Renters' Rights the Wrongs?

21:07Felicity Hannah:Have a great day. That's nice to hear, Flo. Douglas, what are you kind of expecting now? We've had these three scenarios laid out by the Bank of England. If you were on the Monetary Policy Committee, what do you think is most likely? Well, one of the scenarios that the bank set out yesterday was the prospect that oil prices stay at around the$120,$130 level. and they said that if that's the case, they'll certainly have to take some action. And it's beginning to look as if that scenario is a little bit more likely than perhaps it was when the bank first drew it up at the start of their meeting this week.

21:47I think there's no doubt that rates are going to have to go up. If you look at the gilt market, for example, short-dated government bonds are trading with an interest rate at yield of about 4.5%. So that's above the bank's current policy rate of 3.75%. So that certainly suggests that the rates are going to go up. And if I were on the Monetary Policy Committee, I would be a little concerned about the fact that inflation has already been above target, above 3%, for about a year. So it's not as if we go into this current period from a particularly good place from the point of view of inflation control.

22:20And I would want to just make sure that the bank was seen to be acting with speed in order to maintain its inflation-fighting credibility.

22:30Felicity Hannah:It's a tricky one, isn't it, Douglas? Because we're sort of sitting here thinking about what the Monetary Policy Committee is trying to work out and what Hupell said and what people might be thinking and what economic factors and data might be feeding into all of that. But ultimately, the Bank of England is a bit stuck in that a huge amount depends on what Donald Trump wakes up and does on any given morning. Yes, that's right. So, it's true that there's a limited amount that monetary policy can do about energy price shocks, that the bank cannot increase the supply of oil, for example. Interest rates have got nothing to do with that.

23:10And yes, it is unpredictable when you find that the markets can be moved by a single presidential tweet. So, it's not an easy situation for them. It's also the case that interest rates are not a magic bullet. When we last had an inflationary shock in 2022-2023. Interest rates did go up. They went up a lot from almost zero. It's hard to remember now, but they were pretty much zero at the start of 2022. And that didn't have a big effect. Inflation still rose pretty high, still rose into double digits. And part of the reason for that was that fixed term mortgages, fixed price mortgages are so common these days.

23:50So the interest rate weapon is not quite as powerful as it used to be.

23:53Felicity Hannah:Now, one of the questions that's being raised is about the jobs market, Douglas. Is it looser than it was in 2022? And why would the bank be looking anxiously at that? It is looser. Unemployment is higher than it was then. So currently around about the 4 % mark, it's trending up. The rate of average pay increases is trending down, now standing at about 3.5%. So not much more than the current inflation rate, for example. Now, if that's the case, then households have less money to spend. It means that they are likely to pull in their horns, reduce their spending, and that perhaps will result in downward pressure on the prices of some thickness in the economy.

24:37And so that might offset the upward effect on prices that's coming through from the oil price. So that is why the bank will be watching that indicator very carefully. They mentioned it quite a bit yesterday. It could be that if we get that sort of slowing in the labour market, that it takes demand out of the economy and the bank doesn't have to raise rates, interest rates quite as much as they otherwise would. That is a key judgment that they're going to have to make in the months ahead.

25:00Felicity Hannah:And, Micah, we're talking about the impact on individuals and whether they're spending more. And they might all be thinking, well, I'd quite like some government help. But, of course, this also puts a huge amount of pressure on government spending. Absolutely. So that's the key thing to keep an eye on. We know that government spending is already sky high in the UK. Of course, there are massive implications for our personal finances too. There's always winners and losers. The winners in this case are savers because with interest rates staying high and potentially moving higher, that means you're going to get a better return on your savings account.

25:36But the reality is that if you do want to make sure you've got an account that beats inflation, you probably need to be shopping around. So moving out of closed or legacy savings accounts, many of which are just within a whisker or probably below inflation at the moment. And of course, there are 1.8 million people in the UK who are going to be remortgaging this year, myself included. And that is really concerning because mortgage pricing is being driven up by future expectations about the interest rate. And many of us were hoping for cuts this year to be baked into fixed deals. And really what we're seeing is we're seeing lenders trim rates and overall mortgage costs remain really high.

