Britain is putting up tens of thousands of new homes each year in places that could soon be impossible to insure, according to the head of the country’s largest insurer, who says the risk of flooding is rising so fast that current housebuilding plans no longer make sense.

Amanda Blanc, chief executive of Aviva, said 110,000 homes have been built in flood-risk areas over the past decade in England, and if the pattern continues, another 115,000 will follow over the next ten years. Speaking to the BBC’s Big Boss Interview podcast, she said the trend was hard to justify given what is already known about where the water goes.

“That doesn’t seem to me to make sense. We need to think about where those homes are being built,” Blanc said. “It’s very well known where these flooding areas are. Let’s think very carefully about homes that are being built.”

The warning lands at a moment when climate change is visibly reshaping Britain’s weather. Blanc pointed to this year’s unusually dry summer as a fresh example of the danger: parched ground sheds rainfall rather than absorbing it, making sudden downpours far more likely to trigger surface water flooding than in the past. “You’ve seen a very dry summer, and what happens if you then get heavy rain on very dry surfaces is you get more surface water flooding,” she said.

The scale of the exposure is striking. The Environment Agency estimates that roughly 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are currently at risk of flooding, a figure it warns could climb to around 8 million — one in four properties — by the middle of the century as the climate crisis deepens. Aviva’s own research found that more than a quarter of new homes already carry some flood risk, and that one in seven will face medium to high risk by 2050. Nearly a third of homes built just last year are projected to be at some risk of flooding within 25 years.

The consequences of building on, matter for more than just the households whose living rooms end up underwater. Insurance, Blanc explained, works by pooling risk across people who face genuine uncertainty about whether disaster will strike. Once flooding becomes not a possibility but a near-certainty for a given property, that model breaks down. “When there is an inevitability, it makes it very difficult for it to be insured,” she said.

For homeowners, losing access to affordable cover is not a minor inconvenience. Properties that cannot be insured, or can only be insured at prohibitive cost, become far harder to mortgage or sell, potentially trapping owners in homes that lose much of their market value overnight. A Guardian investigation last year found that some towns could ultimately need to be abandoned altogether as climate breakdown renders large areas effectively uninsurable.

Blanc argued that better design could blunt some of the damage even where building continues near flood zones — measures like bricks fitted with self-closing air vents, stainless steel rather than wooden kitchen units, and electrical sockets placed higher up walls rather than near the floor. “You can do all sorts of different things to your property to make it more or less vulnerable to flood,” she said, while stressing that mitigation is no substitute for simply avoiding the riskiest sites in the first place.

Recent history underscores her point. The Met Office has calculated that, given current levels of global warming, a repeat of the extraordinarily wet 2023-24 winter — which brought severe flooding to towns such as Retford in Nottinghamshire during Storm Babet — has shifted from a once-in-80-years event to a once-in-20-years one.

The government insists it is alert to the risk. A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said “a record amount of investment” had gone into protecting nearly 900,000 properties from flooding damage, and that new planning proposals would prevent housebuilding in at-risk areas as ministers pursue a target of 1.5 million new homes. Critics, including Blanc, will be watching closely to see whether that promise holds as pressure to hit housing targets intensifies.

Blanc used the same interview to press the government on a separate, more immediate financial concern: the risk of destabilising savers through pre-Budget speculation. With Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ successor John Healey due to deliver his first Budget on 28 October, Blanc urged ministers to avoid “kite flying” over possible changes to pensions, warning that uncertainty alone can drive people into costly, irreversible decisions.

She said Aviva, a major private pension provider, had seen withdrawal rates spike to 30 times normal levels in the run-up to recent Budgets as savers rushed to lock in tax-free lump sums before rules might change. “Once you take your tax-free lump sum out, you can’t put it back in,” she said, adding that any move to weaken the state pension triple lock would inevitably increase pressure on private pensions to fill the gap.

Taken together, Blanc’s comments paint a picture of a country whose planning system and financial policymaking are struggling to keep pace with a changing climate and jittery markets alike. On flooding, her message was blunt: continuing to build where the water is heading isn’t just risky for future homeowners — it is, in her words, “dangerous.”

Britain’s housing market is buckling under the weight of a distant war. Mortgage approvals fell to their lowest level in nearly three years in August, as the fallout from the conflict in Iran continues to ripple through household finances, pushing up borrowing costs and denting confidence among would-be buyers.

According to Bank of England figures released Tuesday, just 54,918 mortgages for new home purchases were approved in August — the weakest monthly total since December 2023 and a fresh signal that the housing market’s recovery has stalled. The seasonally adjusted data underscores how a geopolitical crisis thousands of miles away has translated into very real financial strain for people trying to buy a home in the UK.

