| Anguish
of elderly in cycle of debt |
| Thousands of pensioners are stuck
in a cycle of debt, with many owing more than £50,000,
a report warned yesterday. Insolvency experts said
'unscrupulous' lending by credit card companies
is dragging growing numbers into taking on debts
they |
| Average
house price breaches £175,000 |
| House prices increased slightly in
March, pushing the average price above the £175,000
level for the first time. According to the Halifax
House Price Index, prices rose by 0.9% during the
month and by 1.6% during the first quarter of the
year. |
| Bad
debt hits Co-op credit cards |
| A rising tide of credit card debt
hit Co-operative Financial Services today after
it reported a 16% slump in profits at its banking
arm for last year. The slowdown at the Co-operative
Bank offset a much improved performance from insurance
|
| Bank
charge reclaims can go back six years |
| Regulator's ruling that penalties
above £12 are unfair opens way to flood of
demands. Banks are facing a wave of claims for repayment
of unfair penalties going back six years after the
Office of Fair Trading ruled that all payments over
£12 |
| Banks
step-up data sharing |
| Four of the UK's largest High Street
banks have agreed to share customers' current account
details to prevent them from getting into financial
difficulty. HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and the Royal
Bank of Scotland have teamed up with credit reference
|
| Banks
told to tighten up on debt |
| High street banks have strengthened
their code of practice over fears that consumers
are taking on too much debt. New rules introduced
on Saturday will encourage lenders to ensure that
money given to customers for consolidation |
| Buyers
look for action on the slopes |
Wintersports fans snapping up property
in ski resorts are driving British interest in Bulgaria
and Canada – with a new breed of adventurous
investor leading the way.
The latest Global Property Hot Spots league compiled
by currency specialist HIFX |
| Buy-to-let
parents face big bills |
| Thousands of parents who invested
in student homes are facing large bills as a result
of new rules brought in on Thursday. Laws governing
privately-rented properties have come into force.
They require substantial work to be done on |
| Card
boost for holidaymakers |
| The consumer watchdog has won a landmark
appeal that will give holidaymakers greater protection
when using credit cards abroad. The Office of Fair
Trading was successful in its appeal against a ruling
that consumers who use their plastic |
| Card
clampdown on gamblers |
| Credit card companies are clamping
down on customers that use their cards to bet on
online gambling sites. A number of card issuers
are changing their terms and conditions so that
money placed in an online betting account from a
credit card will |
| Crash
cost £20,000 and our home |
| The slump in value of newly built
flats in city centres has meant that they have lost
a deposit of more than 20 thousand GBP and they
have no home to show for it. Both civil servant
Adele, 28, and husband Travis, 30, a sales manager,
wanted to live in |
| Enjoyment
now could mean hassle later |
| Soaring house prices and a reluctance
to cut back on the good life could saddle a generation
of borrowers with mortgages they cannot pay off.
There has been a steady rise in the number of interest-only
mortgages not backed by some means of |
| Fifth
of bankrupts are under 30 |
| One in five bankrupts is now under
the age of 30 as student debt and the consumer
spending splurge starts to bite. The proportion
of bankruptcies among the 18 to 29-age group has
jumped from 7.9% in 2001 to 18.7% last year. The
average age of a |
| Find
an agent you can trust |
| When it comes to polls on which professions
people trust, estate agents are always near the
bottom of the pile. And the property salesmen and
women will not be climbing any further up the trustworthy
tree following a recent expose of estate |
| Foxtons
faces big US fines |
| Jonathan Hunt created the Foxtons
estate agency empire in his own image - ruthless,
single-minded and highly successful. And the rewards
have been substantial. His £350m fortune has
enabled him to buy Heveningham Hall |
| Go
it alone for big profits |
| With rocketing house prices apparently
a thing of the past, investors are looking for new
ways to profit from property. One route, for those
with the courage, is to become developers. |
| Help
with long-term care fees |
| Even if you have substantial assets,
Help the Aged and Bupa say there are benefits and
exemptions you can make use of to lessen and mitigate
the burden of long term care fees. |
| Homes
cost us £10,000 a year |
| The cost of keeping a roof over our
heads has raced ahead of inflation to top £10,000
a year for the first time, a study has found. Rising
council tax and utility bills, along with soaring
mortgage repayments, mean the average householder
is |
| Housing
index shows buyers are out in force |
| The UK housing market is seeing a
surge of activity on a par with the boom years of
2003 and 2004, according to a leading national estate
agent. Your Move's new index, which will be launched
next week, tracks the volume of housing transactions |
| iPad
would give locals a start |
| With names such as iPad and i-Life,
the next generation of starter homes aims to be
cutting edge as well as compact. But will it solve
the problem of affordable housing within the UK?
