Lenders have begun to increase rates and have started withdrawing cheaper products, with more withdrawn in a single day than at any time since the mini budget of September 2022.

More than 200 deals have disappeared from the market since the 6th March. The 21st March saw the biggest daily withdrawal since 2022, with 52 deals taken off the market in a single day.

With this, many to-be home owners have been left with less, but more expensive options.

The decreased amount of product options has shrunk the amount of choice for buyers, increasing the remaining property competition. Recent data from The Times showed a significant jump in the number of first time buyers forced into mortgage deals above 5%, rising from 8% to 21% in a matter of weeks. This rapid deterioration and disappointment for affordability has caused struggle, particularly for those already struggling to save a deposit.

The average interest rate for borrowers on a fixed mortgage does not change until it expires, usually after two or five years, and a new one replaces it.

At the beginning of this year, falling mortgage rates and improved availability of deals had encouraged optimism among prospective buyers. However, this has changed. Before the US-Israel war with Iran had started, financial markets had expected UK interest rates to be cut. As a result, this was reducing lenders’ funding costs and rates on new fixed mortgages were decreasing.

Recent increased global tensions, particularly in the Middle East, has upended all of this.

Now, the average rate on a five year fixed mortgage has risen from 4.95% at the start of March to 5.52% today – standing at its highest since July 2024.

More than one-fifth of mortgage rates available at the beginning of March this year have been withdrawn.

David Hollingworth, from broker L&C, previously told the BBC of his hopes for ‘talk of easing conflicts [that should] help the market find a level as it tries to predict what this may mean for the longer term interest rate outlook.’

For those that do proceed with buying, higher borrowing costs mean larger monthly payments and having to stretch household budgeting further, when many are already under financial pressure.

However, while new mortgage costs are rising, the situation is better for those who are approaching retirement and looking to buy an annuity.

Annuities are bought once, converting a pension pot into a guaranteed income for life. With the emergence of drawdown pensions however, they have become less popular, as drawdown pensions allow any amount of money to be withdrawn at any time, while the rest remains invested.

Annuity rates are priced in relation to bond yields which have increased since the start of the war. So perhaps consideration of this would be useful for those approaching retirement.

For now, the path onto the property ladder for first time buyers has steepened once more. With already high living costs and deposit challenges, dealing with mortgage rates and shrinking choices may be the reality for the foreseeable.

Unless economic conditions stabilise, home ownership may remain out of reach for many, reinforcing the growing divide between those who can buy and those who cannot.

Oxford Brookes University offers a staffed counselling and mental health service to registered students, providing one-to-one and online counselling, short-term therapy, group workshops, self-help resources, and referral to other support. The Counselling Service is free, confidential, and operates in accordance with professional standards. Students are encouraged to register for support through the service.

Brookes students also have access to Togetherall, a 24/7 online peer-support community moderated by trained clinicians. The platform offers anonymous forums, guided self-help courses, and mood-tracking tools. This service, along with other mental health resources, is explained to students during the national #UniMentalHealthDay, which will take place next year on Thursday, 12^th March.

For academic or welfare concerns, students can speak with their Student Support Coordinator, who can help arrange extensions, mitigating circumstances, academic adjustments, or welfare checks. The Multifaith Chaplaincy offers non-clinical pastoral care for students of any or no faith, and Brookes Union Advice Service provides independent guidance on finance, housing, and wellbeing.

In urgent cases, the university guides students to external services, including NHS 111, local crisis teams, and national helplines such as Samaritans.

Oxford Brookes highlighted the range of mental health services available to students following an inquest at Oxford Coroner’s Court last week (13th November). It found that Oxford Brookes student Harry John Bartram, 21, died by suicide a few weeks after receiving an autism diagnosis. His housemate discovered Harry at their address on Southfield Road in Oxford, but unfortunately, when emergency services arrived, there were no lifesaving options available, and letters were found at the scene containing farewell messages.

Harry was also tested for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and received an ADHD diagnosis in March following an assessment by Oxford Brain & Mind, which also identified wider neurodivergent traits.

It’s believed Harry struggled with social anxiety for much of his life and experienced a period of selective mutism during his childhood. He was also tested for autism in 2011, but did not meet the criteria for such a diagnosis at the time. Although Harry faced these issues, he still achieved exceptional A-level results.

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This march is a response to rising Islamophobia, antisemitism, and other forms of hate, aiming to strengthen community solidarity. Participants will carry banners with messages such as “Welcome All,” “Unity & Strength,” “Hope for All,” and “No Hate.”

For those with limited mobility, additional meetup points are available at 1:30 PM at Manzil Way Green and at 2:15 PM at St. Mary the Virgin Church on High Street.

The event is supported by a broad coalition of community groups, advocacy organisations, trade unions, and local organisations, emphasizing unity in the face of hate and division. It is a call for the community to stand together to celebrate the diversity and solidarity of Oxford and reject hate.

