Spectator money

Commuters spend more than a tenth of disposable income on annual rail season tickets, a BBC investigation has found. Figures also show some commuters pay almost 40p per mile of railway while others pay 11p per mile. Campaigners for better railways said people were ‘astonished’ so much of their income was going on travel. Train operators say rail travel is better value for money than running a car. The Government said it had capped rail fares in line with inflation. Holidays British holidaymakers could be forced to pay for visas to travel to Europe as a trade-off for the Brexit vote, the Home Secretary has admitted. The Telegraph reports that Amber

The cost of renting a home in England and Wales was 5.2 per cent higher in July than the same month a year earlier, according to lettings agent Your Move. Its survey, based on analysis of about 20,000 properties, suggested that average monthly rent paid by private tenants rose to £846. The increase was sharpest in the South East of England. The annual rise in this region of 14.9 per cent was explained by a ripple effect from high rents in London. London had the highest average monthly rents, at £1,273, the survey suggested. Mastercard A £14 billion legal claim has been filed against Mastercard on behalf of UK consumers seeking damages

Consumers are getting better value for money from their current account and benefiting from a more competitive market, according to a new report from the Social Market Foundation published today. The report, A switch in time: The evolution of Britain’s personal current account market, supported by Bacs, has found a 17 per cent fall in bank revenue from personal current accounts over the past eight years – a sign of increased competition in the personal banking market. Most consumers are now paying less for their accounts and receiving more back from their banks through higher interest rates and other bonuses such as cashback on purchases. The savings available through switching

House price growth slowed in August but buying a property was still 6.9 per cent more expensive than a year ago, new figures show. The Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said that the average home in the UK cost £213,930. Prices in the three months to the end of August were 0.7 per cent higher than the previous quarter – marking a slowdown in the pace of growth. Property values fell by 0.2 per cent in August compared with July, the lender added. Responding to the figures, Ian Thomas, co-founder and director at online mortgage lender LendInvest, said: ‘There have been a number of external factors that have chipped away

Women do ask for pay rises – they just don’t get them. That’s according to research by Cass Business School and the universities of Warwick and Wisconsin. The theory that women get paid less than men because they are not sufficiently pushy in the workplace is not true. Women are as likely as men to ask for a pay rise – but are less likely to get one, the study, which looked at 4,600 workers, revealed It found ‘no support’ for the ‘reticent female’ theory, whereby women avoided asking for more money. For what it claimed was the first time, the study eliminated any impact from part-time workers earning less than their full-time

Ill-health or disability is forcing one in eight people to stop working before they reach the state pension age, according to the TUC. The union found almost half a million people have had to leave work for medical reasons within five years before they were due to retire. In March the Government announced an independent review into the state pension age. The Government said it already provides support for ill or disabled workers. Research by the TUC, however, points to a significant north/south divide. In the south west of England, just one in 13 people blamed sickness or disability for leaving work. However, that figure rises to one in seven in the

Companies have cut new graduate jobs for the first time in four years because of fears about the economy since the Brexit vote. The number of vacancies has fallen by 8 per cent compared with last year, according to the Association of Graduate Recruiters’ annual survey. The Times reports that the latest figures follow four years of growth and last year the number of graduate jobs increased by 13 per cent. This year’s fall also reflects nervousness about the effect of the incoming apprenticeship levy, which will be introduced in April with the aim of raising cash from business to fund expanded training in the workplace, the association said. Meanwhile,

The gap between the best and worst performing energy firms is the widest ever, according to Citizens Advice. Small energy firm Extra Energy attracted 80 times more complaints than the best performing supplier SSE between April and June. Extra Energy received 1,791 complaints per 100,000 customers, which was worse than its record low of 1,682 complaints in the previous quarter. SSE improved its ratio to just over 22 complaints, the charity found. Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: ‘The latest league table shows some suppliers are getting much better at sorting out their customers’ problems, but it’s disappointing to see others getting worse at dealing with complaints.’ The second and

August saw a ‘slight pick-up’ in house price growth despite the Brexit vote, according to the Nationwide building society, but the outlook is still ‘clouded’. The building society said prices rose by 0.6 per cent compared with July, making the average cost of a home £206,145. Prices in August were 5.6 per cent higher than a year earlier, compared with 5.2 per cent in July. ‘The pick-up in price growth is somewhat at odds with signs that housing market activity has slowed in recent months,’ Nationwide said. Meanwhile, The Telegraph reports that families should be blocked from selling their homes if they fail to meet minimum energy efficiency standards, under radical proposals from a