Parents feel the squeeze in the summer holidays, poll finds
July 13, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
According to an Abbey poll, British parents are finding the summer holidays financially draining.
The recently released figures show that keeping the children entertained during the long school break can cost families thousands of pounds each. In total, summer holidays may have £5 billion spent on them this year in the UK.
Abbey found that over a third of families rely on others to take care of childcare, and a fifth will cut down on working hours
Steve Shore, head of banking at Abbey said: “It’s important that families try to set aside some extra cash in advance of the summer holidays.”
Head of savings Reza Attar-Zadeh agreed: “Just putting a small amount aside each month into a savings account can provide enough to cover the cost of childcare, holidays abroad or trips out for the family.”
The bank recommends families to prepare in advance for the holidays, suggesting a figure of £50 per month to be put into accounts set up specifically for the summer break.
London house prices dwarf UK
January 5, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
People looking to get a mortgage for a home in London may be put off by recent figures regarding house prices.
Those living in the capital saw the cost of a home rise by an incredible 11.3 per cent in one year.
The data, gathered by Nationwide, looked at house prices in the last quarter of 2006 and found that London is speeding ahead of the rest of the UK.
A typical house in London is likely to set a buyer back £269,327, making it over £97,000 more expensive than the country’s average.
“The price of houses in London continues to dwarf those in other parts of the country,” said Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide’s group economist.
“The typical house in London costs £269,327 – more than one-and-a-half-times higher than the average price in the UK of £172,065.
“House prices also increased by more per day in the capital during 2006. A typical house in Greater London increased by more than £75 per day, compared with the UK average of £40 per day,” she added.
Ms Earley went on to say that a number of factors have contributed to the sky-high price of property in London.
Among them is a large imbalance between supply and demand for housing, while improved transport infrastructure and other developments in preparation for the Olympic Games in 2012 have also contributed.