26:21Felicity Hannah:Chris, it must be quite interesting for you working with candidates and job hunters and your own staff, because they must be sort of looking at this and thinking about their own careers, their own earnings and what this is going to do to their own finances. yeah i think it's something that impacts everyone really um we see it at a business scale where there's been key considerations around the level of hiring that they're doing there's there's also the ai piece to fold into that as to can these jobs be done um by machines i think we've seen a trend particularly early this year of businesses returning to bringing people into the business but it's not at the rate that it has been previously but it's certainly trending upwards and yeah from a personal perspective I think this alongside a lot of the other macro events that are going on in the world at the moment people are probably being a little bit more introspective across the board and certainly their own job prospects and and I guess the the main contribution to their personal life financially is going to be at the top of that list.

27:27Felicity Hannah:It's interesting some of texts that we're getting into the show actually showing showing how people are thinking joe says every home in the uk could benefit from a 25 reduction in their food bill per week don't bin it eat it which is always good advice but michael says dig for victory more allotments more compost bins i mean douglas clearly some people are looking at this and they're thinking this is going to be really really significant uh for for our ability to budget as a household Yeah, I think a lot of people will be worried. And that's one reason why those consumer confidence index numbers that I mentioned are heading down.

28:05And there's no question that inflation is a really serious problem. I think sometimes that one sort of loses a sense of that when you're talking about inflation moving from where it is at the moment, so about three and a half percent up to maybe four and a half percent or perhaps six percent at the Bank of England's worst case scenario. that we were talking about before. These can seem like relatively small moves, relatively small differences between the numbers. But my experience is that once the rate goes above about 3%, people really start to notice, it really sours the national mood. It really becomes a political issue and it absolutely cannot be ignored.

28:43Felicity Hannah:Just explain. We always get this question from our listeners. A lot of people want to understand why, in order to potentially save us from rising prices, the Bank of England wants to put up people's mortgage and potentially their rent costs too. Well, the idea is to take heat out of the economy, to slow down the economy. If you think of the economy as a car, it's a bit like stamping on the brakes in order to slow things down. The bank has to think about the overall level of prices, so not just those that are directly linked to energy. And it also has to try and think about the so-called second round effects.

29:21So you get the first round effects, that's when the price of petrol, for example, goes up. And then you get the second round effects where people try to defend their real incomes by pushing for wage increases, for example. And the bank is trying to just take the heat out of the economy to crimp people's spending power at the end of the day in order to make sure that things don't get out of control, that you don't get a rolling series of these second round effects, which leads to a problem that is longer in duration than it would otherwise need to be.

29:58Felicity Hannah:Douglas, I could listen to you explaining it all for the rest of the programme, but we are at half past, so we're going to have to leave it there. Thank you very much. We're going to let you crack on with your Friday. Douglas McNeill there, former Chief Economic Advisor to Rishi Sunak. Thanks.

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31:17Wake Up To Money with Felicity Hanna.

31:21Felicity Hannah:Good morning. If you're just joining us on Wake Up To Money, welcome to Friday, welcome to May, welcome to the show. There are big changes that come in today for landlords and tenants in England who are in the private rented sector. And I've been asking for your opinion. We're going to dig into exactly what those changes are in just a second. But I've been asking you to get in touch by texting me on 85058 or sending me a WhatsApp message on 08085 909693. With your views, you definitely are. Let's start off with Sue in Portsmouth, who says, To augment my rubbish pension, I rent my house and live in the granny flat.

31:57Felicity Hannah:But because of changes, we'll not rent again. So instead of paying tax, I will need a pension top-up suit. Thank you for that. Lots more of you getting in touch with your questions and your stories. and we will get into those now because the Renters' Rights Act has come into force in England today, meaning more rights and flexibility for renters. It includes an awful lot, actually. It's a lot going on in this, but the main headline change is an end to no-fault evictions, Section 21 evictions, and fixed-term contracts. So all contracts now will become rolling contracts. I spoke with Sue. She's a landlord.

