Money blog: Four-bed semi in London goes viral for £3.5m asking price (2024)

One in six Britons have hidden a debt from their partner - and one in four regularly hide purchases.

That's according to research by ClearScore - which asked 3gem to quiz 500 people with live-in partners last month.

Other findings include one in five saying they often argue with their partner about money, while more than one in four feel their relationship is "financially unequal".

Debt collection practices need to be improved or firms could face "robust actions", the Financial Conduct Authority has said.

It announced today that it had joined forces with Ofgem, Ofwat and Ofcom tomake sure customers in debt do not receive excessive communication from companies.

It has also urged firms to useclearly signpost free debt advice,make it easy for debt advisers to contact them on behalf of clients and use supportive language.

Read the full press release here.

Every household must be engaged by the government in the shift to clean heating as uptake of heat pumps to replace boilers is running at less than half of expected levels, the public spending watchdog has warned.

A report by the National Audit Office described assumptions on consumer demand for heat pumps, which use electricity to draw heat from the ground, air or water for heating buildings, as "optimistic".

It also called into question public awareness of the availability of boiler upgrade grants to help smooth the transition from oil and gas-fired boilers amid the battle againstclimate change.

Read the full story here...

Santander is offering £185 to people who switch from a rival bank.

The offer is open to new and existing Santander customers, using the Current Account Switch Service to switch to certain current accounts.

In order to qualify, you need to switch within 60 days of requesting the move - and within that timeframe pay in at least £1,500 and set up two direct debits.

You'll then get the money within 90 days.

Who else has offers like this?

HSBC is offering a switch offer of up to £220 - on the basis you make a new current account and regularly pay into savings with them.

Cash switching offers from other banks also include £200 to move to a NatWest/RBS current account and £175 to switch to Lloyds.

Before you switch...

When you apply for a new bank account, most banks will run a hard credit check - which can temporarily affect your credit score.

While this won't be a problem for most people - especially if you're only making one or two switches - you might want to reconsider if you're taking out a loan or mortgage any time soon.

Consumer site Which? suggests spreading credit applications out and not applying for multiple current accounts at once.

You might also want to consider whether you have had any other hard credit checks recently, such as applying for a credit card.

Experian adds: "Opening a new bank account should only lower your credit score temporarily - but if you do it too often, your score won't have time to recover."

A small number of banks - including Monzo and Starling Bank - run soft credit checks, which won't affect your credit score.

In the first of a new series of special reports, ourpeople and politics correspondent Nick Martin spent a week in Hastings, a town on the frontline of all that is wrong with the housing system, with evictions, social housing shortages and Airbnb all causing issues.

This video report is a difficult watch at times but is well worth 15 minutes of your commute home or evening...

EasyJet is opening its first new UK base in 12 years.

The company says its operation at Birmingham Airport could help cut fares - and will also create 140 direct jobs for pilots and crew, as well as support a further 1,200 indirect jobs.

EasyJet's last new base was at Southend Airport in 2012.

Three planes at the West Midlands airport will service 16 new routes from this summer - including Antalya in Turkey, the Greek island of Kos, and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt.

Read the full story here...

This property listing for a four-bed semi in London is getting a lot of attention on social media - as it provides an eye-watering illustration of London property prices.

The house is up for £3,500,000 - and, by way of comparison, people on X have found a six-bedroom country mansion in Durham for £1,750,000.

The 1950s-style semi isn't even in central London. It's in Canonbury, half a mile from the nearest Tube station (Highbury and Islington).

It's 0.4 miles from Upper Street, which is a popular night life spot with lots of decent restaurants and trendy shops - so this could explain some of bumper price.

The inside has been renovated and is a sizeable 3,650sq ft - you can decide here if you think it's worth it...

We looked at sale records for the area and found a similar property in 1996 sold for 10 times less - £312,000.

Primark has begun sealing its carrier bags with large "sold" stickers in a bid to clamp down on shoplifting.

Checkout staff have been placing blue labels, which include Primark's logo and the word "Sold", near the handles of the bags as part of a trial across 18 stores.

The move comes amid reports that thieves are using the chain's paper bags to steal goods.

Now, customers who try to leave stores without stickers on their bags will be stopped by security.

"The thieves would put anything in which didn't have a tag and wouldn't set off an alarm," a worker at a branch in southeast London told The Sun.

"They could blend in with customers because you can only get bags from the checkouts. It was very hard for security guards to spot."

A Primark spokesperson told Sky News that antisocial behaviour and retail crime was "rising right across the retail industry" and it hada range of security measures in place "to help prevent stock loss".

"We'll be keeping an eye on this and monitoring the impact these new measures have, listening to feedback from our colleagues and customers," they said.

The spokesperson added the firm would not be disclosing which Primark branches are trialling the scheme - given it is a security measure.

By James Sillars, business reporter

It's a fairly directionless start on the FTSE 100.

Energy and some consumer stocks drove a slight uptick at the market open, with the index rising just 0.1% to 7,733.

Currys, the electricals retailer, was among stocks gaining more widely.

That was put down to bolstered annual profit guidance despite downwards pressure from the end-of-bid interest in the firm last week.

Potential suitors had included China's JD.com.

Across financial markets, it's worth keeping an eye on the oil price this week

Brent crude has been creeping up since February and is at $85 a barrel currently and nearing $86.

Upwards pressure is being applied by signs of increased demand in China and the impact of the conflict in the Middle East.

Attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure amid the war with Ukraine have been a more recent factor.

The upshot of rising oil costs is fuel price hikes.

They can add to costs in the wider economy at a time when the battle against inflation is far from over.

While data this week is expected to show another easing in the main consumer prices index measure, the Bank of England is worried about the outlook.

The minutes of its latest interest rate-setting meeting on Thursday, which is widely expected to hold off on a cut, will give further clues on the prospects for price growth ahead.

A life insurance firm infamous for its controversial adverts (includingthis one featuring Harold Shipman) has told customers it is unable to take new business.

DeadHappy posted this message on its website...

Existing policyholders can still manage their accounts online as normal, according to the company.

Anyone seeking "a little extra peace of mind" is advised to get in touch with the intermediary.

In January 2023, DeadHappy faced backlash for this advert featuring serial killer Harold Shipman...

It later conceded it had made a mistake.

DeadHappy has been around since 2013, focusing on so-called "Deathwishes" – a policy feature allowing people to say how their payout should be spent.

The average price of a newly marketed home jumped by more than £5,000 month-on-month in March, Rightmove says.

The property website said it was a sign "we now seem to be past the bottom of the market".

The 1.5% increase pushed the average asking price to £368,118.

This is still £4,776 below a peak seen in May 2023.

Agreed sales and buyer demand are higher than this time last year, Rightmove said, although the market remains sensitive to pricing.

The average time to find a buyer is now 71 days, which is the longest at this time of year since 2019, the website said.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove's director of property science, said: "March is typically a strong month for asking price growth, as both buyer and seller activity levels rise and the spring selling season gets under way.

"However, the stronger-than-usual price growth this March indicates that new sellers are feeling much more confident, with some perhaps being overoptimistic, that there is enough buyer activity and affordability in their local market to achieve a higher price."

Mr Bannister said there was a "window of opportunity"... "as we now seem to be past the bottom of the market".