interrupted, the subway was closed, and the stations were empty... In the future, the UK will also usher in a number of strike movements, involving transport, healthcare, education, law and local government departments in a number of industries...
- With the personnel shortage, easyJet plans to cut nearly 10,000 flights, and the travel plans of 1.5 million customers are expected to be affected...
- The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued another circuit breaker order to implement circuit breaker measures for 11 flights including Flight CZ326 (Sydney to Guangzhou) of China Southern Airlines...
- There are recent signs of a rebound in the UK's COVID-19 pandemic, with 1 in 50 people infected in England, which experts say could exacerbate the pressure on staff shortages in various industries in the UK...
- The Bank of England plans to cancel the mortgage affordability test, making it less difficult to apply for loans, and experts say that this change will increase demand and push up house prices...
- The study found that homeowners are getting more and more from rising house prices per hour compared to what they get from their jobs, and last year homeowners in many parts of the UK were able to profit from house price increases of £10 per hour...
【British traffic strike is coming】
This week, the UK saw the largest rail strike in nearly 30 years, with 50,000 union workers participating!
On the evening of Monday, 20 June, employees of British rail network company NetworkRail and 13 rail operators started a strike movement, which disrupted most rail services in England, Wales and Scotland.
The strike was on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but services are expected to be affected at other times of the week due to a significant reduction in staff.
NetworkRail said the number of train services is expected to be around 4,500 during the strike, compared to 20,000 under normal circumstances, meaning only one in five trains is operating normally.
In addition, the time to run the train will be greatly reduced to 11 hours, and the end time will be much earlier than usual.
Almost all stations in Scotland and Wales will be cut off completely, while stations such as Penzance in Cornwall, Bournemouth in Dorset, Chester in Cheshire and Blackpool in Lancashire will also cease service.
Passenger trains heading north from Glasgow or Edinburgh will also stop.
At present, NetworkRail has announced a special schedule for the period from June 20 to 26, which can be found on the official website:
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/298131.aspx
In the capital, London, in addition to being affected by the railway strike, there will be a general subway strike this week, which will last from Tuesday to Wednesday, the fourth 24-hour strike this year.
Most of London's underground services were disrupted on Tuesday as a result of the strike, with only the Northern Line currently running, between EastFinchley and HighBarnet/Mill Hill East and between GoldorsGreen and Edgware.
At the same time, the London Intercity Railway Overground and the Elizabeth Line Elizabeth Line in London were also affected. The Elizabeth Line currently has only AbbeyWood and Paddington sections.
Transport for London (TfL) said tram services would also be affected throughout the day.
The media said that under the dual influence of the "railway strike + subway strike", London transport will be almost paralyzed this week.
Some media also said that due to the large-scale strike, many railway stations and subway stations are empty today, as if they have re-entered a "blockade" state.
Some stations even have scenes where there are more pigeons than people
After the disruption of rail and subway services, people had to choose other modes of travel, which also made buses overcrowded.
The main highways have also become much busier than ever
It is reported that the railway strike is caused by the dissatisfaction of railway workers with salaries and other reasons, and some hotel industry leaders believe that the strike will cause the tourism, leisure and theatre industries to lose about 1 billion pounds of revenue.
In response, Prime Minister Boris called on the two sides to reach a "wise compromise" on the issue of pay as soon as possible to stop the impact of the strike on people's lives.
It is worth noting that in addition to the traffic strike, the UK is expected to have a number of strike movements in the future, involving multiple industries in transport, healthcare, education, law and local government.
The TSSA, an association of transport wage earners, is also organizing thousands of employees at NetworkRail and several train companies to vote, with a strike likely to be held as early as July.
In the coming weeks, the train drivers' union Aslef will hold a tram strike in GreaterAnglia and Croydon.
The Unite union is also organising a vote for around 500 British Airways check-in staff at Heathrow, with strikes likely to take place in July.
In addition, the UK's teachers' union NAS/UWT, the Unison union representing NHS staff, the Criminal Bar Association CBA, the GMB, Unite and other unions representing local government staff are all voting on potential strikes.
【EasyJet cancels a large number of flights】
According to media reports, easyJet plans to cut nearly 10,000 flights due to staff shortages, and the travel plans of 1.5 million customers are expected to be affected.
Since the UK lifted COVID-19 restrictions, the low-cost carrier has cut its services around 10,000 times.
According to the media, easyJet originally planned to operate about 160,000 flights this quarter, equivalent to 97% of the capacity in 2019. But on Monday, the airline announced it would reduce that number to 90 percent of its 2019 flight level.
While easyJet has yet to say exactly how many flights will be affected, sources say the airline's insiders are planning to cut up to 10,000 flights, which could include flights to popular tourist destinations such as Greece and Spain.
In fact, the British aviation industry has been plagued by staff shortages for some time now...