32:33Felicity Hannah:She had this to say about the new rules. I don't know any landlord who has ever evicted a tenant unless there was a reason for doing it. So it was never no fault. Generally, a landlord would evict a tenant because they might be in arrears or there might be antisocial behaviour. It was never that they just thought, oh, I've got a really good tenant here. They're paying their rent on time every month. But actually, I just want my house to be empty. We'll hear from renters as well in just a moment. But let's talk to Rachel Williamson, Policy Director at the Chartered Institute of Housing, which is the UK's biggest network of housing professionals.

33:08Felicity Hannah:Rachel, good morning. Good morning, Felicity. Thank you for joining us bright and early. I'm sure lots of people will want to hear from you today. Just break down the headlines for us. What are the main things that are changing? Thank you. So the main changes from today, because there are more to come later in the year, are, as you said in the opening, the end of no fault Section 21 evictions. So landlords would need to have a reason to be able to evict a tenant. There's also the end of fixed contracts, as you say. So all tenancies in the private rented sector will be open-ended and tenants can end them with two months' notice or less if agreed.

33:39Otherwise, they are rolling. New rules for renting mean landlords can only raise rent once a year and renters can challenge unfair hikes through an independent tribunal if needed. There'll be no more bidding wars, so landlords must stick to no more than the advertised rent price and can't ask for more than one month's rent up front when the tenancy is signed. And finally, the anti-discrimination measures included mean the Act makes it illegal to refuse tenants just because they receive benefits or have children.

34:05Felicity Hannah:So, I mean, absolutely loads for both landlords and renters to get their heads around. I'm just going to run through because this is quite a political issue as well. So I'm just going to outline what the different parties have to say in England, which is where this Act is coming into force. So it's a flagship Labour policy. The Lib Dems say they welcome that ban on no-fault evictions. The Conservatives say there's a risk this could reduce the supply of homes by forcing some landlords out of the market. And Reform UK says this is a disaster for renters. Supply will fall, rents will rise. And then the Green Party say they welcome these changes, but they wanted further reforms like rent controls.

34:41Felicity Hannah:It is a very political issue. We're going to talk about the business of it, though, Rachel. I mean, what about that question of landlords leaving the market? Like Sue in Portsmouth saying, you know, this is just too much. She's getting out. Are we seeing that? There is clearly evidence. We can hear it just in that example from Sue, can't we, of people looking at the change happening and thinking, well, perhaps this is no longer for me. And of course, it will depend on the reason why you've entered into that letting in the first place, maybe how many homes you rent. And Sue is not unusual in that scenario she's described.

35:12But arguably, people's decision to move on if they do is driven by a mix of factors. And your piece on the programme just before this was speaking around some of the challenges, mortgage interest rates, global uncertainty. There's been a range of changes over the last few years, tax changes. Obviously, it can be starting to cost more depending on your setup and, of course, regulation. So, you know, all of those things any business owner would want to take into account. But, you know, many landlords are continuing in the sector. And just maybe as a cross-reference to Scotland, where no fault evictions were ended in 2017, there was a lot of speculation we'd see a lot of landlords leaving the market.

35:47There was some friction. But actually, as time's gone on, the suggestion from the evidence I can see is that it certainly hasn't led to a collapse in the private rented sector or a mass exodus of landlords. It's continued to operate and there's been new activity and investment. So there will be some churn. I think it will depend very much on whether you are a landlord, maybe one or two properties or a bigger landlord, because the changes will feel differently depending

36:09Felicity Hannah:on your portfolio size. And of course, you know, while that churn is happening, while that transition is happening, it can be very painful for the individuals caught up in it. I've also been speaking to Lynn. She believes her landlord decided to sell the home she'd lived in for 17 years because these new rights were coming in. I was renting a small one-bedroom flat in Ealing, moved in in 2009. Everything was fine, managed by a local estate agent. And then at the end of January this year, I got an email from the managing agent saying that the landlord's circumstances have changed and he's looking to sell.

