Q My boyfriend and I (both 29) are trying to buy our first home in north Leeds. It is a very competitive market, and houses nearly always go to best and final offers. Demand outstrips supply massively. We can afford to spend £250,000 maximum which includes a deposit of £50,000. We have an agreement in…
Buy-to-let landlords are joining the rush to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday, with the proportion of property sales agreed with investors hitting its highest level in four years. In November, landlords made 15% of agreed property purchases in England, Wales, and Scotland, more than at any time since December 2016, according to research…
After more than 20 years in the corporate world – at Vodafone, Virgin and Costa Coffee – Eleanor Tweddell found herself, at 40, unemployed for the first time. Struggling to process the loss of a job she loved while applying for those in which she had no interest, Tweddell went into a tailspin. Asked in…
It was terrifying to see the state of my finances written down in such a specific way: I owed more than £37,000 on four different credit cards, had a £37,000 loan and maxed out my £2,000 overdraft. In an article in the Guardian I explained how I had set up a social enterprise – and…
Thousands of travellers who agreed to rebook cancelled holidays – or accepted replacement vouchers – are facing a second wave of heartbreak as they find they can no longer take the trip they planned but the travel firm will not refund them. Over the spring and summer, airlines and travel firms implored customers to accept…
With Christmas visits strictly limited this year, many of us are set to send parcels containing gifts to family and friends. Traditionally this meant wandering down to the post office – and, at this time of the year, probably standing in a queue. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Royal Mail recently launched…
