Finance Matters

• 30Aug

  Zero Rate Balance Transfers: R.I.P.

  Debt No Comments

  From The Debt Advice Bureau:

  Zero Rate Balance Transfers: R.I.P.

  It could be the end of 0% balance transfer deals on credit cards as

  card issuers are forced to introduce charges in order to stem the

  losses caused by “rate tarts” who continually switch from

  one zero rate deal to another.

  Last week Mint, owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, joined the ranks of

  providers such as MBNA

  and Barclaycard when it became the latest card issuer to impose a

  one-off fee on balance transfers form other credit cards onto their

  0% deals.

  Until the summer last year transferring balances to a 0% or low rate

  credit card was free. Last August that all changed as Barclaycard

  heralded the impending demise of free balance transfers when it

  became the first card issuer to introduce fees for transfers,

  charging 2%, up to a maximum of £35, of the total amount…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Higher rate savings accounts grow

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  More savings accounts offering interest rates matching or exceeding the base rate are available to consumers than in previous years.
  Some 28% of easy access accounts offer a rate of 5% or more, compared with 8% that offered rates equal to, or above, the base rate two years ago.
  The figures from analysts Defaqto show that banks are trying to attract savers during the credit crunch.
  Meanwhile, new guidelines have been issued to quicken the transfer of Isas.
  The banking industry has agreed to speed up the transfer of cash between these tax-free accounts.
  Deposits
  Defaqto’s analysis showed that 28% of accounts were paying equal to or more than the Bank of England interest rate of 5% for deposits of £5,000.

  This compared with 21% at the same time last year, 8% in August 2006, and 19% in the same month of 2005.
  But the group said that savers needed to be alert to the fact that relatively few accounts did not have any restrictions, such as when customers try to withdraw cash.
  “It i…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  British workers ‘fear job losses’

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  More than one in 10 British workers fear the economic slowdown means they will lose their job in the next year, according to union body the TUC.
  A survey of almost 3,000 employees across Britain suggested those in Wales and Scotland felt most vulnerable.
  Workers in east England were most optimistic about employment, followed by those in London, it said.
  Replicated nationwide, the survey would mean about 3.3m people, or 13% of the workforce, feel their jobs are at risk.
  ‘Jittery’
  Latest official unemployment data said the number of people out of work rose by 60,000 in the three months to June.
  This took the official unemployment rate to 5.4% – 1.67 million people – the Office for National Statistics said, suggesting that a slowing economy was taking its toll on the labour market.
  “These poll findings show just how many people are getting worried about losing their job in the current economic slowdown,” said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.
  “Of course this does not mean that…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Workless households figure falls

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  The number of households with no-one aged over 16 working has fallen slightly compared with a year ago, official statistics show.
  Some 3.06 million households in the UK with working-age occupants did not have anyone in employment between April and June, down 15,000 on a year earlier.
  But the Office of National Statistics (ONS) said that the figure was 43,000 higher than five years ago.
  The figures come after the ONS said the official unemployment rate had risen.
  Youngsters
  The number of people aged between 16 and retirement age living in these non-working households was 4.29 million in the second quarter of 2008.
  This was down 126,000 from the same three months last year and up 50,000 from five years ago.
  Some 1.77 million children live in these households, down 40,000 from the previous year and down 104,000 from five years ago.
  Of these, 1.2 million – or 68% – were in lone-parent households….

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Savings returns ‘beating’ shares

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Savers putting their money in funds investing in UK stocks and shares would have made more money since 2000 by putting it in savings accounts instead.
  If £1,000 was invested at the start of the decade, it would now be worth £1,094 in an average UK unit trust but £1,358 in a typical savings account.
  The research by Thomson-Reuters Lipper, commissioned by the BBC, questions the returns from long-term investments.
  But industry experts say that timing was key to how much money can be made.
  The same calculations, but up to July 2007, would have seen shares perform comfortably ahead of cash, according to Jane Lowe, director of markets at the Investment Management Association (IMA).
  Returns
  The exclusive research for the BBC found that £1,000 invested in a UK equity income fund would also have made less than in an instant savings account – now being worth £1,302.

