Fuel and travel costs are pushing prices up again
Thursday 5 November 2026
Inflation has risen to 3.1%, meaning everyday spending is getting more expensive just as household budgets are already under pressure.
Housing completions
Homes recorded as finished and ready for use during a given period.
What it means
A new-build completion is a newly built home counted once it is ready for occupation; that does not mean someone has moved in. When a report says “housing completions”, check what it counts. A wider measure of net new homes also includes homes created by converting buildings or changing their use, and subtracts homes lost to demolition. New-build completions and the net increase in homes therefore answer different questions.
Example
Suppose 100 new homes are built, 10 more are created by converting buildings and 5 are demolished. The made-up area has 100 new-build completions but a net increase of 105 homes, assuming no other changes.
Why it matters
A headline about homes built can sound like a headline about the total increase in housing, even when the two figures differ.
Related terms
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House price to earnings ratio
A house price divided by a year's earnings, showing how many times annual pay the price represents.
Read more -
Housing affordability
Whether people can manage the cost of buying or renting a home.
Read more -
Social rent
Rent for certain social homes set under special rules, rather than at the going local market rate.
Read more
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Mortgage relief will have to wait a little longer
Wednesday 4 November 2026
Interest rates are staying at 3.75%, so households with mortgages and other borrowing may have to wait longer for costs to come down.
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Wednesday 4 November 2026
A higher energy price cap means many households will be paying more to heat and power their homes during the colder months.
Guides and insights
Analysis
Clear, accessible analysis of the economic issues shaping everyday life
Living standards
What does a day’s work buy?
Comparing the cost of everyday life across generations, from bread and beer to buying a home.
Food & prices
The journey behind your grocery bill
How farming, energy, transport and supermarket competition shape the price on the shelf.
Prices & inflation
Inflation is falling. What happens next?
What slower price rises mean for wages, purchasing power and economic recovery.
Shared prosperity
What would shared prosperity look like?
Beyond GDP: how we could measure economic success through security, opportunity and living standards.
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