|
| Landlords
keen to wash their hands of new law |
| Student flat owners and their tenants
could suffer under rules requiring a sink in every
bedroom. Landlords who let their apartments and
houses to students and sharers are about to experience
a nasty sinking feeling - literally. |
| Minimise
the impact of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on property
Q&A |
| With it starting to feel more like
spring, we are about to embark on some work on our
holiday cottage but are concerned that any increase
in value will be wiped out by Capital Gains Tax. |
| More
debt advisers for UK |
| Up to 500 debt advisers are to be
recruited as part of a £45m drive to help
people who are struggling with severe debt problems.
The money, which comes from the Treasury's Financial
Exclusion Fund, will be used as part of a two-year
programme |
| Mortgages
keep us chained to the office |
| More than eight out of ten homeowners
work extra hours because they are so worried about
paying off their huge mortgages. The long hours
are affecting their sleep patterns, eating habits
and love lives - and leaving them with no time for |
| 'Problem
debt' on the increase |
| The level of 'problem' debt is rising
at a faster rate than normal unsecured debt, according
to a leading money charity. The Consumer Credit
Counselling Service said the level of debt owed
by the average person in its debt management plan
|
| Property
soars in spring boom |
| Britains housing market is in the
grip of a spring boom, the country's biggest building
society has said. Nationwide said the average price
of a home has shot up by 1.1% to £162,083
in March after stagnating in February. The fresh
surge has |
| Protection
needed from insurance |
| The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate
the way in which lenders sell payment protection
insurance (PPI) at hugely inflated prices to customers
taking out mortgages, personal loans and credit
cards. |
| Rising
prices stall homebuyers |
| The first drop for almost 18 months
in the number of mortgages being approved has added
weight to claims the recent property market revival
could well be set to take a stumble. |
| Should
you rip up your will |
| Gordon Brown claims his changes to
trust law will rake in just £15 million in
tax this year but they are causing havoc to the
wills of up to 1m people. Who is likely to be affected. |
| Smoothing
the way to faster house sales |
| The house-buying process will get
easier and faster next year with the introduction
of Home Information Packs - known as Hips. At least,
that is what the Government hopes. |
| Soldier?
You must be a high-risk investor |
| Abbey rejected an endowment mis-selling
complaint from a former soldier because it deemed
that his dangerous profession meant he was willing
to accept a high level of investment risk. |
| Steer
clear of store cards |
| The competition watchdog launched
a clampdown on retailers' store cards earlier this
week, demanding they highlight their sky-high interest
rate charges. Under the new rules, store cards that
charge over 25% APR must tell customers that they
can |
| Swatting
the estate agent flyboarders |
| Estate agents have come under fire
again following a television expose last week. The
skulduggery behind one of their many dodgy practices
is unveiled. Whatever your view on estate agents
their signboards are a facet of modern life. |
| Switching
needn't be difficult |
| Power bills are surging and consumers
are being urged to compare deals and take their
custom elsewhere if they are paying too much. But
is it as easy to switch as the companies urging
you to do so suggest |
| Top
tips for renting a home |
| Renting a home can be a thankless
task. Almost everyone ends up doing so at some point
in their lives, yet when it comes to help and advice
tenants can often feel somewhat forgotten. |
| Victory
on penalty charges |
| Banks and credit card companies have
been ordered to stop ripping off consumers with
'unlawful' penalty charges. In a ruling on credit
cards, the Office of Fair Trading said today charges
should not exceed a 'fair' level of £12. |
| What's
happening to your home? |
|
| Northern Ireland is continuing to
set the pace as Britain's number one property hotspot
with house prices having risen 18% in a year. The
latest comprehensive three-month regional house
price study by Nationwide Building Society, released |
| Which?
warns over loans scam |
|
| Consumer watchdog Which? has urged
people who have taken out loans with North London
Securities to check their contracts immediately.
The group is concerned that people could be in far
deeper debts than they realise because of |
| Young
adults warned to save |
|
| A generation of young adults are growing
up with no savings, no pension and huge debts, financial
watchdogs have warned. The regulators say Britain
is storing up huge problems for the future because
many under-40s fail to grasp basic concepts |
| Zopa
to start charging loan fees |
|
| ZOPA, the online borrowing and lending
exchange, is to start charging customers for using
the service, taking some of the shine off its offer.
Both borrowers and lenders will pay a 0.5% fee on
the amount of the transaction. Borrowers will pay |
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