  But if anyone made the unusual decision at the time of investing in a commodities or natural resources fund eight year…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Call for new review of home packs

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  A review of Home Information Packs (Hips) is needed given the housing market slowdown, estate agents say.
  Local searches are a requirement in the packs, but the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) says they are out of date by the time a property is sold.
  It wants a simpler pack, but the government says that the system is bringing benefits to consumers.
  The packs – which are compulsory in England and Wales – are aimed at preventing sales falling through.
  ‘Wrong answer’
  The NAEA wants a new slimline pack just to include a sellers’ questionnaire, an Energy Performance Certificate, and the Land Registry title and plan.
  “With the economic situation worsening and the property market still suffering, we are calling on the government to take urgent action on Hips,” said Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA.
  “We have long seen Hips as not fit for purpose and as the wrong answer to simplifying the house buying process.”
  But a Department of Communities and Local Governm…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Two-thirds of UK homes online

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Almost 16.5 million households in the UK now have internet access, an increase of 1.2 million since 2007, the latest official figures show.
  The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the new figure represented close to two-thirds of UK households.
  Homes in the South East are most likely to have internet access with those in north-east England least likely.
  But charities said that insufficient effort had been made to encourage older people to use the internet.
  ‘Exclusion’
  Help the Aged said that internet access allowed people to save hundreds of pounds – but that nearly 7 million people aged 65 and over had never used the internet.
  “Absolutely no progress has been made in getting older people online and the spotlight is now on Government and the industry to get switched on,” said David Sinclair, head of policy for the charity.
  “Exclusion from modern society is increasingly less about being able to get to the library and more about being able to access the rivers of information…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Buildings ‘razed to avoid taxes’

  Money No Comments

  From The BBC:

  Buildings are being knocked down as businesses seek to avoid paying tax on empty properties, a government regeneration chief has warned.
  In April, the government scrapped rate relief on empty industrial property such as warehouses.
  The tax was aimed at landlords who kept premises empty in hope of better rents.
  But John Nicholls, chief executive of the Urban Regeneration Companies, said the tax was leading to “pre-emptive demolitions” to avoid the tax bill.
  “As well as the problem of pre-emptive demolitions, it’s having an effect on supply of new property,” Mr Nicholls said.
  His organisation is in charge of government-funded private-public partnerships tasked with regenerating the UK’s cities.
  Damaging effect
  Mr Nicholls said the new levy was having a damaging effect in areas in need of regeneration.
  “Projects are being shelved because of the risk of having to pay rates on the finished product if there isn’t a tenant signed up,” he said.
  Malcolm Holmes, associate director at pr…

  Click to read the full article »
• 30Aug

  Middle class families in the South East have largest debt

  Finance No Comments

  From The Telegraph:

  Middle-class families in London and the South East of England have run up the largest debts in the country with some owing more than £50,000, a survey has revealed. The inhabitants of prosperous areas in the southern parts of Britain have borrowed almost four times more than their counterparts in parts of Scotland and north west England, according to a study by the credit reference agency Experian. The research has also shown that the average individual’s debts have risen by more than £2,000 in the last year.Bankruptcy fears for families as average debt hits £60,000How to make a profit from the credit crisisCut your household bills | Reduce your water billExperian used its records of what people owe on mortgages, personal loans, overdrafts, credit and store cards and hire purchase agreements to calculate how much debt there was in each of the 286 postal code regions. The agency found that those in the areas with the highest property prices had run up the most debts. T…

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• 30Aug

  Mortgages fall by two thirds in the last year

  Finance No Comments

  From The Telegraph:

  The number of mortgages approved by lenders has fallen by two-thirds over the last year, figures released by a leading banking organisation show. Value of mortgages has hit a 10-year lowThis July, 22,448 new loans for people buying a home were approved during the month, 65 per cent fewer than in July 2007 when 64,184 were recorded. The value of mortgages approved for house purchase hit a 10-year low during the month, at just £3.2 billion, 69 per cent below July 2007’s figure of £10.3 billion, the British Bankers Association said. The total value of all mortgages approved also dropped by seven per cent during the month to £11.8 billion, 44 per cent lower than 12 months ago, and well down on the recent six-month average of £16 billion.Bovis Homes profits tumbleThe mortgage approval figures released by the BBA were similar to those recorded in June this year when 22,369 mortgages were approved. But the dramatic long term fall was another illustration of the ef…

  Click to read the full article »

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