The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has today announced retail sales saw a slight improvement in September According to the BRC/KPMG retail sales monitor, like-for-like sales (which exclude the impact of sales at new stores) rose 0.3% on an annual basis. However, clothing sales suffered while demand for big-ticket items remained weak due to fragile consumer [...]
According to Spencer Dale, the Bank of England’s chief economist, UK inflation is set to accelerate due to soaring energy bills. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed UK Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to annual rate of 4.5% in August from July’s rate of 4.4% – more than double the [...]
A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned that households will be squeezed for the next decade as they suffer from the harsh spending cuts introduced by the Government. It said households are suffering one of the worst attacks on their finances since the Second World War and that the impact of [...]
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has today reported weak retail sales for August. According to the BRC, like-for-like sales (which exclude the impact of sales at new stores) fell 0.6% last month on an annual basis. Overall sales rose 1.5%, however, this was much lower than the 2.8% rise noted in August 2010. Commenting, Stephen [...]
Consumer group Which? has warned homeowners with SVR mortgages that they will be financially squeezed once interest rates are lifted. A Standard Variable Rate (SVR) is a mortgage in which the rate of interest is varied from time to time by the lender but it is usually set at about 2% above the Bank of [...]
Vince Cable has spoken of how bad the British economy has been hit after the global financial crisis. According to the Business Secretary, the crisis and the recession has meant the country is poorer and it has been a “challenge” for the Government to explain what a bad state the economy is in. Speaking to [...]
Influential think tank, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), has said higher inflation and low pay rises means British households face their biggest squeeze since 1921. The report suggests a typical British family will have £910 less to spend this year than they did in 2009 due to higher food and energy prices [...]
According to a survey commissioned by BBC One’s Panorama programme, employees are £1,088 a year worse off than they were two years ago as take-home pay fails to keep in line with inflation. At the start of this year, the typical British worker earned £20,149 – a drop of 5% from what they were earning [...]
A report by the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has revealed that many families could be pushed into debt in the coming months. In its 2010 Statistical Yearbook, the charity said higher rate tax thresholds, lower tax credits and higher interest rates could result in thousands of families facing severe debt problems. Families with three [...]
Prime Minister David Cameron has said the Government will not introduce major tax cuts but insisted he remains a “tax-cutting Tory”. His comments come just a few days after Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, claimed that millions of middle-class families who are set to become higher rate taxpayers from April will “barely notice” the difference. [...]
The Government’s massive spending cuts, which were introduced to trim the spiralling budget deficit, is to lead to a cut in funding for debt advisers. The news comes as debt advice charities are at their busiest as households are squeezed by unemployment, tax hikes and rising inflation. As a result, many debt advisers believe that [...]
The Markit Household Finance Index has revealed that households are at their most pessimistic about their finances since April 2009. According to Markit, households are concerned about rising inflation and the survey suggests a gloomy outlook as finances are expected to deteriorate over the next 12 months. The index fell to 36.1 points in January, [...]
A report from the homeless charity, Shelter, has revealed that in the last year, 2.6 million Britons have paid their mortgage or rent on their credit card. The figure represents a rise of 50% on the previous year and reveals the extraordinary lengths some are going to in order to keep a roof over their [...]
According to the latest Markit Economics survey, the UK looks set to be in for a bleak Christmas as households are squeezed amid higher consumer prices. The survey revealed that consumers’ enthusiasm for buying “big-ticket” items has slumped to its lowest level since February 2009. The research comes despite optimism that consumers would opt to [...]
Respected economic forecaster, the Ernst & Young Item Club, has today warned of a gloomy outlook for consumers but a double-dip recession is unlikely. The think tank said economic growth will be hampered due to massive spending cuts – introduced by the Government to tackle the budget deficit. The Ernst & Young Item Club is [...]
There is worrying news for the economy today after the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said retail sales growth eased in September. The BRC said consumers are holding off purchasing big-ticket items as they prepare themselves for massive spending cuts, introduced by the Government to slash the budget deficit. Many reports have suggested economic growth will [...]
A study by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has found that Britain has the highest rate of “workless” households of all major EU countries. A jobless households means those without any adults in employment. According to the Centre, one in eight British adults lives in a workless household, and the study established that a [...]
The average price of a detached family home has risen by more than any other property type over the past year. According to new research from Halifax, owners of detached properties saw the value of their homes increase by £91 a day over the year to the end of June, with a 13% leap taking [...]
A survey of 2,000 households, conducted by market researchers Markit and YouGov, has revealed confidence has been knocked and households are under pressure financially. The reason for the fall in confidence comes as households are fearful of losing their jobs as the coalition Government embarks on massive spending cuts and tax hikes. Approximately 600,000 public [...]
Figures from the Bank of England today have revealed credit card write-offs continue to rise. During the first three months of 2010, write-offs rose to £1.25 billion – the second highest quarterly amount on record. The situation has deteriorated in the recession as thousands of people have been unable to afford their repayments, due to [...]
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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