36:43We'll be in touch in due course with the Section 21. Started looking and very quickly realised that just with rental prices now in London have having increased so much in the last 17 years that I'm priced out of renting by myself again.

36:56Felicity Hannah:So really, really tough for people like Lynne. But overall, Rachel, once we're through this kind of transitional period, will tenants in England in the private rented sector feel more secure in their homes? Yes, I would say so. They, you know, that fewer unexpected moves, because at the moment we know tenants don't necessarily have a choice about when they're moving. I'm sorry to hear about Lynn's experience there. There inevitably will be a little bit of that. But, you know, moving is expensive. People have got all of the costs involved. And the lack of confidence that renters until now have had in knowing whether or not they can stay in their home if the landlord's wanting to, you know, potentially give them notice to perhaps put the rent up.

37:38I think the fact that you have to have a valid reason to evict and you know most landlords absolutely would have but there are some that haven't done and actually sometimes have wanted to regain the property to increase the rent so it's about trying to balance out and give security I think to landlords and tenants and there are strengthened grounds for landlords that need to evict where there's an issue but tenants should go into an agent sorry a let now feeling more

38:01Felicity Hannah:confident about their security to live there. Rachel Williamson, Policy Director at the Chartered Institute of Housing. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Lots of you getting in touch. Let's say Chris in Sussex says, as a landlord with two properties, I fully understand why tenants want better rights and I'm in agreement. I have no issue with pets. I charge fair market rent. And I know of no landlord who would exit a tenant unless they really evict a tenant unless they really had to, particularly a good tenant. My biggest concern is no fixed contract end date. Thank you for that. Trevor in Bristol says, I've been a student rental landlord for the last 25 years.

38:36Felicity Hannah:The abolition of fixed term tenancies will make my business almost unmanageable. We won't know if our tenants want to stay next year until eight weeks before the new season. That makes our early marketing of the property impossible. And somebody who doesn't give their name says if landlords are selling their houses because that doesn't mean it couldn't, excuse me, if landlords are selling their houses, it could potentially have a positive impact for people seeking to buy a house because there'll be more houses available, which might stop the prices rising or even reduced prices and therefore allows people, more people to be able to afford their home rather than having to rent.

39:10Felicity Hannah:Thank you very much for that. Loads more of you getting in touch. We'll try and do some more of those before the end of the programme if we can, but there's loads to talk about. Let's touch on whiskey tariffs. Donald Trump said last night he'll remove tariffs on Scottish whiskey following that visit from the king and queen. And I just took all the restrictions off so Scotland and Kentucky can start dealing again. And I did it in honour of the king and queen who just left. They're heading back. It was a big deal. They've been trying to get this for a long time. Well, industry representatives say distillers would be able to breathe a little easier during a period of significant pressure on the sector.

39:48Felicity Hannah:And one of those is someone we've spoken to a fair few times on the show, Annabelle Thomas, who's founder and CEO of Nugnian Whiskey in Drimmon, just across from the Isle of Mull. she sent us this voice message reacting to the news. It is great news for Nick Neon and the industry that the US tariffs have been removed on Scotch. I'm actually in the US at the moment promoting Nick Neon and seeing firsthand how well the US consumer reacts to our single malt. The taste, our commitment to sustainability and the fact I'm a female founder all seem to resonate. And last year, in spite of the tariffs, Nick Neon grew at 37 % in the US, but we had to absorb the tariffs to maintain a reasonable on-shelf price.

40:29So this change will free up resources for us to invest in promoting Nignian even more in the US, especially to do events and allow people to taste the whiskey, which hopefully will result in even better growth this year and next for Nignian. And I have heard that the king is partial to whiskey, and we know he's a big supporter of organic products. So I'm thinking I might send him a bottle of Nignian to say thank you.

