Money blog: Shoppers disrupted as Tesco site crashes; 100% mortgage launched (2025)

Rachel Reeves has made economic growth a top priority for the government, and this week we learned that GDP (the standard measure of an economy's value) increased by more than expected in the first quarter of the year.

The economy grew 0.7% - 0.1% more than economists had predicted.

But the figures come with caveats. They pre-date the full impact of Donald Trump's trade war, along with the effect of bill increases that came into force in April.

And though the largest part of the growth came from services, part of the bump was also down to industry rushing to export goods before tariffs kicked in.

Our economics and data editor Ed Conway filed this analysis...

Is it getting easier to become a homeowner?

The figure also risks the Bank of England slowing down its interest rate cuts - as there may be less need to stimulate the economy - according to Peter Stimson, head of product at the mortgage lender MPowered.

But in better news for borrowers, the government has been encouraging lenders to boost growth by loosening mortgage criteria, and we saw an eye-catching launch this week from long-term lender April Mortgages. Its 100% mortgage was broadly welcomed by brokers - read more about thathere.

Nationwide became the first major lender to reduce its stress test rates, which are used to evaluate a customer's ability to afford their mortgage payments if interest rates increase.

The change means applicants can borrow an average of £28,000 more.

"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," said David Hollingworth, a director at L&C Mortgages.

Hack attacks

In less positive news, Marks & Spencer and Co-op are still suffering the effects of large cyber attacks and this week we reported Dior had been targeted by hackers.

The luxury fashion brand confirmed hackers had breached a database and accessed some of its customer data. It told Money that bank and credit card details had not been accessed.

Co-op customers were reassured the company was in its "recovery stage" after being targeted in a cyber attack two weeks ago.

Shoppers had been frustrated by empty shelves but stores are expected to have better stock availability this weekend, with all payment systems also back up and running.

Average cost of a pint in each part of Britain

For those heading out for drinks this weekend, we had a look at how the price of a pint varies around the country.

Unsurprisingly, a beer will cost you the most in London at £5.44, on average.

Wales comes in as the cheapest place to buy a pint at £4.21.

Tip of the week

If having a spring clean is on the to-do list, it might be worth checking out our tip of the week about how to make extra cash using your empty beauty containers.

Recycling your old cosmetic packages at a few select stores - and being savvy with old perfume bottles - can earn you more than you'd think.

Before you go, remember to check back in on Saturday when our cost of living specialist Megan Harwood-Baynes will be exploring why the spike in gold prices means you should probably check your home insurance

Have a good weekend - we'll be back with live updates on Monday.

The Money blog is produced by Money live reporter Jess Sharp and edited by Jimmy Rice.

We've just had an update from Tesco, after customers found they could not access its app and website.

As we reported earlier, they were met with an error message saying: "We're sorry, but something went wrong. We have been notified about this issue. Please try and sign in again later. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

The supermarket now says this issue has been fixed.

A spokesperson said: "We have fixed a software issue that temporarily impacted customers using our website and app this afternoon. We're sorry for the inconvenience."

Earlier this week we published this map showing average prices around the UK - with exclusive data from respected industry analysts at CGA.

Readers appeared to fall into two camps: the disbelieving, and the disbelieving who wanted tips on where they could actually find a pint where they live for the figures quoted.

We should point out that the prices are averages - many places may well charge more - and CGA provides figures that are widely used in the industry.

Here's some of your correspondence...

The only surprise in the research by the CGA is they found somewhere in London that sells a pint for under 6 quid! There aren't too many of them about!

Historicpubcrawls

Average pint in London £5.44…. I would love to know where pints are that cheap in London!

Adam

I want to know where I can buy a pint for £4.94. I live in Frimley Green in Surrey and pints here are between £5.50 and £7.

Overcharged Rog

Where do you get your rubbish consults from? No mention of the NW of Britain where in my local it costs £5.75 for a pint of Guinness, run by Greene King. Average I'd say in that pub is around £5.50. You are totally delusional.

Ian McEwan

I drink in a pub in West Wickham, Kent and a pint of lager is £6.10.

Meehan

I live in the South East, I haven't been able to buy a pint for £4.94 for probably 10 years.

EL073

You have never been to the Norfolk Broads for a pint, it's mostly between £6-£7 a pint sometimes more than that.

Bj

One reader, though, is seemingly set for a great weekend with the prices at his local...

We moved from Winchester to Chard in Somerset. A pint here in the town is £3.50 - £3.75 in the pubs.

Simply Simon

Retirees were underpaid £450m on their state pensions due to government errors in 2024-25, official figures show.

That is down slightly from £470m the previous financial year.

A total of six in 100 state pension claims were underpaid in 2024-25.

The government has put the errors partly down to the incorrect recording of claimants' national insurance contributions.

Overpayments, meanwhile, amount to £190m.

