Money blog: 'Game changing' 100% mortgage launched; Asda axes discount for NHS staff (2025)

BySarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

In a clear sign that markets have calmed, gold has lost its shine.

The metal reached new record highs multiple times in recent months as investors sold off stocks and bought assets considered "safe havens" amid the global trade war.

But as the US signals that it's in deal-making mode and tariff fears ease, gold is on course for the steepest weekly decline in six months.

In the last week, the price of an ounce of gold has fallen from around $3,340 to now costing $3,205.

UK stock recovery

People putting their money back into stocks is visible on the UK's benchmark index, as the FTSE 100 index of most valuable companies is back at the levels before President Trump's "liberation day" announcement.

The same goes for the FTSE 250, the larger index comprises more of UK companies, which has bounced back.

Taxpayer stake in NatWest shrinks again

The government, on the other hand, has sold stock and brought its holding of NatWest down to less than 1% of the bank.

Taxpayers held a stake of more than 84% in what was at the time Royal Bank of Scotland Group after the global financial crash of 2008-09.

Just Eat has launched a deal which means you can get £8 off your takeaway this month.

Customers will be able to redeem the discount on orders over £25.

To redeem it, you have to enter the code MAY8 when you pay for your order.

The code can be redeemed once per person - but it is only valid at selected restaurants, including Pizza Express and Five Guys.

The deal is running until 31 May but could end earlier if it is used by 500,000 customers.

You can see the full list of places taking part in the offer here.

A lender has launched a 100% mortgage, giving people the chance to buy a house without a deposit.

Long-term lender April Mortgages is offering the deal to those earning at least £24,000 a year and looking to buy or remortgage a house that's valued at more than £75,000.

Borrowers will need to fix their interest rate, which starts at 5.99% and automatically drops as more of the mortgage is paid off, for 10 or 15 years.

There are no early repayment charges, and you can overpay as much as you like.

These types of products were popular before the 2008 financial crisis, with some lenders even offering 125% mortgages.

As lending rules tightened after the crash, they largely disappeared.

'Seismic event' for mortgage market

While there are some other no-deposit mortgage deals currently on the market, most of them require some form of collateral security. This option avoids the need for any additional help.

For example, YBS/Accord mortgages offers a £5k deposit mortgage up to as much as 99%, and Skipton's Track Record 100% mortgage is just hitting its two-year anniversary.

Brokers have praised the product launch as "innovative" and a mortgage market "game changer".

"This has the feel of a seismic event within the mortgage market, the first no-strings 100% mortgage deal for several years," Justin Moy, managing director at EHF Mortgages, told Newspage in comments supplied to the Money blog.

"The reaction from other high street lenders will be interesting. Some will have plans for a similar product, so the reaction to this from April may twist the arm of others to try their luck, too. A great move, but it's not the right solution for everyone."

It's important to remember that this type of deal isn't for everyone, and there is the risk of running into negative equity, so seek financial advice before opting for any mortgage.

Money blog regular David Hollingworth, a director at L&C Mortgages, said: "Borrowers should think about the higher potential for negative equity if property prices were to fall.

"Negative equity becomes a problem for those that need to sell, crystallising any loss.

"[But] the stability of a fixed rate will provide shelter from fluctuating interest rates, which could help them ride out a dip in prices."

You can read more about what changes other lenders have been making in this week's Mortgage Guide, which you'll find below.

Asda is axing a discount scheme designed for NHS staff, teachers, the armed forces and emergency workers.

People who hold a Blue Light Cardare able to get 5% off fresh food, fruit juice, dairy products and bakery goods at the supermarket, but the scheme will be scrapped on 27 May.

The retailer introduced the discount during the COVID pandemic and is the only supermarket to offer it.

"We launched our partnership with Blue Light Card during the pandemic to provide additional support for emergency workers and would like to thank them for the opportunity to work with them during the last five years," an Asda spokesperson said.

"Our focus now is on providing all our customers with outstanding value every time they visit our stores or shop with us online."

Asda launched its new Rollback pricing programme in January and has reduced the cost of a third of its products since then.

Half of British adults are secretly saving for the end of their relationship, research suggests.

Many have opted to create an "independence fund" in preparation for the worst-case scenario, stashing away an average of £4,739, the survey by Novuna Personal Finance found.

Of those surveyed, 31% said they were hiding entire savings accounts from their partners, while 43% admitted they had lied about their finances.

Of Gen Z adults, 79% said they had savings set aside specifically in case of a break-up. But 34% said they had fully merged finances with their partner - a higher rate than among over-55s (24%).

Despite this, 89% of all respondents said they felt "financially compatible" with their partner, with the average couple talking about money seven times a month.

Every Friday, we take an overview of the mortgage market before rounding up the best rates with independent experts fromMoneyfacts...

Lenders are facing pressure from the government to help boost growth, and this week some have reduced their stress tests to help people get on the property ladder.

Stress tests are used to evaluate a borrower's ability to afford their mortgage payments if interest rates increase.

Nationwide became the first major lender to act, adjusting its mortgage affordability calculation by reducing its stress rates by up to 1.25 percentage points.

The change, which doesn't only benefit first-time buyers but home movers and those remortgaging as well, allows applicants to borrow an average of £28,000 more.

"Taking a more measured approach should give more flexibility to the right customers but still providing balance against over exposing borrowers in future," says David Hollingworth, associate director at L&C Mortgages.

"Customers with concerns that they wouldn't meet a new lender's criteria, due to the higher rate environment, could find that affordability is now more generous than they thought. That should open up more choice from the open market, rather than necessarily having to stick with an existing lender."

