Motorists urged to carry out safety check as rubber on cars left idle for long periods can deteriorate
There has been a sharp rise in the number of cars with cracked tyres – which can result in an MOT failure – because of vehicles lying idle during the coronavirus pandemic.
Figures from Kwik Fit, the car maintenance chain, show that its mechanics saw almost twice as many cars with premature cracking last year compared with before the lockdowns.
Continue reading...Lenders forced to raise fixed-term deals after latest inflation figure pushed swap rates upwards
Households looking for a new mortgage deal have been warned to expect 5%-plus fixed-rate deals in the coming weeks, after Wednesday’s inflation figures sent the money markets back into turmoil.
Nick Mendes, the mortgage technical manager at the broker John Charcol, said on Thursday that he doubts that there will be any two-year fixed-rate mortgages and probably few five-year deals priced at less than 5% in the coming weeks, as lenders are forced to reprice their mortgages upwards.
Continue reading...Thinktank warns against wholesale switch to working from home and raises fears over lost productivity in capital
Office workers in central London are spending on average 2.3 days a week in the workplace, according to a report that warns against a wholesale switch to working from home.
The thinktank Centre for Cities carried out polling of office workers in the capital and found they were spending 59% of the time in their workplace compared with pre-Covid levels.
Continue reading...Shares in owner Pennon Group fall as it says Ofwat has launched inquiry into South West Water
South West Water is being investigated by the industry regulator over whether it accurately reported leaks and figures showing how much water is used by its customers.
Pennon Group, which owns South West Water and Bristol Water Group, told its shareholders Ofwat had announced an investigation into the company’s operational performance during 2021 and 2022.
Continue reading...With cost of cleanup to be passed on to bill payers, analysis shows they will also pay £624 more by 2030 to fund investor payouts
Water companies will pay an estimated £14.7bn in dividends by the end of this decade, while making customers pay for new investment to stem the tide of sewage pollution in seas and rivers, analysis for the Observer has revealed.
Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron denounced the billions going to shareholders as “absolutely scandalous” while families struggling with the cost of living would be facing increases in bills to pay for the sewage cleanup.
Continue reading...But campaigners say it will not give much relief to struggling households as government support ends
Household energy bills could fall to an average of £2,053 a year this summer as the regulator prepares to lower its cap on energy prices next week, according to analysts.
However, campaigners have warned that the lower cap on energy bills, to be announced on Thursday, is unlikely to provide much relief to households that struggled to pay their bills over the winter because the government’s support schemes have come to an end.
Continue reading...Report finds over-55s feeling more confident about spending and avoiding Covid-19 – but younger Australians and families are feeling the pinch
Older Australians are attending more live cultural events and spending more on tickets than they were six months ago despite the rising cost of living – but Australians under 35 are feeling the squeeze, attending fewer events and hunting for more freebies.
Inflation is leading half of Australian audiences to spend less on tickets and favour local events, according to a new report released by the Australia Council, which surveyed 1,318 recent attenders of cultural events.
Continue reading...E.ON Next, Octopus and Good Energy did not supply final bill on time to many households that had switched
Three energy suppliers have been made to pay compensation totalling £8m for failing to supply a final bill on time to more than 100,000 households that had switched provider.
The energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, said E.ON Next was ordered to pay £5.5m to almost 95,000 customers because it did not provide them with a final bill within six weeks of moving to another supplier, nor did it pay compensation for the delay within 10 days of the missed deadline.
Continue reading...Jeremy Hunt’s freeze on allowances and thresholds will put a quarter of teachers and one-eighth of nurses in 40% income tax bracket
One in four teachers and one in eight nurses will be higher-rate taxpayers by 2027 as a result of the government’s record freeze on income tax allowances and thresholds, according to a leading thinktank.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said better-paid public sector workers will be among the almost 8 million people – one in five of all taxpayers – who will pay income tax at 40% or above as result of the Treasury’s attempt to reduce the UK’s budget deficit.
Continue reading...Sharon White wants to bring in investors to build flats above stores, potentially leading to the sale of stake in the business
The boss of John Lewis will face a confidence vote by staff members on Wednesday as the business considers the option of bringing in outside investment in a change that could threaten the decades-old employee-owned model.
Chairman Sharon White is considering radical ways to bring in up to £2bn to help secure the future of the John Lewis Partnership, including diversifying into building flats for rent above shops, after reporting hefty losses from its chain of department stores and Waitrose supermarkets.
