UK House Prices Keep Rising! US and UK agree zero tariffs deal on pharmaceuticals; Flu Season Arrives—Watch Out for New Virus
- TBA
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
‘Mansion tax’ will have limited impact on property market, UK house prices still rise
Nationwide Building Society stated that UK house prices continued to rise slightly in November, and it expects that the newly announced “mansion tax” in the Autumn Budget will have only a limited impact on the overall housing market.
According to the latest data, the average UK house price rose 0.3% month-on-month in November, higher than the 0.1% increase forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. The average price rose from £272,200 in October to £273,000 in November.
Last week, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that starting from April 2028, England will impose a new high-value property surcharge on homes worth £2 million or more — properties valued above £2 million will pay from £2,500 per year, while those worth over £5 million will pay £7,500.
Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, said: “The property tax changes announced in the Budget are not expected to have a significant impact on the housing market. This high-value property surcharge applies to fewer than 1% of homes in England, and about 3% in London. Recently, the overall market has remained stable, and house prices continue to rise at a modest pace.”
Meanwhile, a lower interest-rate environment is also supporting the market. The Bank of England is currently keeping the base rate at 4%, and since inflation has likely peaked at 3.8%, lower than earlier forecasts, markets expect this will open the door to further rate cuts.
Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, also noted that some buyers had been waiting for the Budget announcement, and that 2026 could bring more positive factors. She said: “The UK property market typically picks up in January. Despite ongoing challenges, certain factors are providing support. The property tax introduced in this Budget affects only a very small part of the market.”
Number of flu patients in hospital beds rises by more than 50%
The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has stated that this year’s flu season has arrived earlier than usual and has not yet reached its peak, raising the possibility of the most severe flu outbreak in a decade. With Christmas approaching, flu cases are expected to continue rising. Meanwhile, strike action by thousands of junior doctors from the British Medical Association (BMA) will place additional pressure on the winter healthcare system.
Last week, hospitals in England saw an average of 1,717 flu patients occupying beds each day, including 69 in intensive care units. This figure is 56% higher than the same period in 2024, reaching the highest level since records began, and is also significantly higher than figures from 2023 and 2022.
Since the start of the autumn vaccination campaign, 16.9 million flu vaccine doses have been administered in England, including 8.4 million given to people aged 65 and above, maintaining stable coverage.
Additional data shows that last week, England had an average of 261 hospital beds occupied by patients with symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting or suspected norovirus — a sharp decrease compared with 751 cases during the same period last year.
This year’s flu wave is driven by a new H3N2 influenza strain. These letters and numbers refer to the virus’s surface proteins: haemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). Compared with other strains, this particular combination has a higher likelihood of causing severe illness, especially among older adults or those with underlying health conditions.
According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), flu symptoms develop rapidly, and extreme fatigue is common — a key difference from the more gradually developing symptoms of a common cold.
US and UK agree zero tariffs deal on pharmaceuticals for three years
Last week, the UK and the United States announced a new agreement under which UK pharmaceutical exports to the US will continue to enjoy zero tariffs for the next three years. In return, the UK agreed to raise the price cap that the National Health Service (NHS) pays for medicines and to increase overall drug spending.
This marks the first time in more than 20 years that the UK has raised the NHS threshold for evaluating drug prices. Before the agreement was reached, U.S. President Donald Trump had repeatedly threatened—or imposed—tariffs of up to 100% on certain branded drug imports, causing concern across the UK pharmaceutical sector.
Under the agreement:
The NHS will raise its threshold for determining that a “new drug is too expensive” by 25%, meaning the future price limit for approved new drugs will be higher.
NHS drug spending will increase from 0.3% of GDP to 0.6% over the next decade.
The cap on the amount pharmaceutical companies must repay to the NHS will be limited to no more than 15%, whereas last year this figure exceeded 20%.
In exchange, UK pharmaceutical exports will remain exempt from U.S. tariff increases for the next three years.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the deal is “a historic step toward ensuring other developed countries pay their fair share.” UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade Peter Kyle responded that the move will “ensure that at least £5 billion worth of UK pharmaceutical exports continue to enter the U.S. market tariff-free each year, protecting jobs, attracting investment, and strengthening the UK’s position as a global life sciences hub.”
Official data shows that in the 12 months up to September 2024, the UK exported £11.1 billion worth of medicines to the United States, accounting for 17.4% of all UK goods exports during the period.
Over the past 18 months, several multinational pharmaceutical companies have shifted investment toward the U.S. due to dissatisfaction with the UK business environment:
GSK announced a $30 billion investment in the U.S. over the next five years.
Merck (MSD) cancelled its £1 billion UK expansion plan.
AstraZeneca paused its £200 million Cambridge R&D centre investment and announced a $50 billion investment in the United States.
The new agreement is expected to help boost the UK’s competitiveness in global pharmaceutical manufacturing and innovation. U.S. pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb has already announced plans to invest more than $500 million in the UK over the next five years for research, development, and production.
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