Since last weekend, the capital London Heathrow Airport has been in a huge mess due to "technical problems" that disrupted the baggage system. One in ten flights was forced to be cancelled on Monday.
Many passengers landing in the UK find that they have to wait three hours to collect their luggage. Some luggage also failed to board outbound flights departing from Heathrow Airport.
With unattended and sorted, luggage at the airport is piled up, and the problem is expected to continue into the week.
Separately, London Gatwick airport also announced that it will reduce the number of daily flights this summer, which means that Gatwick airport will need to cancel up to 4,000 flights, which is expected to affect the summer vacation plan of about 800,000 people.
【Civil Aviation Administration of China re-issued a circuit breaker order】
On June 17 and 19, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued another circuit breaker directive to implement circuit breaker measures for 11 flights including Flight CZ326 (Sydney to Guangzhou) of China Southern Airlines, and the specific affected flights are as follows:
【UK COVID-19 rebound】
With the RECENT REBOUND IN THE UK, experts have warned that the rising number of cases could exacerbate the pressure on staff shortages across industries in the UK.
The latest surveillance data from the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that there have been different degrees of surge in cases across the UK.
In the week ending 11 June, cases in England increased by 40%, the largest weekly increase since 31 December last year. Cases increased by 60% in Wales, 54.9% in Northern Ireland and 42.5% in Scotland.
Currently, 1.1 million people in England are infected with COVID-19, equivalent to 2% of the total population, which means that 1 in 50 people in England is infected.
Scotland has the highest infection rate, with 1 in 30 infections, followed by Northern Ireland and Wales (both 1 in 45).
In addition, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has also increased, with about 842 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in England on 15 June, compared to 644 a week earlier, and the number of hospitalizations soared by 26.8% in one week.
Experts say the surge in cases is largely driven by increased foot traffic during holidays such as queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, as well as the emergence of the more contagious Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5.
Data from the Sanger Institute, one of the UK's largest COVID-19 surveillance centres, shows that the prevalence of the Omicron sub-variant doubles almost every week.
Ba.4 and BA.5 together accounted for 41.7 percent of infections in the week ended June 4, up from 21.2 percent for the week ended May 28 and 11 percent for the week ended May 21.
By contrast, when the number of infections hit an all-time high in March, almost all cases were caused by BA.2, and the strain now accounts for only 57% of the total number of cases.
In response, Professor Gary McLean, an immunologist at City University London, said that if cases continue to surge, it can be expected that "absenteeism in many sectors will increase" in the UK.
【UK Proposed Unsecured Loan Affordability Test】
After the Bank of England raised interest rates to 1.25%, some institutions also raised mortgage rates, which increased the repayment burden on some buyers.
However, there has also been good news in the mortgage market recently, and it is reported that the Bank of England is advancing its plan to cancel the mortgage affordability test.
In the wake of the financial crisis, the UK set strict rules on borrowers' affordability.
Currently, any buyer who wants to apply for a mortgage must prove to the lender that they are still able to repay the loan if the interest rate rises.
As a result, they must prove their ability to pay the so-called ReversionRate, which is typically 3 percent higher than the mortgage lender's standard variable rate.
But now, banks are repealing the rules, arguing that the future "should be judged in a simpler, more predictable and proportionate way and provide an appropriate level of flexibility for the UK financial system".
Still, Lewis Shaw, an expert at ShawFinancial Services, said the change would "increase demand and push up home prices."
"We've already had huge supply-side problems, so if we then stimulate demand further by making it easier to borrow more money, that will only push up prices in this way and further exacerbate the problem," he said. ”
【Homeowners benefit from room rate appreciation】
A recent analysis by HouseBuy Fast found that homeowners are getting more and more from rising home prices per hour compared to what they earn from their jobs.
The data shows that homeowners in many parts of the UK were able to profit from rising house prices by £10 per hour last year due to the super-high growth of the property market.
For people living in properties worth £289,099 (comparable to the current average house price in the UK), their property values have increased by at least £19,842 over the past 12 months.
That translates to £9.88 per hour, compared to £79 per day and almost £400 per week.
Meanwhile, for those living in properties worth £425,000, the value of their homes rose by almost £30,000 last year. That equates to £560 a week, higher than the current UK average weekly wage.
And for those who own properties worth between £850,000 and £1 million, their home prices have risen more than twice the national average weekly wage over the past 12 months.
In response, Jonathan Rolande, founder of HouseBuy Fast, said:
"The surge in house prices over the past few years is truly shocking. In many cases, homeowners now earn far more than they earn from working for an hour from property appreciation.
But such an increase is mixed, on the one hand, it proves once again that people who own their own homes will be in a good position. But on the other hand, people who haven't yet bought a home will find it increasingly difficult to buy one. ”
That's what we have today's daily newspaper, stay tuned for property and we'll keep up to date with the latest and most informative UK coverage.