40:53Felicity Hannah:I wonder if he might be getting a few of those now. Now, Annabelle Thomas there, who's founder and CEO of Nignian Whiskey. Still with me throughout the programme is Micah Curry, Vice President of Personal Finance at PensionBee, and Chris Woodward-Jones, co-founder of the online talent platform Vizi. Micah, this is potentially going to be very, very good for the whiskey industry, which has been sort of grappling with some of those tariff issues. Yes, I mean, the industry has had a really torrid year. especially the last year, because, of course, the U.S. is its most valuable export market. And what it saw just in the last year was exports falling about 4 % to 933 million.

41:41But the biggest impact was on volume. So there's a massive reduction of just shy of 10 % in bottles of whiskey exported. so this will be good news because we've got to remember that the industry is also fighting higher levies and the fact that there are declining rates of alcohol consumption as the younger generations taste change we just heard just recently from Diageo that they would be reducing production of whiskey at some of its distilleries so it's welcome news it is interesting that it's on the quirk of the king visiting America and that Donald Trump can make these changes based on that personal taste and visits.

42:23Because we know there are some other products in Scotland that are really popular with Americans too, like shortbread and salmon. And these products have also seen tariffs implemented. So there's a bigger story here.

42:35Felicity Hannah:Chris, what do you think about what Mike is talking about there, that these tariffs can be lifted on this one product as a sort of gift, a gift to our king for a good visit? Yeah, I think it probably suggests that the power of the monarchy in those visits is still important. And hopefully it's the first of many. I'd hope to think that other products will see a similar benefit. I think when tariffs are lifted, and as the CEO of McLean said, resources can be allocated elsewhere and a focus on growth can really come to the forefront. And I think at this time, that growth mindset is important. So the tariffs being reduced or removed is a positive thing.

43:23And let's hope there are a couple of other products that can follow suit.

43:26Felicity Hannah:Yes, maybe shortbread companies now sending the king some freebies too, if that changed. Let's talk about a completely different sector. Let's talk about big tech, because it was a huge week, wasn't it? We had results from Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and overnight, Apple as well, another one of those so-called magnificent seven big tech stocks with some pretty breathtaking numbers, Micah. Reported over$111 billion of sales for the quarter ending March 28, beating analyst predictions. Are you viewing that as nothing but good or was there anything for investors to kind of chew over in those results?

44:09Well, the good news is that we saw iPhone sales rise significantly. They mentioned the iPhone 17 being its most popular product ever, especially in China. But the bigger question is around Apple's AI strategy and around cost pressures and where that next phase of growth will come from. We know we're going to see a changeover in CEO. but the big question for all of these big tech giants really is the massive use of AI and that massive use of AI requires memory chip use, it requires data centers and that means massive costs and those costs will have an impact on margins. So we haven't seen, despite Apple having this really stellar set of results, we didn't see the share price move a lot and we haven't seen the share price move a lot in the last year because investors are waiting for signs to see whether the company's AI features catch up.

45:08It had a bit of a poor start just two years ago. And it is in that expensive arms race, if you like, to build AI infrastructure, which is being pursued by all of the big tech players.

45:19Felicity Hannah:And Sean, of course, heard from the CEO of Buy It Direct on chip shortages and computer hardware difficulties earlier this week. But Chris, you're running a tech business. You're using AI on a daily basis. What's your take on the astonishing rate of spending by those big tech firms on AI? Yeah, I mean, the level of spending really is magnificent. I think it's phenomenal to see that even individuals who have holdings in those companies can see a$20 billion swing on a day. It's just mind-blowing. But I'm not surprised. I think the infrastructure investment is needed. And I think it's a positive sign that, you know, the strong tech earnings, it's encouraging.

46:00And it shows that the direction of travel and the fact that AI is here to stay is at the forefront of a lot of people's minds. And these players are operating at a totally different level. Sort of the level of investment into infrastructure at something like$650,$700 billion from four of the players, you know, compared to the UK investment recently announced of$500 million. And we're talking about significant investment and the infrastructure piece that underpins what AI is going to enable a lot of people to do. And adoption is still low and will increase, is fundamentally important. It's not going anywhere.

