Search Results

According to the Markit UK Household Finance Index, savings are still low as consumers focus on paying down debts amongst concerns regarding economic difficulties ahead.

A BBC investigation has uncovered some unsavoury practices in the debt management industry, including some companies holding the money they receive from clients instead of paying creditors.

There has been a huge rise in the number of home buyers paying for their new homes in cash.

The taxman is targeting plumbers and others who work for cash in a new campaign against people not paying tax.

Shelter, a charity organisation, recently conducted a survey with 2,202 participants and reported that more people are paying their mortgages or rent with money they borrow from credit cards.

More and more pensioners are being forced to unlock equity from their homes as a last resort option for paying off debts and other bills.

Unemployment has risen in almost all parts of the UK. This October the number of people being out of work has risen to over 1.6 million, an increase of 5,300 people out of work and claiming Job Seekers Allowance.

Due to would-be property buyers struggle to find mortgage finance in the current economic climate, the gap between demand and supply in the housing marking will continue to widen, resulting in further gain in rents.

There has been a 2.6% increase in long term graduate unemployment, from graduates who left university in 2007, to students who left in 2005.

Tenants with home buying ambitions have been under more and more pressure due to increasing private rents, recent reports show.

As taxes escalate, there will be a squeeze on household budgets in the next ten years or so.

Between the months of July and August almost 40% of homeowners witnessed their finances deteriorate according to a study under 1,500 adults.

Since 1923, the number of new houses built in 2010 was the lowest ever.

Since 1991, the amount of consumers actively saving in corporate pension schemes within the UK's private sector has been halved.

During the months of June, July, and August, the UK economy has decreased it's growth rate by 0.2%, while expanding 0.6% between the months of May, June, and July.

In 2012, it is quite possible that average debts for UK students will reach an all time high, double the average debt in 2011.

Along with the UK government target inflation rates rising in July, due to the increase of financial service fees and higher prices for clothing.

Peak house prices and competitive lending conditions in 2007 have left many borrowers in negative equity, It is calculated that in June 2011 over 827,000 loans are in negative equity, of which nearly a third are from loand taken out in 2007.

Figures from the Pension Protection Fund reported the deterioration of UK pension schemes in July 2011.

It is predicted by the CML that 40,000 people will lose their homes this year.

Since the government expects to make changes with public sector pensions, people have expressed their concerns.

Government figures show that more than one-fifth of UK households experienced fuel poverty in 2009.

On top of the 7,000 redundancies previously announced, it has now been reported that an additional 5,000 British soldiers will face the loss of jobs by 2015.

Figures suggest that some UK residents are saving less these days, due to increased outgoings, such as higher household bills.

The Bank of England recently warned that increasing utility bills are expected to result in inflation hitting 5% later on this year.

The Bank of England recently warned that increasing utility bills are expected to result in inflation hitting 5% later on this year.

According to a recent survey, gazumping is pushing up rents in England and Wales, with the average cost to tenants reaching £696 in May.

UK unemployment fell 88,000 in the three months to April this year to 2.43 million, the biggest drop since the summer of 2000, latest data shows.

UK holidaymakers are now being warned that petrol prices have gone up since last summer all over Europe.

Argos has reported a big drop in sales for the past three months after it experienced worse-than-expected trading conditions, according to its owner.

People aged between 30 and 50 are falling behind older people in saving for retirement, according to a recent pensions report.

A Halifax poll, which included 4,000 non-homeowners as the respondents, shows that two-thirds of young adults who do not own a home believe they will not be able to get on the property ladder.

According to an economic think tank, UK retailers could be facing many years of poor sales growth

Low-cost airline Easyjet has reported that its half-year losses have almost doubled due to higher fuel costs and the tough economic environment.

The governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has warned that higher utility bills could push inflation up to 5% later this year.

Amazon has reported a sharp drop in quarterly profits as the cost of investing in new business overshadowed a big jump in sales.

Barclays, the UK bank has reported a 9% fall in pre-tax profits for the first three months of the year to £1.66bn.

Toyota, the world's biggest carmaker, will be closing its UK plant at Burnaston in Derbyshire for two days each week in May due to the current shortage of car parts.

The new tax year, which began on Wednesday, brought with it tax increases, cuts to benefits and tax credit changes that will affect families throughout Britain.

Recent figures suggest that economic problems may be leading to a rise in depression in England.