Hodge Bank also reduced affordability stress rate across a variety of products, saying the changes would give the average customer almost 20% more borrowing power.

Joint applicants with a household income of £45,000, for example, can now borrow an extra £38,000.

Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts, says the relaxation is welcome but warns stress tests need to be "deployed with care" and not at the "detriment of borrowers down the line".

"Consumers concerned about their mortgage or struggling to find an affordable home would be wise to seek advice from a broker to assess the latest deals," she says.

Lenders making rate cuts

Prominent lenders have also cut rates across their fixed products this week.

Santander made reductions of up to 0.18%, Barclays of up to 0.19% and Newcastle Building Society of as much as 0.32%.

Week on week, the average two-year and five-year fixed rates fell to 5.12% and 5.08% respectively, according to Moneyfacts.

Economists are still expecting at least two more interest rate cuts by the Bank of England this year, which could bring mortgage rates down.

Springall says first-time buyers need "support and innovation" from lenders to keep the mortgage market moving.

Products to consider

Here are the lowest first-time buyer deals on the market...

Moneyfacts also picks out "best buys" that look beyond rates to take into account fees and incentives, which could come in handy if you have exhausted your savings for a deposit...

BySarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter

There's been a lot of talk about GDP today.

We've told you what it means, how much it's grown (more than expected at 0.7%), when, and why.

If you've been wondering what it means for you, this is the post you've been waiting for.

Firstly, the GDP news impacts you in the way any other good news about the economy does: consumers and businesses feeling good about the economy drives good consumer sentiment, which can lead to increased spending and more hiring.

Aside from this, economic growth means there are more jobs out there. Even if you're not looking for new work, you could benefit as competition for workers can raise wages.

Secondly, there's the whole political dimension. The government has pinned improving public services on the money that comes from growth.

When the economy is performing better, people are spending more and tax receipts can be up. More tax means the government has more money for investing in services.

The other element is Chancellor Rachel Reeves's commitment to her self-imposed fiscal rules on borrowing and spending.

The wiggle room she'd left herself to avoid breaking those fiscal rules has come close to being eroded at points since she took office, as borrowing costs rose.

Taxes would have been increased or spending would have been cut by government had the rules been broken.

Higher tax takes through higher GDP can help avoid that and limit the chance of spending cuts and tax rises.

If you wear a uniform to work, you might not know about the free uniform tax refund you could be able to claim.

To be eligible:

• You must wear a recognisable uniform that shows you've got a certain job, like a branded T-shirt, nurse or police uniform;
• Your employer requires you to wear it while you're working;
• You have to purchase, clean, repair and replace it yourself;
• You paid income tax in the year you are claiming for.

If all the above applies to you, then you're probably wondering how much you're able to get.

The standard flat rate expense allowance for uniform maintenance is £60.

By claiming a uniform tax refund, you'll get back the amount of tax you would have paid on that £60 - so if you're a basic-rate taxpayer, that'll be £12. For higher-rate taxpayers, that's £24.

But on top of this year's allowance, you can also backdate your claim by up to four tax years.

It's worth noting there are more specific limits for some occupations, which often involves specialist uniforms.

Here's some examples of annual allowances to be aware of:

• Firefighters and fire officers' allowance is £80;
• Dental nurses and healthcare assistants' allowance is £125;
• Pilot and co-pilots' allowance is £1,022;
• Mechanics' allowance is £120.

After applying, HMRC say your tax code will change for the tax year, meaning you'll be taxed less in the future and see a slight increase in your take-home pay.

If your claim is for the previous tax year, HMRC will either make changes through your tax code or give you a tax refund.

Dior has become the latest retailer to be targeted by a cyber attack, with hackers accessing some of its customer data.

The luxury fashion brand told Money that it has immediately taken steps to contain the security breach and is working with experts to investigate the issue.

It reassured customers that no financial information, including bank details or credit card details, was accessed or stored on the breached database.

"The House of Dior recently discovered that an unauthorised external party accessed some of the customer data wehold," a spokesperson said.

"We are in the process of informing customers where necessary.The confidentiality and security of our customerdata is an absolute priority for the House of Dior.

"We deeply regret any concern or inconvenience this matter maycause our customers."

Last month, Marks & Spencer was hit by a cyber attack, with customers' personal data stolen and stores suffering for weeks afterwards.

The Co-op was also targeted. It was forced to apologise after hackers managed to access the data of a "significant number" of past and current members.

A new online mortgage lender tool could have "dangerous" consequences, brokers have warned.

Rightmove and Nationwide have teamed up to launch the "property lender check", which gives potential buyers real-time information about their chances of getting a mortgage approved for a property before they view it or put in an offer.

We first told you about it yesterday - you can read that post here.

But brokers have raised concerns that the tool only uses the lending criteria used by Nationwide. In comments supplied to the Money blog by Newspage,Craig Fish, director at Lodestone Mortgages & Protection, said it could lead to buyers being "wrongly put off perfectly good homes".

"Let's be clear: this is based solely on their criteria, and they decline more properties than most lenders," he said. "This feature could end up devaluing properties, reducing interest in homes that other lenders would be happy to finance.

"It may create false red flags that damage confidence rather than boost it. The risk is that sellers suffer, buyers get confused, and solid homes are unfairly sidelined."

Fish called it "potentially a dangerous" move.

His thoughts were echoed byStephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages, who questioned if it could lead to legal challenges being raised.

"So just because Nationwide may not like it, many lenders may find the property acceptable. Could vendors legally challengeRightmoveif this was detrimental to marketing their property unfairly?"