Budget 2015: Who were the winners and losers? March 18, 2015 Winners Pubs and drinkersThe Budget will be a boon for the country's pubs, bars and restaurants, as well the drinkers who frequent them. Beer duty was cut buy one penny per pint while duty on both cider and whisky received a two per cent cut. Meanwhile, the tax on wine and tobacco will also be [...]
Budget 2015: Here’s why the Help to Buy Isa is a terrible idea March 18, 2015 One of the more eye-catching announcements in George Osborne's Budget was the unveiling of a "Help to Buy" Isa. Not leaked beforehand, Osborne said first-time buyers will receive a helping hand from the government to get on the property ladder. For every £200 saved by first-time buyers, the taxpayer will chip in another £50. Those who [...]
Budget 2015: Personal finance groups including Hargreaves Lansdown, St James’ Place and Rathbone’s share price boosted by “saving revolution” Budget March 18, 2015 Personal finance groups were treated to a share price boost this afternoon, after George Osborne unveiled “a saving revolution”. Bristol-based IFA Hargreaves Lansdown led the pack, up 4.8 per cent at pixel time. St James' Place also jumped on the announcements, up 3.5 per cent. Rathbone Brothers's share price was up two per cent, while [...]
Budget 2015: How does the first time buyer Help-to-Buy Isa work? Here’s everything you need to know March 18, 2015 Poor saving returns, slow wage growth, and high house prices make getting on to the property ladder tricky. But there's finally some good news for prospective first time buyers, in the form of a "Help to Buy Isa" (Help-to-Buy-sa?), announced by the chancellor today. But how does it work? For every £200 an individual squirrels [...]
Budget 2015: “Saving revolution” as Osborne pledges first-time buyer Isa March 18, 2015 George Osborne unveiled a Budget aimed at helping savers, first time buyers and pensioners today, with measures including a "Help to Buy Isa". Under the new rules, the government will contribute £50 for each £200 saved by first-time buyers. Savers who put away £12,000 could stand to make as much as £3,000 Just before he [...]
Mortgage loan slowdown may be at an end as house prices predicted to rise March 17, 2015 Mortgage lending dropped again in January, industry data showed yesterday, as the market continued to plateau. But economists think this weak spell could be at an end, with lending set to pick up across the rest of 2015. The month saw 22,400 home movers take out mortgages, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), down [...]
Budget 2015 vs Budget 2010: What are the vote-winners? March 17, 2015 It’s almost budget day in election year, the time for the Conservatives to dangle a few carrots and warn of a few essential sticks to come. But how different it this year’s budget to the Labour party’s swansong back in 2010? There are a few key differences and some glaring similarities. Tax evasion Osborne’s last [...]
Expensive housing delays Brits’ aspirations to own family home March 16, 2015 Most Britons’ plans to own a family home have been thrown off track by the rapid price rises of the past decade, a study from Lloyds Bank shows today. More than 80 per cent of Brits believe homeowners have to wait longer for their long-term family home than they expected 10 years ago. And the study [...]
Flying cars are coming with the AeroMobil 3.0, and you could buy one in 2017 March 16, 2015 In a couple of years, the super-rich could be travelling above traffic jams and avoiding the hassle of airports in their very own flying cars. For everyone else, the equivalent of a flying Uber is in the pipeline. AeroMobil, the Slovakian company behind the car-cum-aeroplane, hopes to sell its first manually-driven two-seater flying cars to [...]
Slowdown at top and bottom of market hits London house prices March 16, 2015 London property prices fell from February to March, figures released today show. New seller asking prices dropped by 0.4 per cent according to online property market Rightmove. It is the first time in three years that prices have retreated in March. High-end property values saw their asking prices trimmed by 2.6 per cent. Demand [...]