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Brace for a winter of job losses and property mayhem

For the first time in months, Britons are facing new national restrictions. The Government is now telling everyone who can to get out of offices and go back to working from home, new curfews are threatening to squeeze the life out of hospitality businesses only just back on their feet and large swathes of the country are back under total lockdown.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the end of the furlough scheme creeps ever closer. This has kept millions of people in jobs and was supposed to be unwound as the economy begins to recover. However, the likelihood of that being the case by Oct 31 is looking slimmer and slimmer.

Rumours are circulating that the Treasury will extend this lifeline, but nothing has yet been confirmed.

Workers who are still having to go into work should be sure to check their employer has followed official guidance on how to make the workplace as Covid-secure as possible. These have now been made law and any company failing to follow them could face fines. Find out what you should be demanding from your workplace here.

Continued restrictions risk leading to more job losses, which in turn will be disastrous for the rental market. Since the ban on evicting tenants was lifted in England and Wales on Sunday, courts have been overwhelmed by cases. This backlog will only get worse if unemployment mounts.

Landlords will probably have to wait for months to free up their properties from problem tenants and renters face being kicked out of their homes at the worst possible time.

What about the rest of the property market? While experts say another total freeze of house sales is unlikely, they are warning that prices will be threatened by a second lockdown.

Rules on house viewings could also become stricter, with limits on the number of people who can attend, as could the affordability checks conducted by mortgage lenders.

While financial prospects for most of us look bleak, pensioners are spying a ray of light. The Government has confirmed it will increase the state pension next year to protect retirees from the economic damage of the pandemic. This is in spite of the fact that incomes for people of working age are predicted to plummet.

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