Due to a shortage of parts coming from Japan, Honda is to halve production at its factory in Swindon from Monday

Recent figures show that consumers got a bit bolder in terms of unsecured borrowing and mortgages in the month of February.

Winter fuel payments for older people are due to fall this year.

According to the Chancellor George Osborne, the UK economy will grow more slowly this year than previously expected.

UK mortgage lending remained at low levels in February as the housing market remained "stuck in a rut", lenders have reported.

If you're in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, feel grateful – MSPs have scrapped your prescription charges.

If you're thinking of selling your home so that you can save money by renting a property, you might want to think twice.

There has now been no change to UK interest rates for two years, even though inflation is currently twice the Bank's target rate.

The UK economy will grow by less than expected in 2011, the British Chambers of Commerce forecasts.

For twelve years, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has got the inflation numbers wrong.

Relying on your savings to supplement your income puts you at risk of greater pain from the rising rate of inflation.

Figures from the British Bankers' Association indicate that the stagnation in the UK property market is continuing.

A recent report shows that banks in the UK are receiving tens of billions of pounds through hidden subsidies from customers and taxpayers – in addition to receiving support directly from the state.

According to recent news from the UK Public Health Association, the two-tier tariffs used for domestic fuel billing is leading to thousands of deaths every winter.

More than nine million UK residents have been adversely affected by a government failure to credit more than £1 billion in National Insurance contributions.

The number of mortgages approved for house buyers by the UK's main banks fell by 10% in 2010.

New European rules will be going into force in the UK as of 1 February, which are expected to result in an increase in the number of borrowers being charged higher rates of interest than those advertised.

Numbers from the Office for National Statistics show that £10.3bn was borrowed by the UK government in the month of October to compensate for the public finances gap.

Rail industry figures show that travellers will see an increase in rail fares in 2011. The average fare increase will be 6.2%, with some fares increasing by as much as 10.8%.

Energy bills may become an issue for many as the UK is expected to experience an extremely early start to winter this year.

Work and Pensions announced that parents will not be exempt from benefit cuts if refusing a job or job training.

Oil prices appear to be on the rise and have hit their highest point in six months.

According to the Bank of England, UK consumers paid back more unsecured debt than they borrowed in the month of August

Sellers continue to outnumber potential homebuyers, which has led to housing prices still being under pressure to decrease.

A new report suggests that nearly 1 million UK jobs could be lost due to public spending cuts by the government.

The government has restricted limits to the tax-free income savers can put into pensions.

A recent survey of recruitment firms conducted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) suggests that the UK employment market continues to weaken.

Alliance Boots, a provider of chemist, health and beauty products, announced plans to cut 900 non-store jobs over the coming three years.

Discussions are in progress relating to the possibility of removing Child Benefit from families with one or both parents earning over £44,000 per year.

The Office of Fair Trading has given 129 debt management companies three months to come into line after finding that some firms are overly focused on sales and even posing as charities.

Purchasing a new home is becoming increasingly cost-prohibitive, and it doesn’t look like the situation will improve any time soon.

My Home Finance is a pilot scheme testing a new lending option for financially marginalized groups.

A major High Street retailer issued a warning that it expects low sales growth for a minimum of three to five years.

An allowed banking process called setting off is on the rise and is leaving some customers broke.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) announced that the poorest families are the hardest hit by the first budget put out by the coalition government.

The Pensions Policy Institute Think Tank has put forth a statement saying that the state pension age will need to increase to 72 sometime within the next 20 years in order to keep government costs at their 1981 level

Fraudulent benefit claims total about £1.5 billion each year, but credit rating firms are poised to play a bigger role in tracking down cheats

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have seen a rise in bank fees this year, which is only making it more difficult to stay afloat and recover from the recent economic crisis.

The new coalition government has scrapped Labour’s flagship Saving Gateway savings plan, which was meant to start in July with the goal of encouraging the UK’s poorest to start saving.

Companies listed in the FTSE 100 share index paid out a record £17.5 billion extra into pension schemes in 2009 as part of their efforts to pay off accumulated deficits.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the UK is facing the “longest, deepest, sustained period of cuts to public services spending at least since World War II.”

Fraudulent benefit claims total about £1.5 billion each year, but credit rating firms are poised to play a bigger role in tracking down cheats.

