Nationwide has doubled its maximum personal loan amount from £25,000 to £50,000. 

The building society said its decision would help customers cope with rising construction costs, with many turning to loans to help with home improvement projects. 

More than four in 10 households were hoping to start renovation plans and the end of this month, it said. 

But, with recent forecasts predicting a 15% uplift in building costs over the next five years, they could be facing much steeper bills. 

"With the impact of inflation and other external pressures, the costs of construction have seen significant increases in recent years," said head of personal loans at Nationwide Darren Bailey. 

"However, we recognise many people will want to continue with the home improvement plans, even if that means they have downscaled their plans to accommodate their budget.

"Our increased maximum personal loan size of £50,000 means we have an option to suit everyone." 

The increased loan amount will be available to Nationwide current account holders.

Customers can apply for the loan online, in branch or on the phone and receive the money the same day.

PrettyLittleThing has been reprimanded for posting "misleading" adverts, marking its ninth warning in four years. 

Complaints about the online fashion retailer were made following its Black Friday social media campaign in November. 

The Advertising Standards Authority investigated 15 posts on X, which mentioned several discounts ranging from 30% to 99%. 

PrettyLittleThing said the period had become well known to consumers in the UK as a time when business offered promotions. 

It also said its advertising and marketing was "reflective of what their customers wanted and expected", and "further terms and conditions were on their website".

However, the ASA found three issues with the campaign. 

It said some misled customers into believing all products were included in the promotion, when some were excluded. 

Others failed to specify when the deal ended, and some breached advertising rules with the "inclusion of closing dates from ads when promotional periods were shortened or extended". 

In previous rulings, the company was found to have: broken the ASA's rules on offence and responsibility by objectifying women; run social media partnerships with influencers that did not make clear they were ads; run promotions that had not been administered fairly.

"While one breach of our rules is one too many, the bulk of the rulings were between 2020-22," the ASA told the Money team.

"To date, two have been published in the last two years. We hope the downward trend in upheld rulings continues but will take action if we see any ongoing issues." 

Inflation is forecast to have fallen to around the Bank of England's 2% target in April - with an announcement at 7am on Wednesday.

A fall in the energy price cap at the start of April is a key reason - energy prices have been a driver of the huge price rises seen in the last two years.

The Bank itself forecast inflation could hit 2.1% for April - down from 3.2% in March and the 40-year high of 11.1% in October 2022.

Respected insights firm Pantheon Macroeconomics thinks it could hit 2% due to "four components"...

• Ofgem's 12.3% price cap cut that took effect in April will slice 40bp off CPI inflation;
• Food inflation shaves another 14bp off overall inflation, as fading commodity-price rises pass through to consumers;
• The BRC Shop Price Index suggests another fall in goods inflation, with help from weaker global costs, cutting headline inflation by 36bp;
• Services inflation is estimated to have fallen to 5.4% in April, from 6.0% in March - a range of items such as mobile bills and rents saw hikes, but these were less severe than those a year previously.

Industry figures released on Tuesday suggest food inflation is indeed falling...

The main upward driver of inflation in April was the price of petrol, which spiked during the month due to Iran-Israel tensions. 

Capital Economics also forecasts overall CPI could dip to 2% - and says we could see inflation at 1% later this year, lower than the BoE expects.

It thinks energy prices will keep falling and "that, in response to the previous falls in agricultural commodity prices, CPI food inflation will fall below zero". 

Inflation falls will influence how soon we get an interest rate cut - as rates are kept high in order to tame inflation by squeezing the economy.

The next Bank of England decision is on 20 June.

Pantheon says: "Markets are pricing a 60% chance of a rate cut in June and more than fully pricing one by August, so the key question is not whether the MPC will ease soon but how quickly it will cut again after the first reduction.

"We expect one cut per quarter to a 3.5% terminal rate, but with risks skewed to the BoE pausing temporarily at 4.0% to 4.5%."

Hotel Chocolat is to open 20 stores over the next 18 months and is expanding its online reach. 

The shops will open in retail parks and feature a different design concept. 

