Wednesday newspaper round-up: Betting shops, Royal Mail, Uber, Tesco
Only a fifth of households can afford to buy the average new home in the south-east of England, according to research, which said affordable properties in the region should cost no more than £250,000. Savills, the property firm, said the housebuilding industry was on track to deliver the government’s target of 1m new homes by 2020 – but there remained an annual shortfall of 104,000 homes in the areas with the highest demand, London and the south-east. – Guardian
Betting shop staff are not properly trained to spot problem gamblers and are even encouraging customers to chase losses or adopt useless strategies, according to a report described as a “wake-up call” to the industry. Fresh concerns about gambling firms’ efforts to tackling addiction came as the government prepares to unveil a review that could overhaul regulation of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) and advertising by the industry. – Guardian
Royal Mail is to suffer its first strike since privatisation, expected on Black Friday and the day after, after workers voted in favour of industrial action over a dispute linked to pensions, pay and jobs. The threat of industrial action at one of the busiest times of the year drew a counter-threat from Royal Mail. It claimed the Communication Workers Union had no legal right to strike as soon as Black Friday because of an agreement signed in 2013. – Telegraph
Transport for London has said it will take Uber several weeks to win back its trust after a "constructive" meeting between the company's new chief executive and senior officials. Dara Khosrowshahi, who took over Uber's top job last month, flew to London for an urgent, high-level meeting to address the capital's concerns regarding its ride-hailing service. – Telegraph
Two Tesco employees resigned amid concerns about accounting practices at the retailer, the trial of three former executives was told yesterday. The resignations were disclosed on the third day of the trial of Christopher Bush, John Scouler and Carl Rogberg. Each is facing one charge of fraud and one of false accounting. – The Times
Four years of falling shop prices are coming to an end as inflation begins to make its way back into supermarkets and the high street, according to the British Retail Consortium. Overall shop prices fell by 0.1 per cent in September, the shallowest level of deflation in four years, with prices “teetering on the edge of inflation”. – The Times