Spectator money

A ‘climate of uncertainty’ is consolidating across Britain’s housing market thanks to the impact of new stamp duty changes, the EU referendum and the forthcoming devolved elections, according to a leading industry body. For the first time since 2008, expectations for house sales have dipped into negative territory, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said. Nearly 40 per cent of surveyors told RICS they expect London property prices to fall over the next three months. Meanwhile, the Council of Mortgage Lenders reported yesterday that home-owners borrowed £8.7 billion for house purchases in February, up 4 per cent month-on-month and 21 per cent year-on-year. They took out 48,000 loans. First-time buyers borrowed £3.4 billion, up 21 per cent on February

Police are being asked to investigate more financial crime against the elderly than ever before, according to an exclusive story in The Times today. In what must be many families’ worst nightmare, the paper found that adult social services received allegations of 21,935 cases of theft and fraud against elderly victims in the 12 months to March last year, with 4,168 of them relating to carers. Now families are being told to install hidden cameras in the homes of vulnerable elderly relatives. Calls to a national helpline for elderly people who believe they are suffering financial abuse rose from 3,500 to 7,529 last year. The value of money and goods stolen was estimated

Today’s newspapers – and the weekend press for that matter – are dominated by the story that refuses to go away. David Cameron must be wishing he could turn back time after a week defending his personal finances following the publication of the ‘Panama Papers’. The leak of more than 11 million papers documenting the tax affairs of the rich and famous included information about the Prime Minister’s late father’s offshore fund. Amid mounting pressure and criticism over his handling of the revelations about his father, Cameron attempted to defuse the row by publishing data on his 2009-15 tax and earnings including a £200,000 gift from his mother. The debacle has reignited the debate

Millions of internet users face costs of up to £60 a year to keep their email address if they switch broadband provider. Others risk losing their account altogether if they switch. This is according to Thisismoney.co.uk which reports that BT is tripling the amount former customers will have to pay to keep their BT email address when they switch provider. The charge used to be £1.60 a month but from May it will be £5 – a massive £60 a year. Meanwhile, a new study suggests that the new state pension – which came into force yesterday – would cost retirees around half a million pounds if bought on the open market. The new

Proof, if proof was needed, earlier this week that property prices in the capital are out of control. Research by Savills estate agents found that house prices in the London commuter belt increase by more than £3,000 for every minute the property is closer to the city by train. What’s that you say? £3,000? Per minute? In the North of England that would buy you six months rent in an attractive suburb of a major city. Add into the equation that the average house price in inner London is £606,000, and house prices across the country continue to climb – the UK average is more than £212,000. No wonder then that

The weather has rarely been out of the news over the past few months following devastating flooding across the country. Today there’s a glimmer of hope for homeowners as Flood Re gets underway. Under the terms of this new government-backed scheme, people who live in areas susceptible to flooding should be able to access cheaper home insurance. The scheme is partly funded by a charge to insurers for each policy passed to the scheme and a levy on all UK home insurers. But research by home insurer Admiral suggests more needs to be done to educate those affected as only one in seven of us have heard of the scheme. Dominating the headlines on Sunday

It’s April Fools’ Day but a raft of price hikes due to come into force today are no laughing matter. As workers welcome the introduction of the new mandatory National Living Wage (NLW), a slew of changes to taxes and household charges will mean fewer pounds in people’s pockets. Among the cost increases are water bills, up by £2 a year in England and Wales. Air Passenger Duty rises by almost 3 per cent on long-haul flights to £73, and prescription charges increase to £8.40 in England. Meanwhile, the cost of an NHS dental check-up goes up 5 per cent to £19.70, and some mobile phone customers of Three, O2 and EE will see higher bills for monthly

New research from Aviva is making headlines this morning after the insurer revealed statistics on so-called ‘crash for cash’ claims. Of its 3,000 motor insurance claims last year, a quarter were in Birmingham, making the city England’s crash for cash capital. The study also showed Leeds, Harrow, parts of London, Bradford, Luton, Coventry and Oldham were all in the top 10 hotspots. The figures include induced accidents, where innocent motorists are targeted, as well as staged accidents, when two damaged cars are brought together to make it look like an accident. On an equally gloomy note is the news that the cost of the most basic funeral can drive families into debt.

A crackdown on the buy-to-let market makes it to the front page of a number of this morning’s newspapers following recommendations published by the Bank of England yesterday. The Bank announced criteria that will make it tougher to secure a loan on a buy-to-let property, including forcing all applicants to pass an affordability test based on a rise in interest rates to 5.5 per cent from today’s low of 0.5 per cent. Under the proposals, banks will have to take into account all the costs to a new landlord of owning the property as well as the personal tax liabilities and existing expenses of a potential borrower. Lenders had told the central

If the thought of work after the long Easter weekend fills you with dread, look away now. A new study suggests that one in five people think they will be working after the age of 70. Willis Towers Watson, a global financial services firm, found that people under the age of 40 were more likely to think they would be staying in jobs until they were 70. Some of the 2,000 workers it questioned thought they would never be able to retire. Fiona Matthews from Willis Towers Watson said: ‘These figures put into sharp focus the worries that British workers have about their long-term savings and financial security in old age. This is