The chain of cause and effect is straightforward, if unwelcome: since fighting broke out in Iran in late February, oil prices have surged, reigniting inflation fears and dashing hopes that the Bank of England would continue cutting interest rates. Lenders have responded by raising mortgage rates sharply, making home loans markedly more expensive at precisely the moment many households were hoping for relief.

Simon Gammon, managing partner at Knight Frank Finance, said the slowdown built steadily over the summer. “Buying activity weakened through the summer as rising energy prices pushed up borrowing costs,” he said, noting that lending to homebuyers fell 15% in August compared with the same month last year — a striking year-on-year decline that points to a market losing momentum rather than simply cooling seasonally.

Remortgaging activity, too, is losing steam. Approvals for switching or renewing existing home loans dipped to roughly 34,000 in August, down slightly from 34,600 in July. That is a curious wrinkle: normally, a wave of borrowers coming off cheaper fixed-rate deals would be expected to shop around and refinance in large numbers. Instead, many appear to be holding back, perhaps hoping rates will ease before they commit, or resigned to accepting whatever their current lender offers rather than facing the market head-on.

The numbers behind the squeeze are stark. The Bank of England found that the “effective” interest rate on newly drawn mortgages rose to 4.60% in August, up from 4.45% in July — a jump in just one month that would have been unthinkable a year ago when rate cuts still seemed plausible. Separately, Moneyfacts, the financial data firm, reported that the average five-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 5.94%, its highest level since October 2023. Two-year fixed deals are similarly expensive, averaging 5.93%, the priciest since July 2024.

For everyday borrowers, those percentage-point shifts translate into hundreds of pounds a month in additional repayments — often the difference between a purchase going ahead and a buyer walking away from a deal altogether.

Katie Clinton, head of financial services advisory at KPMG UK, said the figures show affordability pressures are now the dominant force shaping the housing market. “A further fall in mortgage approvals in August points to affordability pressures continuing to weigh on housing demand, as the shocks from the Iran conflict push up both inflation and mortgage rates,” she said. She added that the drop in remortgaging suggests “refinancing demand softened, despite many borrowers reaching the end of existing fixed term rates” — a sign that households may be delaying decisions in the hope conditions improve, even as their existing cheap deals expire.

The government has tried to counter the gloom with its newly announced “Your First Home” scheme, aimed at helping first-time buyers onto the property ladder. But economists are sceptical that a targeted support scheme can offset the broader drag from higher borrowing costs. Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, warned that the prospect of mortgage rates staying above 4.5% for most of 2027 would weigh far more heavily on the market than any government initiative. “Mortgage rates staying above 4.5% for most of 2027 would have a larger influence on activity than the government’s new scheme,” he said, in effect arguing that macroeconomic headwinds will overpower policy tailwinds.

The broader picture is one of a housing market caught between geopolitics and monetary policy, with ordinary buyers absorbing the consequences of decisions made in oil markets and central bank meeting rooms far removed from their own kitchen tables. Estate agents across England and Wales have already reported a discernible cooling in activity tied to the war, and earlier this year the Bank of England itself warned that the conflict could push up mortgage payments for an additional 1.3 million households as fixed-rate deals expire and borrowers are forced onto costlier new terms.

With inflation expectations still elevated and interest rate cuts looking increasingly unlikely in the near term, few analysts expect a quick turnaround. For now, the message from the data is unambiguous: as long as the war in Iran continues to unsettle energy markets, Britain’s mortgage market — and the millions of households who depend on it — will keep feeling the strain.

Alaska Airlines is throwing itself into the airline industry’s high-stakes competition for wealthier travelers, unveiling a sweeping overhaul of its cabins that will add lie-flat suites, new premium-economy sections and airport lounges across both the Alaska and Hawaiian brands. The announcement, made ahead of the company’s investor day in Seattle, signals that the carrier sees the path to bigger profits running not through cheaper seats, but through fancier ones.

The scope of the redesign is considerable. Alaska’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners will get 34 lie-flat suites under a new product line called Aurora, along with 35 seats in a fresh premium-economy category dubbed Premium Reserve. The airline’s incoming Boeing 737 Max 10 jets — still awaiting certification — will carry a scaled-down version of the same idea, with a dozen Aurora suites aimed at squeezing extra revenue out of popular transcontinental routes. Hawaiian Airlines, folded into Alaska after their merger closed in September 2024 but still run as a separate brand, will see its Airbus A330 fleet refitted with 22 first-class suites featuring sliding doors and 28 premium-economy seats — the airline’s first entry into that category. New lounges are planned for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Honolulu, mirroring the tiered lounge networks that Delta, United and American have already built out.

