We’ve covered all the top stories from across the financial services industry, from the path of Bank Rate to Labour's first Budget, to keep our intermediary readers informed amid a busier-than-ever 12 months.
But which of our stories gained the most views? Here are your top 10 most read articles of 2024:
10. Advisers left without approvals as Tenet Group enters administration
Back in June, Tenet Group Limited (TGL) announced that administrators had been appointed, leaving a number of its advisers without the ability to provide regulated advice to customers until they re-registered.
The group had been winding down operations by selling parts of the business - including TenetLime and Tenet & You - in 2024, as well as transferring advisers from TenetConnect and TenetConnect Services to 2plan Wealth Management.
TGL and subsidiary companies Tenet Limited, Tenet Connect, and TenetConnect Services had administrators from Interpath appointed. Tenet Mortgage Solutions and Tenet Compliance Servces also ceased to trade.
9. Budget 2024: Government hikes stamp duty for second homes
The first of a whopping six Budget stories in this year's 'Top 10' list was chancellor Rachel Reeves' surprise announcement that stamp duty on second homes would rise by 2% to 5% from 31st October - just a day after her Budget speech.
As a result, the average stamp duty bill on second homes (based on the average UK house price of £309,572) increased from £12,265 to £18,457 and will rise even higher to £20,957 once the temporary stamp duty threshold ends in April 2025.
In its Budget documents, the government confirmed that these higher rates apply to purchases of second homes, buy-to-let residential properties and companies purchasing residential property.
It says the increase will provide those looking to move home or purchase their first property "with a comparative advantage over those purchasing additional property".
The government expects the additional tax to result in 130,000 additional transactions over the next five years by first-time buyers and other people buying a primary residence.
8. MPs consider abolishing 'incompetent' FCA in hard-hitting report
A more recent story from just last month, the eighth most read article this year surrounded a hard-hitting report from an All-Party Parliamentary Group, calling into question the integrity of the FCA which it says is "widely seen as incompetent".
The APPG on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services heard widespread criticism of the regulator from a range of independent sources. Testimony received accuses the FCA of slowness, inaction, complacency, opacity, unaccountability and even dishonesty.
The Group says a "significant number of respondents believe the FCA sometimes acts in bad faith", says its "treatment of whistleblowers and their evidence is alarming", and believes there is a "defective organisational culture, driven from the top".
The report sets out a series of recommendations that consideration should be given to, including the need for government intervention, changing how the regulator is funded, and the establishment of a supervisory council to review the operational effectiveness of the FCA.
Many respondents even debated whether the FCA should be abolished or reformed. The report reveals that its panel were so concerned about the depth and breadth of the problems that "serious consideration was given to the idea that the FCA should be completely scrapped and replaced with a new entity, because the existing leadership team in the existing organisation might just get in the way of the necessary changes".
7. YBS launches £5,000 deposit mortgage up to 99% LTV
Back in March, Yorkshire Building Society made the headlines with the launch of a new mortgage enabling first-time buyers with a £5,000 deposit to purchase a property valued up to £500,000.
For someone taking out the typical £200,000 first-time buyer mortgage, this would mean a loan-to-value of 97.5%.
Available via brokers through Accord Mortgages, the lender’s intermediary arm, the five-year fixed rate launched at 5.99% (since reduced to 5.74% at the time of writing) to first-time buyers only on a maximum property value of £500,000.
6. Budget 2024: Bank Rate and mortgage rates to remain higher for longer, OBR predicts
The second Budget-related story in the countdown to number one is the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)'s forecasts for house prices, inflation, mortgage rates and interest rates which are released alongside the Budget documents.
The OBR said that market expectations for interest rates remain volatile and predicts further increases in mortgage rates.
House prices are predicted to rise by 15% over the forecasted period from 2024-2030 and CPI inflation is expected to pick up to 2.6% in 2025.
In its October prediction, the OBR said market expectations for interest rates remain volatile, with expectations for Bank Rate in 2025 varying between 3.6 and 4.7%, "underscoring the continued uncertainty around the monetary policy outlook".
As a result, average interest rates on the stock of mortgages are expected to rise from around 3.7% in 2024 to a peak of 4.5% in 2027, then remain around that level until the end of 2030.
5. Budget 2024: Government increases National Insurance for employers
Although widely predicted ahead of the Budget, the fifth most read story of this year was the Government's increase in National Insurance rates for employers.
Rachel Reeves announced an increase in employers' National Insurance contributions and also lowered the threshold for when employers start paying the tax.