Continue reading...Skipton building society aims product at renters who cannot save enough for a deposit
A leading lender plans to launch a 100% mortgage aimed at would-be first-time buyers who cannot save for a deposit, the first since the 2008 financial crisis.
Standard home loans where the borrower does not have to put down a deposit used to be fairly commonplace but the last was axed in the wake of the financial crisis.
New fraud strategy responding to web- and phone-based scams will result in recruitment of 400 new ‘specialist investigators’
Ministers have announced a clampdown on the use of cold calls to sell financial products and on technology which allows mass texting of numerous phones as part of a strategy to combat fraud, now the UK’s most common crime.
The new fraud strategy, a response to the massive growth of web- and phone-based scams, will alsoresult in what was billed as 400 new specialist investigators across police and the National Crime Agency recruited as part of a revamp for how the the crime is investigated.
Continue reading...Republican states fighting Joe Biden’s plan falsely said they’d be financially impacted by the scheme, debt forgiveness group claims
Newly uncovered documents show that the Republican states fighting Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan have made false claims that they will “suffer injuries”, or rather, be financially impacted by the scheme, a debt forgiveness campaign group has claimed.
The supreme court case that will decide the fate of Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, Nebraska v Biden, rests on one of the plaintiffs, Missouri’s state attorney general, who claims Mohela – as the higher education loan authority of the state of Missouri is known – will be financially affected by the plan for the worse.
Continue reading...Nationwide expert hails ‘tentative signs of a recovery’ as buyers’ confidence improves
UK house prices rose by 0.5% in April after seven months of declines, according to Nationwide building society.
The modest increase took the average price of a home to £260,441 last month, from £257,122 in March. Compared with April last year, prices were down 2.7%, after a 3.1% annual decline in March.
Continue reading...Some women are turning to escort work to meet basic housing costs, charities warn
Women are increasingly being forced to engage in “survival sex” because of the cost of living crisis amid worsening conditions for Britain’s most vulnerable.
Charities warn rising costs paired with years of underfunding mean women, including those with trauma and mental health issues, are having to turn to sex in exchange for housing or to meet other basic needs.
Continue reading...Experts say it is vital to check you meet EU requirements, or you could risk losing your holiday
Travellers who have not used their passport for a while were this week being urged to dig it out and check it conforms to the post-Brexit rules for entering the EU – because if it doesn’t, you will almost certainly be denied boarding this summer.
Despite previous warnings in Guardian Money and some other publicity, UK travellers trying to enter the Schengen zone are being turned away on a daily basis by airline staff at boarding gates – in most cases because their UK passport was issued more than 10 years ago.
Continue reading...Record heat in southern Europe and chilly start to British growing season spell more misery for shoppers
Shoppers have been warned they face more fruit and vegetable shortages, as temperatures in southern Spain soar to unprecedented levels while the UK growing season gets off to a late start because of cold, overcast weather.
Temperatures were expected to reach a new April record of 39C (102F) in parts of Andalucía on Friday amid a long-lasting drought that has affected the production of vegetables in Spain. Córdoba reached a record 38.8C on Thursday.
Continue reading...Average of £224,963 for homes with one or two bedrooms is 2% higher than a year ago, says Rightmove
Those people hoping to get on to the UK housing ladder are facing record asking prices, as calm returns to the sector after last autumn’s mini-budget spooked the markets.
Rightmove, the property portal, reports that the average asking price of properties popular with first-time buyers – those with one or two bedrooms – has hit a record price of £224,963 in the last month. That is 2% higher than a year ago, even though higher mortgage rates have made homes less affordable.
Continue reading...Huge increase in fraud accompanies record number of UK live entertainment tickets sold in 2022
Concert ticket scams have soared by more than 500% over the last year, with those defrauded losing an average of £110, as criminals target fans of leading acts including Harry Styles and Lewis Capaldi.
The UK’s live music industry has bounced back after the pandemic, but gig-goers have been warned to be on their guard against ticket scams, particularly as the festival season prepares to kick off.
Continue reading...Wage increases in February outstripped by rises in cost of living, as unemployment rate rises
The real value of UK workers’ pay has continued to fall at the fastest rate for more than a decade, as wage increases in February were outstripped by high inflation.
The Office for National Statistics said annual growth in average pay, excluding bonuses, held steady at 6.6% in the three months to February despite a small rise in unemployment and decline in the number of job vacancies.
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