The housing market in Scotland is showing signs of a weak recovery, according to the latest Scottish House Price Monitor from Lloyds TSB Scotland. In the first quarter of 2010, the value of the average Scottish home rose 0.7%, compared with the previous three months, to £157,801. The increase is a shadow of the 5.9% [...]
Mortgage arrears and repossessions both fell in the first quarter of 2010, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). However, the body warns against complacency, “as a large number of households, who are just coping, still remain vulnerable to shocks that may arise from the economic uncertainty ahead”. During the first three months of [...]
The UK’s recovery from recession was at a snail’s pace in the first quarter of 2010, with GDP growing by an estimated 0.2%, or just half analysts’ expectations of 0.4%. According to the Office for National Statistics, progress was also half that made in the final quarter of 2009, when output increased by 0.4% once [...]
New figures from HM Revenue & Customs show house sales rising to 72,000 in March, with the total increasing by 13,000 (22%) on February, the BBC has reported. With January’s end to the stamp duty holiday still making its mark, March sales were still dwarfed by the 103,000 completions in December. However, compared with a [...]
In its latest Credit Conditions Survey, the Bank of England has reported that mortgage lending improved in the three months to early December 2009. According to the Bank, the upturn was “driven in part by improvements in the economic outlook and in prospects for house prices”. Encouragingly for first-time buyers, the rise in mortgage availability [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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