Reeves announced a raise in National Insurance Contribution rate for employers by 1.2% from 13.8% to 15% and has also lowered the threshold at which employers start paying the tax from £9,100 to 5,000 a year - with the two measures combined expected to raise around £25 billion per year.
Employers currently pay a rate of 13.8% for workers earning more than £175 a week or £9,100 a year. Raising the rate by 1p would raise around £8.5 billion for the Treasury.
There was speculation that the government would introduce a National Insurance charge on employers' pensions contributions, however the impact on the public sector was widely considered as politically risky.
4. Bank of England cuts interest rates to 5%
Last year, we predicted that an interest rate cut could be the top story of 2024, but a bumper Labour Budget means the first rate cut since 2020 was your fourth most read article this year.
In August, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted 5-4 to reduce Bank Rate to 5% - the first reduction since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
The MPC noted that twelve-month CPI inflation was at its 2% target in both May and June and expects the fall in headline inflation to "continue to feed through to weaker pay and price-setting dynamics". As a result, the Committee said "it is now appropriate to reduce slightly the degree of policy restrictiveness".
The MPC later voted to reduce Bank Rate from 5% to 4.75% in November, although this didn't make the Top 10 list - let's hope for more cuts in 2025!
3. Budget 2024: Govt to bring pensions into inheritance tax
Back to Budget stories, Labour announced plans to freeze inheritance tax thresholds until 2030 and bring inherited pensions into inheritance tax from April 2027.
During the Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "First, the previous government froze inheritance tax thresholds until 2028. I will extend that freeze for a further two years until 2030 that means the first £325,000 of any estate can be inherited tax free, rising to £500,000 pounds if the estate includes a residence passed to direct descendants and £1 million when a tax free allowance is passed to a surviving spouse or civil partner.
"Second, we will close the loophole created by the previous government made even bigger when the lifetime allowance was abolished by bringing inherited pensions into inheritance tax from April 2027.
"Finally, we will reform agricultural property relief and business property relief from April 2026. The first £1m of combined business and agricultural assets will continue to attract no inheritance tax at all. But for assets, but for assets over £1m inheritance tax will apply with a 50% relief at an effective rate of 20%.
"This will ensure that we continue to protect small family farms and three quarters with three quarters of claims unaffected by these changes.
"I can also announce that we will apply a 50% relief in all circumstances on inheritance tax for shares on the alternative investment market, and other similar markets, setting the effective rate of tax at 20%."
2. Budget 2024: Government increases Capital Gains Tax rates
Continuing with the Budget theme, the penultimate article in this list surrounded the Government increasing Capital Gains Tax rates.
The tax is paid on the profits when an asset is sold. Basic rate taxpayers currently face a 10% CGT rate, or 18% on residential property. Higher earners pay 20% on any amount above the basic tax rate and 24% on residential property.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in October's Budget that the lower rate of tax will rise from 10% to 18% and the higher rate from 20% to 24%.
However, in a move favoured by the buy-to-let market, she confirmed that the rates of CGT on residential property, including on buy-to-let and second homes, will be maintained at 18% and 24%.
Reeves also confirmed that Private Residence Relief, which means that main residential properties are exempt from capital gains tax, will be maintained.
1. Budget 2024: Government scraps property tax reliefs and reduces higher rate property CGT
It's no surprise that Budget announcements take up more than half of our 'Top 10' for 2024. But the most read Budget story from this year wasn't Rachel Reeves' first Autumn Budget, but from back in March during Jeremy Hunt's Spring Statement.
The Conservative government announced that it will abolish the furnished holiday lettings (FHL) regime, which gives extra tax reliefs for costs incurred furnishing holiday lets, and is also removing multiple dwellings relief.
Upon taking office, the Labour Government announced it would continue to pursue this policy, and that the government would abolish the FHL regime from April 2025.
FHL reductions currently apply to properties which are available for holiday letting for at least 210 days a year, and which are let for at least half that time.
Holiday let landlords can claim capital gains tax reliefs for traders, are eligible for plant and machinery capital allowances for items such as furniture, equipment and fixtures, and the profits count as earnings for pension purposes.
During his Budget speech, then-chancellor Hunt also confirmed that the government will abolish multiple dwellings relief, a stamp duty relief for people buying more than one property, from 1st June 2024. The government says the scheme shows "no evidence of promoting investment in the private rented sector".
Scrapping the holiday let reliefs are expected to save the Treasury around £245m a year, while the removal of multiple dwellings relief will generate £385 million a year.
In addition, Hunt's government reduced the higher rate of property capital gains tax from 28% to 24%, which was maintained during Reeves' inaugural Budget.
All in all, a very Budget-heavy year for news on Financial Reporter - what do you predict next year will bring?
