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Half a million to lose access to Right to Buy scheme under planned reforms
Half a million council tenants could lose access to a scheme that helps them buy their property under proposed government reforms, the Resolution Foundation has warned.
First introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1980, the Right to Buy scheme allows council tenants to purchase their home at a discount of up to 70% of the property’s value.
Since its introduction, more than two million homes have been bought through the programme.
But last year, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner announced plans to tighten the eligibility criteria for the scheme and limit the number of people who can qualify.
Rayner, who bought her own property through the Right to Buy scheme in 2007, said the restrictions would prevent new homes from “leaving the system” once they are built.
7 common mistakes when saving for retirement
Investing in your retirement is never a bad idea – but where do you start? And what should you avoid?
Here, Paul Clifton, wealth planning director, at Arbuthnot Latham, provides his list of common retirement planning mistakes to avoid:
1. Underestimating the impact of inflation
“While small, incremental price increases are easy to overlook from one week or month to another, it is unwise to ignore the cumulative effect that they can have on your wealth. The impact of inflation will compound over time and quickly start to erode your purchasing power,” Clifton says.
“To overcome the compounding effect of inflation, your investments (after tax and charges) need to grow enough to offset the rate of inflation, 2.3% in the 12 months to October 2024.”
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2. Timing the market
Clifton says: “It is easy to get encouraged by the success stories of people who have timed the market perfectly and realised huge returns. Exciting as these stories may be, it is important to remember that they are generally just that – stories.
“The reality is that many investors who try to join in on the game of market timing often get stung by unexpected market corrections and other phenomena that are difficult to predict.
“Essentially, investing is usually about time in the market, not timing the market. If you are getting nervous about market volatility, it might be good to seek professional advice.”
3. Misunderstanding risk-reward
“Low-risk, low-return investments certainly have their place in any portfolio; however, if you want to keep ahead of inflation and grow your purchasing power, it is also important to have a diversified portfolio with some higher-risk, higher-return investments as well. Especially for those who are still a long way from retirement,” the finance expert says.
“Overcautious investing can mean that you will lose out on growth potential within your portfolio. But this does not mean you need to bet the house on a volatile company or speculate on an entirely new market. What it does mean is that it can be wise to balance your portfolio with asset classes that typically have higher growth potential.”
4. Making poor withdrawals
“Deciding when to stop saving and start spending can be difficult to judge. It is important to remember that each person’s needs are different and while, for some, it may make sense to dip into their capital, for others it makes no sense at all,” Clifton says.
“The best way to have confidence is to have a plan. Speak with a retirement wealth planner to work through what is right for you.”
5. Ignoring the difference between good value vs fees
Clifton says: “It is worth noting that good value and low fees are not the same. While fees essentially only concern price, value considers the quality of the service and investment management that you get in return for what you pay.
“Another point to consider when assessing value versus fees is exit penalties. Companies with exit penalties charge customers if they move assets to another manager or access their investments to fund their retirement. This is something to consider when deciding if a financial service is of good value.”
6. Ignoring foreign markets
“Many retirees feel a sense of loyalty to their home country. However, this sense of loyalty need not be reflected in their portfolios,” Clifton says.
“Having a portfolio that is exclusive to home country investments significantly reduces the number of opportunities you will have to increase your nest egg.
“For a private investor, trying to understand new markets and research foreign companies could be daunting, however, a professional portfolio management team has the expertise and resources to access markets with higher growth potential on your behalf.
“Explore opportunities beyond your backyard and broaden your investment horizon for potential portfolio growth.”
7. Not seeking advice
“As you navigate investing, remember that you do not have to do it alone,” Clifton adds.
“Like most things in life, it is often best to have a second opinion – especially when it comes to retirement investing.
“Seek advice from an investment professional or firm with the experience and expertise to guide you on your investing journey.”
Investors not confident on Hamas-Israel ceasefire holding
By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter
Middle East instability is one of the factors that can be relied on to push up oil costs.
It should follow then that stability in the form of a Hamas-Israel ceasefire should bring prices down. Not so.
Investors, it seems, don’t have full faith in the ceasefire holding.
Not enough faith to cancel out the reasons pushing prices up – new US sanctions on Russia and Iran which are causing China and India to look elsewhere for supplies.
That’s putting pressure on alternative supplies and a depletion of US stockpiles. All of this is pushing prices up.
In fact, as more news of the ceasefire came through, the oil price went up to a high not seen since the summer – $82.50. That’s from prices in the low 70s for much of November and December.
Rail operators urged to introduce ‘yellow card’ system for passengers
Train passengers who are caught travelling with the wrong ticket should be given a warning for their first offence rather than face a fine or prosecution, a watchdog has said.
Transport Focus has urged all rail operators in Britain to introduce a so-called yellow card system to “make things fairer for everyone”.
A number of passengers were recently facing prosecution over small amounts of money, including Sam Williamson, who was threatened with court action due to a £1.85 underpayment.
We spoke to him a few months ago…
Other approaches suggested by Transport Focus to tackle the issue include introducing a digital railcard database.
Ticket inspectors would be able to use the database to check a passenger’s eligibility for a discount if they say they have forgotten their railcard or they can’t load it on their phone.