Speaking during Retail Gazette's Future Consumer Debate, the company's head of customer marketing, Amy Harman, said shoppers want to be able to see, smell and feel the chocolate they're buying. 

"That's very much what we’re looking to do in our stores," she said. 

Explaining the choice to target retail parks, she said that's where the footfall and demand is. 

"There's more intent with consumers. They're going for a day out and going for an experience," she added.

The announcement comes as the brand prepares to launch on TikTok shop in the coming weeks as it looks to expand its online audience. 

Dishoom has launched a legal battle over the cockney rhyming slang for curry. 

The restaurant chain, which can be found in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham, has asked for the term Ruby Murray to be freed up by the Intellectual Property Office. 

At the moment, a man named Tariq Aziz has the rights to the name for food and drink uses, with an IPO filing showing he registered the trademark in 2019. 

A search of the IPO site shows an application to revoke the trademark registration on the grounds that it has never been used was filed on 15 May by Dishoom Limited. 

Mr Aziz now has until 15 July to indicate whether he will offer a defence.

If he fails to do so, the trademark will be revoked and removed from the register. 

A Dishoom spokesperson told the Money team it doesn't believe the trademark's owner has ever used it. 

"There is a principle of 'use or lose it' in trademark law and we have therefore asked the UK IPO to remove the Ruby Murray mark from the register," they said. 

"Dishoom is not seeking to apply to register Ruby Murray in its own name; it wishes to remove the 'monopoly' on the use of Ruby Murray so it can be used freely by anyone when referring to curry." 

Dishoom does have a chicken ruby on its menu and in its cookbook and the Money team are big, big fans.

The International Monetary Fund has said the UK economy is heading for a "soft landing", but reiterated its message to Jeremy Hunt that he should not have cut National Insurance at the last two fiscal events.

In its annual check-up on the state of Britain's economy, the Washington-based Fund raised its forecast for gross domestic product growth this year from 0.5% to 0.7%, saying: "The UK economy is approaching a soft landing, with a recovery in growth expected in 2024, strengthening in 2025."

The Fund now expects inflation to come down to close to 2% in the coming months, and the Bank of England to cut interest rates by as much as three quarters of a percent this year, and then another percentage point next year.

The chancellor welcomed the Fund's Article IV report, saying: "Today's report clearly shows that independent international economists agree that the UK economy has turned a corner and is on course for a soft landing.

"The IMF have upgraded our growth for this year and forecast we will grow faster than any other large European country over the next six years - so it is time to shake off some of the unjustified pessimism about our prospects."

Government 'won't meet its debt target'

However, the IMF, which has warned the government explicitly in the past not to cut taxes too fast, in the face of rising spending projections in future, said the two 2p National Insurance contribution cuts at the last two fiscal events were a mistake.

"In light of the medium-term fiscal challenge", the report said, "staff would have recommended against the NIC rate cuts, given their significant cost."

The Fund's staff also believes the government is not on track to meet its main fiscal rule, which commits it to cutting the national debt in five years' time.

It believes net debt will carry on rising towards 97% of GDP in the following years, instead of falling back to 93% of GDP, as the Office for Budget Responsibility has forecast.

The Fund's double-edged report comes amid improving news for the UK.

Data released two weeks ago showed the country ended its short-lived recession with faster than expected growth in the first quarter of the year.

The Office for National Statistics is expected to announce tomorrow that inflation dropped close to the Bank of England's 2% target in April. That may enable the Bank to begin cutting interest rates from their 5.25% level in June or August.

Bank should speak more

The Fund's report contained a number of other recommendations for economic policy in the UK, including that the Bank of England should commit to more news conferences to explain its decisions, and that the government should consider imposing road charges to replace the revenue lost from fuel duty as electric cars become more predominant on UK roads.

For many Britons, retirement means moving somewhere new.

New analysis from relocation experts Property Guides has found the easiest locations for retirees, taking into account culture, visa requirements, cost and more. 

Landing in the number one spot is Ireland, with a lack of visa requirements, English-speaking residents and relatively "safe and happy" environment.

Spain, Portugal and Cyprus claim the next three spots on the list.

However, Spain is high on the minimum annual income requirement.

