Industry Updates: Housing Surge, Freight Changes, and Expats

Moving companies in the U.K. will be relieved as interest rates begin to wind down with a resultant surge in home buying as a result.

Last week the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee decided to reduce rates from 5.25 to 5 percent.

The decision was preceded by the latest figures from HM Revenue and Customs showing over 90,000 home sale transactions were made in June - 8 percent higher than the same month last year.
 
Analysing the upsurge in buyers Iain McKenzie said it represents a return to buyer confidence despite the figure representing a month-on-month decline of 1 percent: “Transaction numbers have been steadily growing for some time now, and a month-on-month decrease is nothing but a fly in the ointment.”

International freight carriers will be expected to register shipments when carrying goods to or from Poland the government there has announced.

Consultancy firm PwC announced that from November onwards the SENT Electronic Transport Surveillance System will come into force requiring all non-Polish road carriers which includes EU member states such as Ireland as well as Switzerland to register in the system at the Polish border.

Following registration a reference number will be provided which capture information including:

• The country of origin for goods and destination
• The foreign person conducting the transportation
• Registration number of vehicle
• A transport document

PwC advises Al movers to families themselves with the system or they face fines.

With rising tensions in the Middle East expatriates of various western states are advising their citizens to leave.

Both France and the U.K. have joined a growing list of countries in urging their citizens to leave Lebanon including Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey and Jordan.

This follows warnings of a potential strike by Iran in retaliation for the murder of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Several flights have been cancelled or are suspended in the country with only one airport in Beirut operational.

Similarly, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has advised its citizens not to travel to the embattled country:

The security situation in Lebanon remains unstable and could deteriorate without warning. Military activity in Southern Lebanon including airstrikes and missile and rocket fire has escalated in recent weeks. This could spread to other areas in Lebanon with little warning.

Figures from 2020 show that over 20,000 French citizens live in the country with the U.K. having 16,000 expats situated in the region. The U.S. State Department says there are approximately 86,000 Americans in the country.