Organisers say the event is about “standing together as one community, and celebrating the city we share.”

The two councils say that the new vehicle could save more than 20 tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year, twice the average amount a person in England emits annually.

“It is a great day for us to take delivery of the first EV in our fleet of waste vehicles”, said Councillor Mark Coleman, “it is our proud ambition to provide a reliable and robust waste collection service for our residents and cut council carbon emissions at the same time.”

Alongside the environmental impact, the council say their new waste truck, a Terberg EV ORUS, will be quicker and quieter than the current diesel vehicles.

With the capability to compress food waste during its rounds, the electric truck will not need to empty its load at Wallingford’s food waste facility as often, meaning it will cover fewer total miles than the 26,000 driven by diesel trucks each year.

Both councils plan to make their districts carbon neutral in the near future, with Vale of White Horse setting a date of 2045 to achieve this, while South Oxfordshire council is aiming for 2030.

On the 21st November, Brown’s Café located in Oxford's infamous Covered Market, celebrated a major milestone. Initially opening in 1924, this independent café that specialises in brunch with a Portuguese twist has become one of Oxford’s favourites.

One of the part-time workers at the café, Hugo Gouveia, described how the staff celebrated the occasion with a party: “We had closed earlier and spent around two hours setting up the café, we had balloons be put up and we had a big ‘cheers to 100 years’” He explained how the staff enjoyed several snacks during the celebration such as ‘steak and pepper pastries, potato wedges and sausage rolls’ and they even had a commemorative cake, adding “to say that the staff are proud is an understatement”.

When asked about the future of Brown’s Café, Hugo stated that “I think it will never really change drastically [...] it should be the same as it was 100 years from now”. This is good news to the Oxford public who will find comfort in the fact that such an old establishment will continue to remain familiar to them.

Oxford Brookes University is Hosting the ‘Sam Zuckerberg Israel Scholarship,’ which Students and Teachers have been calling for the University to reconsider, considering the conflict between Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon.

The scholarship is hosted by Professor Daniel Chamovitz, President of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Isreal, who will host a lecture-discussion about “Inclusive Diversity Under Fire” which students of Brookes find “Ignorant” to the matter.

We asked two students who both take 2nd Year Politics about their opinions regarding the situation:

What are your thoughts about Oxford Brookes hosting this scholarship?

Annie: “I think they should be more sensitive to the fact the scholarship has a link to the military and last year they showed their solidarity to Palestinian Brookes students about the Gaza war so now doing this kind of display that they didn’t care because right now they aren’t being towards Palestinian students or teachers who don’t feel comfortable with the scholarship is representing”

Sophie: “I think it’s very ignorant especially it’s not hard to see why people would be against that.”

Do you think the petition will encourage Brookes to reconsider?

Annie: “100% yes because if they show a large number of people disagreeing with it it will show they have no choice but to cancel if they don’t listen to the petition then people can take action and the university can get into more trouble.”

Sophie: “I think it will encourage them to think about it, but I don’t think it will change anything they have because if they do change, it would be due to the backlash.”

Brookes state that the scholarship enables postgraduate students from Ben Gurion University to study on a one-year master's course in Brookes. The International Criminal Court has recently currently issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which could have a potential effect on the scholarship.

Click here to view the petition.

With the rise in violence and crime plaguing the lives of Oxford students, the fear of walking alone begins to impact their daily lives. And with the new proposal of Dark Skies, how will students learn to feel safe, when this fear is all too familiar?  

The safety of students in Oxford should be constantly reassessed and established as a priority. We should question why there has been a rising fear for students in this once considered sheltered and comfortable town to now, an alarming number of attacks and overall crimes.  

According to CrimeRate, “as of 2024, the crime rate in Oxford is 1.6% higher than the South East ... [and] the most common crimes in Oxford are violence and sexual offences, with 4,674 offences during 2023”. These statistics force us to evaluate what is changing and how we protect the lives of the youth in this student-packed city.  

Here, is what students in Oxford thought. 

When discussing with 20-year-old Martha on her decision to come to Oxford Brookes University, she disclosed, 

“When I came to look at Brookes, I felt completely safe, especially being in a city known for its prestige, I felt some kind of safety that came along with that title”.  

We further questioned how if now in her second year had her perspective altered at all? 

“I would say yes. Since getting to know Oxford better over the last year, I would say I have come to recognize parts more on the outskirts which do pose a danger, and that I now aim to avoid”. 

Unfortunately, this idea of avoiding streets and certain areas is not a foreign to most students and actually quite familiar. And to further protest this issue of safety, the ‘Darker Skies Proposal’ has recently come to light, forcing a thought to many people, 

‘Don’t darker skies mean more can hide?’ 

