Investment firm, Alliance Trust, has revealed that the property market downturn has shaken homeowners’ confidence in funding part of their retirement by cashing in on the family home. According to recent research by the company, only 33% of Britons list property investment among their top three methods of pension savings. The proportion compares with 43% [...]
Home sellers in England and Wales appear largely unmoved by the continued shortage of mortgage funds and dramatically worsening outlook for the economy and are still marketing their properties at unrealistic prices. Property website Rightmove has reported that asking prices in England and Wales rose by 1% in the four weeks to 11th October. The [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has reported that the average selling price of a UK home is now 9% below the asking price. Rics chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, warns that the gap could widen in the coming months as vendors are forced to accept lower offers in a shrinking market. Figures from leading [...]
Rightmove has reported a 1% fall in the asking price of the average home in the month to 13th September. The decline is below the 2.3% recorded by the property website in August but puts the average asking price at £227,438 or £14,204 less than a year ago. The firm has also noted a slight [...]
That well-worn estate agents’ phrase, “laid to lawn and flower beds” takes on a new meaning in the light of research from Yorkshire Bank. In its quarterly Homebuyers’ Report, the bank has revealed that the average homeowner thinks a garden is worth over £9,000 in terms of the total price of a property. According to [...]
Hometrack has reported that home sellers are accepting offers almost 10% below asking prices, to secure a sale. According to the housing intelligence firm, sellers achieved an average 90.7% of their asking prices in August, down from 90.9% in July. The figure is at its lowest since Hometrack began recording the proportion of asking price [...]
Homeowners who have chosen to improve, rather than move in the current market downturn, will be dismayed by new research from Abbey, which suggests that the cost of a home improvements is unlikely to be reflected in a sale price. Falling house prices mean that previously profitable projects can now cost homeowners serious amounts of [...]
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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