A government spokesperson told The Telegraph that HMRC had written to everyone it believes has been affected and an online tool would help people check whether they need to claim.

Tesco's app and website appear to be down.

Shoppers have been left disappointed when trying to access the supermarket's site, with an error message appearing saying: "We sorry, but something went wrong.

"We have been notified about this issue. Please try and sign in again later. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

A similar message appeared on the app...

Downdetector, which tracks the status of various websites, showed 1,181 reports had been made about issues with Tesco's online platforms.

According to the service, the problem started being seen just before 2pm today.

Customers were quick to flag the issue on X, with some complaining that they were unable to access their Clubcard.

The retailer replied to one customer saying there was "no timescale" of when the issue will be resolved.

"We do currently have an issue with the website and the app and our IT team are aware of this and looking into it, but we have no timescale of when this will be resolved I'm afraid," its X account posted.

Money has contacted Tesco for comment.

Wealthy individuals in Britain could be avoiding more tax than previously thought, the government's spending watchdog has said.

The National Audit Office says billions of pounds in extra revenue could be collected from the country's wealthiest people.

It has come to this conclusion because the yearly "compliance yield" (this is money HMRC collects after chasing non-payment) from the richest taxpayers is £1bn greater that the "wealthy tax gap" estimated by HMRC.

This "raises the possibility that underlying levels of non-compliance among the wealthy population could be greater than previously thought".

Still, the compliance yield has more than doubled from £2.2bn in 2019-20 to £5.2bn in 2023-24.

Meanwhile, the number of financial penalties has dived from 2,153 (equalling £16.2m) in 2018-19 to 456 (£5.8m) in 2023-24.

UK ministers are considering cutting the tax-free cash ISA allowance.

In a meeting with bank executives, City minister Emma Reynolds discussed potential changes to the ISA market in a bid to get savers to move money into stocks and shares.

Under current rules, people can hold up to £20,000 a year in a mix of cash and investments, free of income and capital gains tax.

But calls for reform began earlier this year after industry figures urged the Treasury to limit ISAs to investments only - a move they argue would reinvigorate the UK's capital gains market.

Another proposal is to cut the amount of cash people can put into ISAs from £20,000 to £4,000 - a move that would be a massive shake-up to the UK's savings market.

Treasury 'grappling' with potential changes

"It's still a decision they [the Treasury] are grappling with as part of a wider discussion on how do you best encourage people to save for the future," one person familiar with the meeting told the Financial Times.

Another government figure said the expectation was that the government would cut the threshold for tax-free cash ISAs.

More than 13 million people are walking a financial tightrope, with one in 10 adults failing to save any money, a major survey has found.

The Financial Conduct Authority's Financial Lives report found that around 24% of adults across the UK have "low financial resilience".

People are considered to be part of this category if they would struggle to get through a tough patch, are heavily burdened by existing bills, or are in financial difficulty, having missed paying bills in at least three of the past six months.

Here are some of the other things we learnt in the report:

• A fifth (21%) of adults have less than £1,000 to draw on in an emergency.
• Just over a third (35%) are estimated to have money held in investments.
• Six in 10 (61%) people with more than £10,000 in investible assets held at least three-quarters of them in cash, rather than investing.
• Around 52.5 million adults held a current account last year, up from 50.8 million in 2022.
• Around 900,000 people were unbanked in 2024 with no current account, down from 1.1 million in 2022.
• One in 12 (8%) adults were constantly overdrawn or usually overdrawn by the time they got paid.
• One in 20 adults (4.8%) were heavy users of cash, down from 5.8% in 2022.

The UK has suffered a record fall in billionaires, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.

The annual list, which gathers the UK's 350 richest people, revealed the biggest decline in billionaires in the 37-year history of the list, sinking to 156 from 165 in 2024.

Managing to hold on to the top spot once again was the Hinduja family, who are worth more than £35bn, having earned their fortune with their multinational conglomerate, the Hinduja Group.

Famous figures including Sir Elton John, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Sir Lewis Hamilton, and the Beckhams, all appear on the list.

Singer Dua Lipa was the youngest person to be included on the separate richest Britons under 40 list, with the 29-year-old worth an estimated £115m.

It was also a profitable year for the King, whose wealth matched that of former prime minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty at £640m - the monarch's wealth stood at £610m last year.

'Serious consequences' after October budget

Despite all 350 entries being worth a combined £778bn, it was the third consecutive year that the collective value has fallen.

There was also a decline in the number of billionaires residing in the UK for a third year in a row.

Robert Watts, compiler of the list, said he was struck by the "strength of criticism" for the government's Treasury when speaking to wealthy individuals.

He said homegrownyoung tech entrepreneurs and those running centuries-old family firms are warning of "serious consequences of a range of tax changes unveiled in last October's budget".

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.