The average borrowing of UK consumers is on the rise with the average amount owed by each UK adult at approximately £30,000, which includes mortgages.

For some time now, lenders have been criticized about payment protection insurance (PPI) and the manner in which some of these policies have been sold.

BT customers will soon see a 10% increase in call charges, as well as a 50p increase in monthly line rental.

Official figures show that new public sector borrowing in the month of June was higher than expected.

Fewer UK-listed companies issued profit warnings in the second quarter of this year, with only 45 firms issuing warnings between April and June, according to Ernst & Young.

The Halifax reported a slight drop in housing prices for the early summer, as compared to the beginning of the year.

According to the financial information service, Moneyfacts, rates on authorised overdrafts are now the highest they have been in the last decade.

The UK government has proposed changes to how some private sector pensions are calculated.

The economic crisis has touched us all in one way or another, which was evidenced, once again, when it was learned that even the Royal Family has faced budget cuts.

Starting in April 2013, unemployed people who claim Jobseekers Allowance for more than 12 months will experience a 10% cut in their Housing Benefit after the 12-month mark.

Starting next year, families earning more than £40,000 will see a reduction in tax credits.

The rate of unemployment in the UK continues to rise, with 2.47 million UK residents unemployed as of April.

Part of the new Budget includes a two-year pay freeze for those working in the public sector. This will affect all workers earning more than £21,000 per year.

UK residents can expect to see many changes as the government undertakes its reforms. One of the first reforms includes a change in the pension age, which is scheduled to go from 65 to 68.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced that an additional 2,600 UK jobs will be cut over the course of the next year.

Both new and current borrowers are seeing higher interest rates on mortgages as of 1 June 2010.

The Royal Mail pension fund deficit has hit £8 billion with an even greater deficit expected after the full three-yearly valuation is completed and published sometime over the next two months.

The latest job stats show that the rate of unemployment is still on the rise, as well as the number of people who are registered as economically inactive.

Some of the UK’s major train operators have recently been accused of surreptitiously increasing train fares by extending what are considered peak hours.

The widespread impact of the recession is still being seen throughout the UK as families struggle to manage the aftermath and regain their financial footing.

As many consumers have discovered, there have been several recent changes in the mortgage and personal loan industries.

Several new rules and guidelines have recently come into play regarding consumers, credit and debt.

In an effort to boost public finances, a new tax rate has been levied for top earners and will go into effect at the beginning of the new financial year.

The 600,000 UK residents who earn in excess of £100,000 per year will see significant changes in their personal taxes over the next two years.

A recent Halifax report states that there has been a significant slowdown in the UK housing market and mortgage lending sectors in recent months.

It is no secret that the cost of housing has risen significantly over the past 50 years, even taking into account the last few years decreases

In these tough economic times, a growing number of people are taking part-time jobs as a temporary fix to assist in making ends meet each month.

In September 2009, nearly 200,000 mortgages had fallen into arrears by at least 2.5% of the outstanding balance.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has proposed new plans pertaining to mortgages, which may particularly affect some self-employed borrowers.

Individual borrowing is increasing in the UK, undoubtedly in part from the effects of the economic crisis making it more difficult to make ends meet each month.

Despite the government’s plans to increase competition to improve bank customers’ experiences, consumers are facing increasing branch closures and increasing charges.

Bad debts have reached significant, historic highs and average borrowing has increased 5% per credit card, surpassing £1,000 for the first time ever.

As unemployment rises across the UK, southeast England has been particularly hard hit with unemployment and underemployment.

Recently, families have enjoyed lower monthly bills due to the government’s efforts to boost the UK economy by temporarily reducing the VAT from 17.5% to 15%. However...

November 2009 saw a record high in the UK’s public sector net borrowing, which reached £20.3bn.

Under the law, repossession should be the last resort of mortgage providers that have exhausted all other possibilities that would allow homeowners to stay in their homes.

There is more rough news for the job market in the UK, as Jaguar announced that it is axing 300 jobs from its Halewood plant on Merseyside. With more people set to lose their jobs, sell and rent back options rapidly gaining in popularity.

A troubling new UK BBC survey reports that 2 out of 3 people in the UK know someone who has lost their job during this difficult recession, and that four in ten are afraid of losing their own job.

Homeowners facing the prospect of losing their home to repossession could consider sell and rent back as an option for a fast property sale.