46:39And you look at Google's play in the iCloud space and even Apple's move with the mini Macs from a processing and hardware space. I think the infrastructure holds the key to the future. and I'm not surprised that this level of spending is coming from these guys.

46:55Felicity Hannah:Let's talk about a different kind of investment now. I'm very, very pleased that we're about to speak to the CEO of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club because, you may have seen this week, Five Live might have mentioned it once or twice. The club's released plans for Europe's first purpose-built women's football stadium. There are only two in the world. They're both in the US. This will be the third once it's completed in 2030. It'll be built right next to their current Amex Stadium, where the men play, at a cost of around£75 to£80 million. Paul Barber is Brighton & Hove Albion's chief executive.

47:29Felicity Hannah:Paul, very good morning to you. Good morning, Felicity. Go on then, tell me the thinking, the ambition, the plan. Why now? Well, I think for us, the women's game is the biggest growth opportunity in football. Football is the world's most popular sport. I think most people would accept that for the men's game, it's pretty saturated, certainly in the UK and Europe. So we see this as a great opportunity to not just grow our business, but most importantly, grow women's sport. And women's football is a very important part of our club's strategy right the way through Division 2030. And we feel that it's respectful to build a stadium for our women's team and also for the different audience that it attracts.

48:09So we're really looking forward to it and looking forward to getting started once planning is complete.

48:14Felicity Hannah:And I mean, great, great plans, great to hear the women's game kind of being prioritised in that way. But a cost of 75 to 80 million quid, that is a big cost. It's a huge cost. But, you know, we build stadiums for generations. You know, this is 100 years in its lifetime, we hope. And during that time, you know, who knows where we'll be. But one thing we're sure about is that, you know, most stadiums in the world are actually built for men and they're built for a predominantly male audience. Do male players and male audience members need something different? Do women need something different? Are there two different kinds of stadiums?

48:57Well, if you think about it from, first of all, the pitch, there's a lot of injuries that female athletes get that are currently not yet explained. It could be down to the pitch surface being designed for much heavier male athletes. If we look to the dressing rooms, most of the dressing rooms in UK stadiums are built with open showers, which women don't like. They don't have many cubicles in them for toilets, which women need. If you move to the concourses, we're geared up at the Amex to serving thousands and thousands of pints of beer per game and giant meat pies. If you go to a women's game, the audience there doesn't tend to walk around with lots of beer and lots of meat pies.

49:33So we need to think about how we cater for the demographic that comes to watch women's games as well. but most importantly we want to get high performance out of our female athletes and we need to show them respect by giving them the facilities that drives that high performance and not ask them to make do with facilities that were designed for men.

49:51Felicity Hannah:I mean I love the respect but commercially is this a commercial decision alongside that? When you talk about growing the game will you also grow the business with this move? Of course we hope so because I think there are a number of brands around the world that specifically want to target a different demographic that likes sport, likes women's football, but they can't necessarily get to through the men's game. And so what this does is it gives them that commercial opportunity to reach that audience in a different way. And I think for our broadcast partners, including the BBC, we want to provide a much better atmosphere in the stadium where the stadium is full.

50:28So we talk about right-sizing the stadium for the female audience that we have at the moment. In the future, we hope that audience will be much, much bigger and present us with a problem that a 10 ,000-seater stadium might not be big enough for the future, in which case that's a bridge we'll happily cross when we get to it. But at the moment, we need to right-size the stadium for the audience we have and we need to actually create the atmosphere in the stadium to attract more and more people to come and watch the game. And that's what this stadium is designed to help us do.

50:57Felicity Hannah:OK. In terms then of, you know, you talked about the difference in the crowd and perhaps people who are coming to the women's game not necessarily wanting to buy massive meat pies and loads and loads of beer, although I'm sure plenty of women listening will be thinking, hang on, I'm quite partial to a meat pie. But what kind of is the main difference in demographic for the women's game that you feel does need catering to differently? I think you tend to find if you go to women's games, you'll see a lot more families, a lot of mums with their daughters, dads with their daughters, dads with small children, mums with small children.

