The Labor Department has revealed some good news for the world’s largest economy today, showing that the 247,000 jobs were lost in July – much less than analysts had forecast. The decline meant the unemployment rate dropped from 9.5% in June to 9.4% in July – the first fall since April 2008. Analysts had expected [...]
The Bank of England has elected to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.5% today for the fifth month in a row. Rates currently stand at the lowest level since the Bank was established over 300 years ago. Meanwhile, the Bank has announced plans to increase its quantitative easing (QE) programme to £175 billion – a [...]
In a bid to prevent rising job losses, the CBI is proposing an “alternative to redundancy” scheme. The scheme would mean employees would remain at home for up to six months, with a view to being called back to work when economic conditions improve. Alternatively, if demand is still low, employees would then be offered [...]
The UK’s car scrappage scheme got underway today but it has been reported that Ford and Honda have delayed their involvement due to a dispute over VAT. The scheme, which was launched to boost the fall in demand for new cars, pays consumers to get rid of their old cars and replace it with a [...]
Today the government has announced a £9 billion scheme that will install a new smart energy meter in every UK home. Both the Department for Energy & Climate Change and the energy companies believe that the measure will result in savings for consumers. The meters are electronic and available for both gas and electricity and, [...]
Confused.com has welcomed Alistair Darling’s cash for scrapped cars scheme, announced in this week’s budget. The price comparison site described the initiative – which pays motorists up to £2,000 for handing in their old car to update to a brand new model – as ‘fantastic’. It is hoped that in addition to giving a boost [...]
The Homeowners’ Mortgage Support Scheme (HMSS), details of which were announced last year, is now up and running. The new measures are aimed at homeowners who lose some of their income and allow up to 70% of mortgage interest payments to be deferred. Speaking to the BBC, Housing Minister Margaret Beckett explained that the Government [...]
A government scheme designed to reduce the tax burden on British businesses has proved a success, helping over 60,000 firms deal with cash-flow problems. The Business Payment Support Service (BPSS), announced last November in the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report, provides a fast-track service for businesses who need more time to pay their tax bills. These businesses [...]
A survey by the National Association of Pension Funds has revealed that a quarter of major private sector companies will close their doors to existing members in the next five years. A final salary pension scheme is deemed attractive since it promises to pay a percentage of earnings on retirement and those who join believe [...]
Government measures aimed at helping homeowners in danger of repossession come into full effect today. Up to 6,000 households in England could benefit from the £200 million scheme, which allows housing associations to buy the homes of people with serious mortgage arrears and rent the properties back to the previous owners, at a price that [...]
In its most recent attempt to revive the UK housing market, the Government has pledged an extra £100 million to help first-time buyers. Housing Minister, Margaret Beckett, is increasing the budget of the HomeBuy Direct scheme (which was set up in September) from £300 million to £400 million. To date, over 130 developers have signed [...]
Further details have emerged of the Government’s plans to help homeowners struggling with mortgage payments, as outlined in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s November pre-budget report. The new measures allow homeowners who fit the criteria to defer interest payments on their loans for a period of up to two years. The Government will guarantee a [...]
The Government is reported to be considering a range of new measures that could free up lending. When the banks were bailed out with £50 billion of taxpayer cash in October, ministers made it clear that they expected the UK’s High Street banks to restore lending to businesses and individuals. Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson, has [...]
The Government yesterday announced further help for mortgage borrowers who are falling behind with repayments. The new measures should mean that middle-income homeowners who lose their jobs or part of their income are less likely to face repossession. In a scheme guaranteed by the state, borrowers will be able to approach their lenders to request [...]
Details of a £50 billion rescue package have been unveiled by the UK Government, which will see Britain’s top High Street banks part-nationalised in an attempt to prevent further crises in the financial sector. Eight of the UK’s largest banks and building societies that have confirmed will take part in the plan are Abbey, Barclays, [...]
Government proposals to kick-start the housing market have prompted a warning from the Law Society. The measures announced this week include help for families who are struggling with their mortgage repayments. Those facing repossession may be eligible for a shared equity or shared ownership scheme, which would allow people to remain in their homes by [...]
Persimmon has joined forces with Halifax to help first-time buyers enter the property market. The housebuilder’s “double your deposit” scheme does exactly what it says as long the funds are used to buy a new Persimmon home. To participate in the offer, a would-be homeowner needs to make regular deposits of up to £5,000 into [...]
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has outlined plans to contribute at least £5 million to support households in England that are at particularly high risk of flooding. The scheme is aimed at properties which are not protected by traditional community level defences and will be in addition to help already provided [...]
The Government is today announcing new measures to help first-time buyers get a foot on the property ladder, while at the same time increasing the supply of homes available. The Rent to Home Buy scheme will be operated via local housing companies formed by partnerships between councils and the private sector and will use surplus [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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