Therefore, we inquired another student [Bella] here at Brooke’s about her own thoughts to improve safety in this city and she answered, 

“As a student,  I think the dark skies proposal is an issue, as a girl, I personally would not feel safe walking around the city with dimmed lights, I think we need continue the protest against this idea”.  

Thus, we need to ask, what will the city council do for our students? They seem to propose a lot help benefit the enviroment, which is prositive, but what will be done for the safety for the thousnands of students that come to this city every year unknowing of the threat that poses against them? 

The battle for student safety continues.

Chiltern edge secondary school, in South Oxfordshire, has applied to turn school field into housing area. They wish to do this as the money they will earn from selling the land will allow them to improve the school and its facilities.

There does not seem to be a proposed end date to these provisions, the Sonning Common Neighbourhood Development Plan (SCNDP) claims they will ‘run concurrently with the current South Oxfordshire Local Plan and apply until March 2035.’

The company running the housing project, Deanfields, say they wish to support schools and enhance local employment.

Their aims and development strategy have been laid out in the SCNDP, showing how ‘One of the important aims of the original NDP allocation was to enable the sale of the land to release funds for the refurbishment of the school and to improve facilities. Approval for the sale had been given by the Department of Education’.

The school has applied for this action once and been denied due to loss of a playing field. The school reported that the land was not used formally for the curriculum and has poor lighting, meaning it is rarely used.

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Photo: Anders Sandberg at flickr.com, CC-BY-NC 2.0

A proposition has been made for streetlights to be turned off in Oxfordshire and surrounding areas between 11pm and 6:30am to cut costs but concerns of the safety of the public have arisen following the announcement.

The council appears to have taken a U-turn on their plans after 2,000 people signed a petition raising safety concerns following the announcement.

Amidst the proposal, Cllr Sudbury of Oxford County Council faced much backlash as locals reprimanded him with concerns of how dangerous the decision is for members of the public.

The chancellor has responded to these concerns in an attempt to set the record straight claiming that “This was intended as a technical document, which was meant to be a framework on which to base next stages, including consultation, and authorise expenditure. Unfortunately, it was quite understandably seen as a plan for immediate implementation.”

Cllr Sudbury follows up by saying that “As a result, it set a lot of hares running, and I apologise for any upset caused.”

While this statement has reassured some people, the concept has still left some locals worried for their safety, particularly young students.

Oxford Brookes University student Martha Harris said that “as a young woman it is sad that we have to think about the danger we could be putting over selves in when walking home alone but that’s the way the world is these days unfortunately and this announcement makes me feel so uneasy. I really think it’s a terrible idea and it really puts us at risk in these colder dark winter months.”

Sarah Blackburn, a parent of a child attending Wychwood School in Banbury told Hybrid about the worry the announcement has caused for her. She said that “My daughter walks to school slightly earlier on certain weekdays due to sports practice sessions and with the sun rising later these days it’s still dark when she leaves the house and I truly worry for her safety amidst these new propositions, I won’t stand for it.”

As it currently stands, the plans have been deferred for further consideration following complaints from the public and the Council are yet to set another date for discussing the plans to turn off streetlights between 11pm and 6:30am.

A prolific shoplifter in Headington has pled guilty and been charged with five counts of shoplifting and was sentenced to 26 weeks imprisonment. He had stolen items from multiple Headington shops, including the pharmacy and Sainsbury’s.

58 year old Andrew Copeland-Brown was arrested in Headington on the 8^th of November and charged on the 9^th.

An employee in Headington said ‘[shoplifting] is awful, it happens quite frequently. I am surprised by the arrest, it is sort of a good thing – something is being done.’ However, when asked if he thinks this would stop shoplifting he responded ‘I am no expert but I think I have noticed it getting worse, but there is probably a reason and the reason doesn’t seem like it is going anywhere.’

The event, which was open to all, lasted for about an hour, with more than 40 students showing up to participate and have fun.

As the room started to fill with excited and diverse young people of all backgrounds and identities, the pumpkins stopped being the centre of attention.

Students found themselves talking to the person sitting next to them even though they had never met them before.

Some did small talk but others – like in the writer’s case – started having deeper conversations: the fact that male homosexuality is still illegal in Zambia but lesbian relationships are not, because the government doesn’t even recognise they exist, how celebrity culture is practically “destroying” journalism and finally, what will be the future of humanity if a “convicted felon” wins the American elections.

Afterall, as Adrienne Golson (he/they), the Vice-Chair of Brooke’s LGBTQ+ Network said “the main goal of this event was for everybody to enjoy themselves and build friendships and connections. It's a bit of a break from assignments and university”.

The LGBTQ+ Students' Network is planning to organize more creative events in the future. “We do have a documentary screening and pizza night coming up for “SHAG” (Sexual Health Awareness Week) week” Adrienne adds and continues “also we’ re planning to hold a Christmas arts and crafts meeting at the end of November”.

Let’s hope that all these events will be as fun as the Halloween one.