Disposable vapes banned in the UK, and London house prices the most affordable since 2016 #housing

1. Large listed companies came under increasing financial strain over 2023, new figures show, as the burden of higher interest rates weighed heavily on corporate balance sheets. In the final quarter of last year, listed companies issued 77 profit warnings according to EY’s profit warnings monitor. A third of these warnings from firms with annual revenue of over £1bn, around double the average rate. 2. Disposable vapes are set to be banned in the UK amid a wider government crackdown on e-cigarettes. Popular throwaway or single-use vape devices such as Elf Bar and Lost Mary products will be outlawed in a new state-led health kick, Rishi Sunak announced on Monday morning. 3. House prices in London will become more affordable this year, according to a new report, but the capital has been warned not to “get carried away” amid a frenzy of mortgage rates cuts. Zoopla’s latest house price index showed that housing affordability in London is the best since 2016, with the average price of a property costing £536k last month, a year-on-year decline of 1.1 per cent. #ukbusiness #interestrates #uknews #vapes #smokefree #houseprices #housepricesuk #mortgagerates