51:32So, you know, we think more about buggy parks than car parks very often at women's games. You know, people turn up to games with small children, with pushchairs, buggies, and football stadiums are not typically geared up to store them. So we need to think differently about the audience that will come to women's games. We've also got a lot of young girls that are now being introduced to football in schools up and down the country who see our female players as aspirational role models in the same way that young boys see male players. So we want to make sure that when they turn up, we've got an environment that is friendly for them, safe for them, comfortable for them, comfortable for their parents, and gives them the chance to actually get closer to those athletes that they aspire to be.

52:13And that's not always possible in a big stadium where, you know, the crowd can be quite intimidating in the men's game. So it's a very, very different match day experience that we're looking to build. And we're really looking forward to actually building that from scratch rather than adapting what we have and making do.

52:29Felicity Hannah:Now, this is a story about the women's team and this new stadium. So I don't want to go on about the Amex Stadium. But do you feel when you're looking at that, you know, plans for, for example, more buggy parking, that kind of thing, that perhaps you also have a duty to make the Amex Stadium more approachable for families, more accessible for families? Is it kind of changing your thinking on that as well? Absolutely it is. and we're hoping to learn a lot from the new stadium about how we can forward think and adapt the Amex in whatever way that we can. But again, you know, for the atmosphere component in the new women's stadium, it's going to be far better for our women's team to play to a full capacity of, let's say, between 8 ,000 and 10 ,000 in its own stadium rather than have those 8 ,000 to 10 ,000 supporters rattling around the stadium with 32 ,000 seats.

53:21So the game then feels very different. The atmosphere feels very different. The broadcast experience is different. So we're really looking forward to, as I say, right-sizing the stadium. We're calling it Built for Her because we're building this stadium through the lens of women and girls. And I think that's a respectful thing to do, but it's also the right thing to do at this stage of the sports development.

53:41Felicity Hannah:At a time when so many clubs are struggling to break even, do you have a sense of pride that this is something that you can do, this is something that you can champion, that you're pioneers? Really, really delighted to be pioneers. but also very lucky to have an owner like Tony Bloom that's prepared to back us in this way. And now we need to get this stadium built, prove our concept, and hopefully other clubs will follow and women's football will grow as a result. We can only hope. Paul Barber, Brighton & Hove Albion's chief executive, thank you so much for joining us on Wake Up To Money. Thank you, Felicity.

54:12Felicity Hannah:Thank you. What a pleasure. Right. It's been a lovely morning. Thank you so much for your company. Thank you as well to Chris Woodward-Jones, co-founder of the online talent platform, Vizzy. I hope your first morning with us was very, very good. and you'll come back. And thank you to Micah Curry, Vice President of Personal Finance at PensionBee. Thank you to you for all your messages. We didn't get through a fraction of them, but I'm very, very grateful for your company. Grateful to you for being with us and getting in touch this morning. That is it for Wake Up To Money. Wake Up To Money from BBC Five Live.

54:46Felicity Hannah:That's it from Wake Up To Money. Don't forget to subscribe on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. And when you do, we'd love it if you'd leave us a review. You can also contact us anytime on social media using the hashtag WakeUpToMoney.

55:04Hello, I'm Nicky Campbell, and this could well be the podcast you've been waiting for. We're calling it Don't Say a Word, but it could be don't listen to that song, don't read that book, don't watch that film, don't like that post, don't laugh at that joke. We're here to help you navigate, to make sense of it all, to keep up. If people aren't up to speed with all of the latest kind of politically correct lingo, they feel isolated and don't want to engage in a conversation, that should retreat into silos. If you sometimes sit on the fence because you're worried about giving offence. Hello, we found your podcast.

55:36Don't say a word, but do listen to this podcast with me, Nicky Campbell. Listen on BBC Sounds.