The Mail on Sunday reported on June 15th, 2007 that consumers can expect their gas and hydro bills to decrease as lesser prices are being placed on these utilities. Most of the ‘big six’ companies had already dropped prices but EDF Energy and Scottish Power were not so quick to follow. They have only done so after much complaining from their customers.
Scottish Power consumers will see a decrease of 16.5% for gas and up to a 5.5% for electricity. EDF Energy consumers can expect to see their bills lowered by 10.2%.
Households in the UK have been seeing steadily rising bills due to the rising wholesale cost of gas and electricity. Now that wholesale prices have dropped, the companies have been urged to drop their prices as well. British Gas was the first to make the decrease and now all companies have followed in their tracks. (more…)
Rising house prices and interest rates are responsible for the 8% per year drop in first time homebuyers as these increases keep young people out of the market states Telegraph. This figure is likely to fall even further if rates keep increases as expected.
Experts have encouraged homeowners to take the great mortgages deals still on the market, of which aren’t many. This is particularly true if they are interested in the security of a fixed rate as these rates with low interest percentages are becoming almost impossible to find. Fixed rate deals are becoming more sought after as homeowners are opting for set payments. In March, 88% of first time homebuyers chose this option and fixed rate deals accounted for 78% of all loans which was up from the previous month. This is often the method of choice due to the security fixed loans provide. (more…)
This week’s article in the Yahoo Finance, Money Weekly section, it shows how to save money on technology. With the ever-increasing popularity of everything-technical among kids and adults alike, how can consumers save a buck? The most important and obvious way is to be patient. By waiting until the hype has receded a bit, prices will be lowered, keeping more money in your pocket. (more…)
According to Yahoo Finance, there has been a trend in the recent months of property purchasing. Property companies have been appearing on the scene buying homes from homeowners who are finding mortgage payments too hard to maintain. There are now more than 200 companies buying houses at lower than market value. In some circumstances, they are even renting them back to the seller. (more…)
According to The Mail on Sunday, Britain’s motorists will have to pay a new green tax. This will greatly increase the price of gas and also add to the costs of purchasing a new car by thousands of pounds.
The EU and Government already have in place a “pay-as-you-pollute” plan. To this they will be adding a carbon charge. The goal is to help the country reduce the amount of carbon dioxide, which is greatly caused by cars and lorries. A Department of Transport report says that this new tax could be in place by 2013. It may even combine with other forms of intervention such as fuel duty.
The ultimate goal is to have motorists change the way in which they drive. Hopefully this will cause them to drive less and more carefully therefore reducing fuel. Hopefully they will also begin to buy cleaner cars. (more…)
Bank charges claims can now be processed online through a government scheme called the Money Claim Online Small claims service (MCOL) which is now being inundated with claims for bank charges claims.
There is such a huge influx of cases that the site almost comes to a stand still. Users are recommended by MCOL to use the site outside office hours to prevent such blockages of the site.
One member of staff from MCOL told a BBC reporter on Friday 8th June; “we are getting thousands, hundreds of thousands, of cases since the bank charges cases started”.
Because the governments service do not log what a claim is for, it generally records the amount of claims made per day which is now on 600 claims a day more than twice of what was seen in 2006 – only the bank charges claims seem to be the only factor responsible for this surge or claims. (more…)
As cheque, credit cards and chip and pin have been introduced as an alternative to carrying cash around, cash is not needed to be carried at all, as reported by the Financial Times on 11th May.
However, if you need to go to your local shop to buy some sandwiches or a drink, you still need to have some spare change in your pockets. But this is all about to change; you may even be able to protect the pennies in your pockets from ever seeing daylight.
In September the banking industry plans to introduce a ‘contactless’ credit and debit card system across the UK that will allow you to pay for items costing less than £10 by just swiping their card across a reader. (more…)
This weekend will be one of the busiest periods in the flying calendar this year. It is highly probable to see thousands of seat go empty due to last minute cancellations and flyers turning up late.
With budget airlines now refusing to refund any cost of the ticket for late or no turn up flyers, it is now possible to at least get taxes charged by the company towards your ticket. Most airliners more than happily refund this amount which can amount to a lot of money, compared to not getting anything at all. Approximately £50 can be refunded from a £200 ticket which is 25% of your ticket cost.
The recent doubling of passenger duty or UK departure tax for long haul economy flights to £40 makes it worthwhile to go through the trouble of having these charges refunded as a bare minimum. A lot of the budget airlines have agreed to refund all passenger departure tax and overseas government taxes as reported in the financial times on April 8th. (more…)
According to a BBC report on Thursday 7th June, house prices are all set to increase to
10 times the average annual salary by 2026, these findings were made by a newly established government think tank.
To avoid such a surge in house prices, new homes are required to be built to boost supply. At the moment, house prices are equivalent to seven times the annual salary of an average person..
This estimate depends on how many houses are now built within the next year, the national target is 190,000 homes per year and approx 168,000 homes are being constructed at the moment.
The figures for affordability are calculated by taking the average of the lowest 25% earning income band and the lowest 25% of value of house prices.
Because first time buyers now have to put together larger deposits for their homes, it takes them longer to do this with the increasing prices of homes. They also are becoming less likely to get a mortgage because the figures would not stack up where the majority of mortgage lenders will only lend to a maximum of 5 times their income. (more…)
Making choices with pension schemes can be a real tester as it will determine your retirement lifestyle. Choices made today can lead to a very comfortable retirement compared to a financially drained retirement.
The major factor is to assess the amount of risk involved in the investment according to your circumstances, and to be able to create a mixture of a portfolio of assets to ensure a maximum and safe return for your investment.
Commonly, the nearer you are to your retirement age, the least risk can you take towards your pensions schemes as there is little time for risk factors. However, if you are in your twenties, high risk investments can still be an option like equities, that will ensure, no matter what the market conditions, the value of equity is sure to rise by the time you retire. (more…)