Complaints to the financial ombudsman about a type of high-cost loan where the debt is backed by a relative or friend have leapt by more than 3,000% in a year and are running at almost 800 a week. The surge in the number of unhappy customers means that sub-prime lender Amigo – the biggest provider…
Taylor Wimpey, one of the UK’s biggest housebuilders, has set aside £125m to replace cladding and carry out other fire safety work on its apartment buildings after huge flaws were uncovered in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell fire. The company said the fund would support fire safety work for leaseholders in apartment blocks built…
National Grid has ignited an industry rebellion against the energy regulator by taking Ofgem’s plan to cut energy network company earnings to the competition watchdog. The company said it would refer parts of Ofgem’s new regulatory plan to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) because it does not allow large enough returns for its investment…
A significant proportion of Generation Xers in Britain face financial hardship in retirement, with one in three likely to experience substantial disadvantages, according to a report. Many 40- to 55-year-olds are unable to save because they are overwhelmed by multiple financial pressures, struggling with volatile incomes and juggling competing priorities including caring, debts and mortgages….
The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has played down the prospect of significant tax increases to start reducing the deficit in the public finances in Wednesday’s budget. While the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has said the country cannot not “go on spending money for ever”, Kwarteng said the priority for now was to support the economy. “For…
UK house prices bounced back in February despite the imminent end of the stamp duty holiday, fuelled by changing housing preferences in the Covid-19 pandemic, and some buyers betting that the tax saving will be extended. The average price of a home rose by 0.7% to £231,068, the highest on record, more than reversing January’s…
