British house prices rose strongly in August, pushed up by a lack of property coming onto the market, according to two surveys published yesterday, adding urgency to a push by the UK government to encourage more house-building.

British house prices rose at their fastest rate in a year, last month, and a shortage of homes is likely to push prices higher over the next year, a body representing property valuers said yesterday.

A TWO-TIER pricing structure has emerged in the mortgage market in Ireland with Irish lenders offering more attractive rates to customers than British banks.

The number of UK properties changing hands fell by 13% during May as the credit crunch continued to take its toll on the market, British government figures showed today.

A slump in British home sales this year is set to take a damaging toll on the wider UK economy as the credit crunch bites, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) warned today.

The United States was gearing up today for a new chapter in its history when Alan Greenspan chairs his last meeting as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The Bank of England is this week expected to disappoint British retailers hoping for a further cut in interest rates in the build up to Christmas.

The FTSE 100 Index sealed its best first half of a year since the dotcom boom today, despite increasingly gloomy signs for the economy.

The health of the UK's manufacturing sector continues to deteriorate, experts warned, after it emerged today that factory output had declined for the first time in more than two years.

The prospect of another British interest rate rise diminished further today with figures showing the weakest economic growth in the UK for nearly two years.

The Bank of England is set to freeze interest rates for the eighth month in a row this week, economists say.

The Bank of England is set to give homeowners a break from higher mortgage costs this week by keeping interest rates on hold.

Conflicting data over the state of the British housing market was released today with figures showing that price growth was slowing but mortgage lending booming.

The US Federal Reserve yesterday continued its campaign of interest rate cuts by trimming interest rates by a quarter-point the eleventh cut this year.

Alan Greenspan has taken another step towards shoring up the US economy by trimming interest rates by a quarter-point.

The Bank Of England was today urged by both sides of industry to cut interest rates to give the economy a much-needed boost.

The Bank of England has cut the base rate from 5.5% to 5.25% - its lowest level since October, 1999.

The Bank of England has cut the base rate to 5.5% from 5.75%.