None of this comes cheap, and it comes with a trade-off: the revamped Hawaiian A330s will actually carry fewer total seats — 254, down from 278 — as coach space gives way to roomier, higher-margin cabins. That calculation sits at the heart of the strategy. Alaska executives told investors they expect premium seats, international routes, cargo and the airline’s loyalty and credit-card business to generate nearly 60% of total revenue by 2030, up from 53% today. In an industry where a first-class ticket can cost several multiples of an economy fare, airlines have concluded that chasing affluent flyers — and the credit-card spending that follows them — is a more reliable route to profit growth than filling every seat with a bargain-hunter.

The timing matters. Alaska is midway through a stated goal of adding $1 billion in profit between the end of 2024 and the end of 2027, and the company says it is already two-thirds of the way there. That target is being tested by a sharp rise in jet fuel costs this year, a reminder that even the most premium-focused airline strategy still lives or dies by fuel markets and operational costs largely outside its control. Investors attending Tuesday’s session were expected to press executives on exactly how the cabin investments — which won’t fully materialize until 2028 — square with near-term cost pressures.

What Alaska is doing is not new, exactly — it’s late. Delta, United, American and international carriers have spent recent years ripping out old interiors in favor of suites with doors, expanded premium economy and elevated lounges, betting that post-pandemic travelers who can afford it are willing to pay handsomely to avoid the middle seat. Alaska, by its own admission, has lagged that shift: most of its fleet still lacks lie-flat seating or other high-end amenities common on rivals’ planes. But industry analysts note that arriving last to the cabin-upgrade race isn’t necessarily a disadvantage. Airlines that move after their competitors get to study what worked — and what flopped — before locking in their own designs, and can position themselves as offering a more refined version of what’s already out there rather than a first-generation experiment.

The granular details Alaska has shared underscore how much emphasis carriers now place on the small stuff that shapes a premium experience — the airline’s head of fleet said the company sifted through fabric samples for months under varying lighting conditions before settling on the right hue, discarding options that read as too garish or too dull. That kind of attention reflects an industry increasingly convinced that loyalty and premium revenue are won through experiential polish, not just larger seats or faster boarding.

For everyday travelers, the shift carries real implications. As airlines redirect capital and cabin space toward suites, premium economy and lounges, the coach experience is likely to keep shrinking in relative terms, even as fares in the front of the plane climb. For Alaska’s shareholders, the bet is straightforward: that enough passengers will keep paying up for comfort, exclusivity and loyalty perks to justify the cost of remodeling an entire fleet — and that doing so will help the airline close the gap with rivals who moved first, without having to guess at what today’s premium flyer actually wants.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey has compared Nigel Farage’s fiscal policies to a “BTC account” handled by one of the UK’s most financially irresponsible prime ministers.

UK Chancellor of the Exchequer! “Don’t make me laugh,” John Healey has compared Nigel Farage’s fiscal policies to a “BTC account” handled by one of the UK’s most financially irresponsible prime ministers.

This is from Healey the most useless piece of communist crap ever appointed to this position. This man is really as stupid as they come. Support the British people? NO, he supports the communist socialist failed agenda and the EU, like the rest of Labour’s traitor MPs. Certainly not you the British people, and you voted for the new Communist socialist Islamic republic of Britain.

Now he and Burnham are going to piss all over you while calling for another referendum on rejoining the dictatorship called the EU, OH, AND THEY WILL USE THE WORD DEMOCRACY, SOMETHING THEY DON’T SUPPORT AND NEVER HAVE.

Healey’s jab at the Reform leader during Labour’s 2026 party conference referred to the perceived economic failure of the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister, Liz Truss.

Truss’s financial policies were widely criticised for their negative impact on financial markets. This led to a rebellion from several Tory MPs, and she was forced to resign within 44 days of her premiership.

Healey appeared to suggest that a “BTC account” is an equally financially irresponsible form of finance, and that only by pairing it with Truss would you recreate the “fantasy funding” ideals of Nigel Farage.

Healey’s comments upset a lot of Bitcoiners, who claimed his “derogatory” description of a “BTC account” demonstrated “staggering ignorance.”

Freddie New, CEO of the BTC Lightning transaction fee firm B HODL, said Healey is “gleefully ignorant that he thinks it is possible to have a ‘BTC account.’”

UK podcaster Peter McCormack said, “Healey making a dismissive joke about Bitcoin shows that he likely has a woeful understanding of economics, particularly scarcity.”

Most criticisms were technical and took offence at the use of the word “account,” which contrasts with the phrase “crypto wallet” used by crypto holders.

Healey wants a ‘new age of industrialisation’

Healey was defence secretary under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership before he resigned in June. He argued that the government wasn’t willing to spend enough on national defence. 

During yesterday’s conference, Healey announced new measures to support a “new age of industrialisation,” which includes a £300 million investment from Rolls-Royce toward its factories, and £6 billion in government contracts to build new submarine docks. 

A so-called “Union Learning Fund” was also announced, as were a National Wealth Fund to help create 130,000 jobs by 2030, and a £100 million-backed local apprenticeship scheme. 

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