Changes announced in todaya��s budget mean that four million pensioners will be worse off. The budget included controversial proposals to lower the income tax allowance for people over 65 to A?9,205 from April. This will bring pensioners in line with the general population. The over 65s currently benefit from a more generous tax-free allowance of […]
Delivering his third Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, said that it would help those who aspired to do better for themselves and for their families. a�?Britain is going to earn its way in the worlda�� he said. He promised far reaching tax reform, creating a system that was simple to understand for ordinary […]
Details of the new flat-rate state pension will be unveiled next week by the Government. In last montha��s Budget, it was announced that the new pensions system should make pension planning easier to understand a�� stripping out the current complex means-tested payments system and will move towards a flat-rate payment for men and women. The […]
In todaya��s Budget, Chancellor George Osborne confirmed that the new flat-rate state pension will be brought in but will take many years to come into force. According to the Government, the new pensions system should make pension planning easier to understand a�� stripping out the current complex means-tested payments system and will move towards a […]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has today revealed a slight rise in the number of homes sold in February in the UK. According to HMRC, 57,000 homes worth at least A?40,000 or more were sold in the month a�� 4,000 more than Januarya�?s levels. The figures come as the British Bankersa�� Association (BBA) revealed a […]
The Markit Household Finance Index has revealed that households are at their most pessimistic about their finances since March 2009 – when the country was in the midst of recession. The gloomy report comes ahead of Wednesday’s Budget – when Chancellor George Osborne will unveil the Governmenta��s 2011/12 tax and spending plans. Meanwhile, Markit’s household […]
There is speculation that the Government may delay the 1p rise in fuel duty – planned for next month. The move is believed to be announced in this weeka��s Budget and comes as the price of petrol has surged to more than A?1.30 a litre, due to concerns about the ongoing civil unrest in Libya […]
The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a severe decline in UK consumer confidence for the month of February. The building societya��s consumer confidence index plunged to 38 in February – a fall of 10 points and the lowest level since records began in May 2004. The latest fall means confidence is […]
Figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a rise in UK car production for the month of February. UK car production rose 15.1% versus the same month a year ago, the SMMT said, with the total number of cars produced at 111,983. For the year-to-date, car production is 12% […]
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is urging Chancellor George Osborne to provide a “relentless focus” on economic growth and job creation when he presents his annual budget later this month. In a letter to the Chancellor, the business lobby group said action must be taken in order to boost the economic recovery. Over recent […]
The Greek parliament has today approved its 2011 austerity budget, which includes further spending cuts and tax hikes. The budget, which is part of the condition of its bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is an attempt to trim the countrya��s deficit to 7.4% of GDP next year, down from […]
As part of the Governmenta��s Comprehensive Spending Review, it is understood that the social housing budget will be slashed by more than 50%. The Spending Review, which will be unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne tomorrow, will provide details of how the Government intends to slash spending by A?83 billion by 2014 as it endeavours to […]
Despite the government’s rhetoric on big society, it has announced A?11 million of spending cuts to the department responsible for social enterprise. The Office for Civil Society has had its 2010/11 budget cut to A?136.9 million, down from A?147.9 million. Nick Hurd, minister for civil society, said: “Every area of government is looking at reducing […]
The Children’s Mutual has suspended all new business to its most basic Child Trust Fund (CTF) accounts following the government’s decision to scrap the CTF scheme. CTFs were one of the first things to face the coalition’s axe as they seek to make massive cutbacks to tackle Britain’s national debt. David White, chief executive of […]
Proposed cuts to public spending could see Graduate unemployment surge to record levels, according to the Higher Education Careers Service (HECSU). The HECSU said Graduates will be badly affected by the cuts since so many of them are recruited in the public sector. The body said if a fifth of the 39,000 graduates joining the […]
Last weeka��s tough budget is expected to result in the loss of more than one million jobs by 2015, according to a leaked Treasury document. The Guardian has reported that while there will be an estimated 2.5 million jobs created in the next five years, 1.2 million will be lost in the same period. Last […]
UK house prices managed a 0.1% rise in June, compared with a month earlier, taking the average value of a home to A?170,111, according to Nationwide. A flurry of new instructions following the abolition of Home Information Packs may have slowed the rate of gain, which fell back from 0.5% in May. The smoother three-month-on-three-month […]
In a bid to boost circulation of the A?5 note, ATMs which only dispense fivers have been installed across Britain, following a two-year trial in London. Almost two dozen machines, run by the ATM operator Bank Machine, have been installed in various locations, including Manchester, Stroud, Oxford, Cardiff and Portsmouth. The 21 new A?5-only machines […]
Respected think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), has commented on this weeka��s budget and said low-income families will be hard hit due to changes to child benefit and tax credits. Robert Chote, IFS director, comments: a�?Osborne and Clegg have been keen to describe the measures as progressive in the sense that the rich […]
A Saving Gateway scheme, aimed at encouraging low-paid workers to save, has been axed by the coalition Government. The scheme, proposed by Gordon Brown to help lower-income families, was due to be launched next month via the Post Office and would have contributed 50p for every A?1 saved. It was designed to help up to […]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was A?741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. […]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees […]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to A?12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on […]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages […]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The a�?Mind the Credit Gapa�? report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than A?50,000 could have a credit […]
Monthly incomes A?22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by A?22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE […]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was A?1,186, more than double the average savings […]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though […]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Companya��s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailersa�� sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wongaa��s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A […]
First-time buyers take a decade to save for a deposit
Before the credit crunch it took first-time buyers two to four years to save up a deposit for a property but a quarter of first-time buyers now say it will take them at least ten years. In its latest Property Tracker report, the Building Societies Association (BSA) suggests that since September 2010 raising a deposit […]
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