"Spain's is one of the most expensive. It is currently around €27,000 (£23,000) per year for the first applicant. Just over the border in Portugal, it is less than €8,500 per year. Turkey's is the cheapest, working out at a little over £5,000, while Italy requires over €30,000," Property Guides says.

Turkey also came out well for the low cost of living - unlike New Zealand.

European countries in general offer visas aimed specifically at those receiving pensions or investment incomes, according to Property Guides.

Commonwealth countries such as Australia and Canada, however, actively restrict those over 55 from moving there, even if they have a high passive income (income such as pensions, that doesn't require a job). 

It becomes easier if retirees have children who are already legal residents.

"Golden visas", which encourage wealthy people to invest in a country, are becoming less common. 

"Most countries are now cancelling their residential investment option, including Cyprus and Portugal, and Spain will soon be closing its own. However, for now, you can still get one in Spain, Greece and Turkey, for as little as a €250,000 property, and these we have judged the easiest to retire to."

Property Guides also looked at health services. They took rankings from a Legatum Prosperity Index. 

"Top scorers were Germany, Italy and France, in that order. Bottom of the pile was the USA."

The research noted that state pensions are not uprated for retirees in Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

It also factored in "sunshine hours", with the top three being Cyprus, Portugal and the US. Ireland came last here.

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business reporter 

Good news for motorists: oil prices are at a more than two-month low at $83.08 for a barrel of Brent crude oil.

Lower prices will likely filter down to the pumps in about 10 days.

But it's not such good news for those in the Brixham area.

The parent company of South West Water - who supplies the Devon area - said 15% don't have normal service.

Shares in Pennon Group, which also owns Bournemouth Water and Bristol Water, fell 6.7% after it reported flat pre-tax profit - £16.8m was recorded for the 2023-24 financial year, the same as 2022-23.

That's despite shareholders being in line for a higher payout of 44.37p  a share.

Drug maker AstraZeneca is one of the best-performing stocks on the FTSE 100 index of most valuable London-listed companies today.

After it announced it aims to double revenues by 2030, the share price rose 0.53%. 

If you're buying dollars, you can get $1.27 for your pound or €1.17. 

By James Sillars, business reporter 

Grocery inflation has eased to its lowest level since October 2021, according to industry data released before official figures tipped to show a big dent in the overall pace of price increases in the economy.

Kantar Worldpanel - which tracks supermarket till prices, sales and market share - said its measure of grocery inflation slowed to 2.4% in the four weeks to 12 May from 3.2% the previous month.

The measure showed there is still upward pressure on the cost of items such as chilled fruit juices, drinks, sugar confectionery and chocolate confectionery - the latter a consequence of poor cocoa harvests.

Prices were still falling fastest in toilet tissues, butter and milk, the report said. It has previously pointed to wider assistance in falling costs from a price war among supermarkets.

Fraser McKevitt, Kantar's head of retail and consumer insight, said: "Grocery price inflation is gradually returning to what we would consider more normal levels. It's now sitting only 0.8 percentage points higher than the 10-year average of 1.6% between 2012 and 2021, which is just before prices began to climb.

"However, after nearly two and a half years of rapidly rising prices, it could take a bit longer for shoppers to unwind the habits they have learnt to help them manage the cost of living crisis."

Read more on this story below...

Airbnb has the highest percentage of scam-related reviews, according to new data.

8.5% of comments left on the holiday-let site warned about scams, travel payment website PayFasto said.

Trivago came in second with 7.5%, Hotels.com third with 6.5%,  Myholidays in fourth with 6.1% and Booking.com fifth with 5.8%.

PayFasto says it is essential to do your research before booking a holiday online.

"Sometimes, if a deal looks way too good to be true, it often is," the company said. 

"Make sure you do research on the site and make sure they have legitimate ways to contact them if you were in the position where you needed to. If the site has no contact options, then this is certainly a red flag. "

It also warned holiday-goers to look for the ATOL (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) scheme on websites, which guarantees customers protection separate from insurance when booking a package holiday that includes a flight. 

Sky News has contacted Airbnb for comment.