The watchdog also wants increased measures to collect fares, so passengers know they will be asked to produce a valid ticket at the start and end of their journey, as well as during it.
HMRC’s poor digital services ‘causing woe for taxpayers’
HMRC’s poor quality digital services are not adequately meeting the needs of taxpayers, a tax and business advisory firm has warned.
Blick Rothenberg said in its report that poor quality digitalisation was “causing woe for taxpayers” and HMRC’s webchats only appeared to connect 49% of the time.
Only 21% of queries submitted in this format were resolved, it added.
It also found that some of the department’s online forms were not designed effectively enough and were creating extra work for taxpayers, their agents and HMRC.
Robert Salter, director of Blick Rothenberg, said HMRC sometimes closed down their phone lines, leaving taxpayers with no choice but to use their “unreliable webchats”.
“Digitalisation when done well could help with mundane and time-consuming tasks, but given the increasing complexity of many taxpayers’ tax affairs, some issues require talking directly to a person to resolve,” he added.
Most turbulent flight routes in Europe revealed
Flights between Nice and Geneva were the most turbulent in Europe last year, a survey has found.
The turbulence tracking website Turbli analysed around 10,000 routes connecting the 550 biggest airports in the world.
Flights between Nice and Zurich were the second bumpiest, while flights between Milan and Zurich were third.
When it came to the most turbulent flight routes in the world, journeys from Mendoza in Argentina to Santiago in Chile were worst.
Turbulence is measured in eddy dissipation rate and can be caused by a number of factors including wind patterns, clouds, high humidity and temperatures, high mountains and oceans.
The top most turbulent flights in Europe last year were:
- Nice to Geneva
- Nice to Zurich
- Milan to Zurich
- Milan to Lyon
- Nice to Basel
- Geneva to Zurich
- Nice to Lyon
- Geneva to Venice
- Lyon to Zurich
- Venice to Zurich
BP to cut 4,700 jobs and 3,000 contractor roles
BP has announced it is cutting 4,700 jobs from its global workforce.
The energy giant also said it will cut 3,000 contractor roles as part of a cost-saving drive across the company.
It comes just two days after BP warned its fourth-quarter results for 2024 would be hit by weaker oil and gas production.
More pressure on chancellor as pound drops
By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business and economics reporter
There was no panicked market reaction to yet more news of weak UK growth, even though GDP (a key measure of economic expansion) came in lower than forecast.
Low growth has become the norm and, unfortunately for Chancellor Rachel Reeves, so too have high government borrowing costs and a less valuable pound in the past 10 days.
If Reeves was hoping for continued reprieve from market pressure she did not get it this morning.
While news of slower inflation rises yesterday somewhat brought down high borrowing costs and boosted the value of the pound, GDP figures did the opposite.
The pound, which is taken as an assessment of investor confidence in the UK economy, dropped below $1.22.
The benchmark for government borrowing costs – the effective interest rate on 10-year borrowing – edged up but didn’t erode the falls from good inflation news yesterday. The same goes for the price of longer-term, 30-year lending.
The UK stock market provided a bright spot with the FTSE 100 index of most valuable London Stock Exchange companies, which rose by 0.8%, a second day of growth. Up but to a lesser extent was the more domestic comprised FTSE 250, rising 0.17%.
If Reeves had managed to dip out of the headlines the focus this morning would arguably have been on the oil price, which ticked up after Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire deal.
A barrel of Brent crude oil now costs $81.87 having been priced in the low 70s for much of November and December. It’ll mean filling up the car tank becomes more expensive and costs possibly rising throughout supply chains.
Woman faces online mockery after being conned out of £700,000 by fake Brad Pitt
A French woman has been mocked on social media after losing more than €830,000 (£700,000) to scammers posing as the Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.
The 53-year-old interior designer, known only as Anne, thought she was in a year-long romantic relationship with the Fight Club and Ocean’s Eleven Star.
But after opening up about her ordeal to reporters, she suffered so much trolling that the French television channel TF1 had to pull her interview.
“The story broadcast this Sunday has resulted in a wave of harassment against the witness,” TF1 presenter Harry Roselmack wrote on X.
“For the protection of victims, we have decided to withdraw it from our platforms,” he added.
Read the full story here…
Britons are among ‘least work-oriented in the world’ – BrewDog founder
Britain is one of the “least work-oriented countries in the world”, BrewDog co-founder James Watt has said.
He also suggested Britons need to end their obsession with “work-life balance”.
In a video shared on social media, Watt and his fiancee, Georgia Toffolo, said they instead believe in “work-life integration”.
What do you think? Leave a comment above
“The whole concept of work-life balance was invented by people who hate what they do,” he said. “So if you love what you do you don’t need work-life balance, you need work-life integration.”
Watt says he received a lot of abuse in the original video – it “crossed the line from debate to personal abuse”.
“People are saying they’d like to murder me with a hammer”, he later said.
Watt and Toffolo, who starred in Made In Chelsea, pointed to a Policy Institute at King’s College London study in 2023 that found Britons were less likely to say work should always come first.
Of the 24 nations looked at, Britons were least likely to say work was important in their life.
“I’ve heard countless international leaders say that the UK’s work ethic just doesn’t stack up against other nations, especially the US,” Watt said.
Agree with Watt? Leave your thoughts in the comments box above.
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