January sales may not end this year

Officials have stated that the January sales this year are likely to extend far beyond the traditional month, and will most likely go on for the rest of the year, giving consumers the chance to pick up bargains all around the year. Read more

Tags: retailers, key question, recession, poll, janauary sales, financial climate, retail sales

Top of the polls for Nationwide

In a recent poll carried out by moneysupermarket.com a building society has beaten all of the big banks, pipping them to the post with the number one spot as most trusted bank or building society amongst UK consumers. The big name banks have always claimed to be the most trustworthy and reliable, but the poll has shown that the highest percentage of people actually have more trust in a building society. The Nationwide scooped the number one spot on the poll, and its excellent service and reliability levels were highlighted. Read more

Tags: spot, building society, place, halifax, uk consumers, poll, bank

Insurance firms could face huge losses

According to a recent report the insurance industry could be facing huge losses as a result of the global credit crunch, with tighter household finances forcing many consumers to either downgrade or cancel their insurance cover in order to make ends meet each month. A survey was carried out by officials at Deloitte, and showed that around one if every four consumers were planning to either cut or cancel insurance cover in order to save money at what has become a very financially turbulent time. Read more

Tags: savings insurance, housing, payment, poll, level, global credit crunch, party

‘Advice needed’ on equity release options

Homeowners interested in equity release should get more information from a regulated consultant, an expert says.

Bob Mottershead of Newcastle Building Society’s (NBS) Equity Release Service said he was concerned that the results of an NBS survey showed people did not understand equity release.

Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of respondents to the poll said they did not know where to get advice despite almost half (45 per cent) considering it as an option.

NBS included holidays, home improvements and paying off debts among the top reasons for freeing equity from a property.

However, 14 per cent of respondents were reluctant to reduce their children’s inheritance by considering equity release.

Mr Mottershead said: “It’s quite concerning to see from the research that so many people don’t know where to go for guidance.

“Equity release isn’t right for everyone so our advice is to speak to a regulated consultant.”

Tags: Newcastle Building Society, Informa, regulated consultant, Equity Release Service, NBS, property, poll, information

Investors ‘expect more’ from buy-to-let

Britons are “confident” that returns from a buy-to-let investment will be more profitable than other avenues, research from Mortgage Trust has found.

The group’s figures indicate that three-quarters of new landlords make an investment in bricks and mortar because they believe it is the pre-eminent investment vehicle.

Mortgage Trust also estimates that almost two-thirds of a landlord’s portfolio is comprised by property.

More than a quarter of respondents in a poll carried out by the group also claim that they choose buy-to-let investments because they are able to exert a significant degree of control over their investment.

John Heron, managing director of Mortgage Trust, said: “Landlords are placing a slightly heavier weighting on the property aspects of their portfolios because they are confident in the returns that can be generated from buy-to-let, more so than other investments in the current market.”

He said that this was particularly the case in recent times due to stock market volatility.

Tags: group's figures, poll, landlord, portfolio, avenues, Business Finance, Rate of return