Inflation, self-employed, online fraud and housing

The annual rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index rose to 1 per cent in September, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. That’s up from 0.6 per cent in the year to August. CPI tracks the cost of 700 household goods and services. Investment manager Thomas Laskey from Aberdeen Asset Management said: ‘The worrying factor is that today’s figure represents only a tiny part of sterling’s steep drop, and no effect from the second big tumble earlier this month. Such a large fall in the currency will bring with it higher import costs and we’re likely to see much higher inflation in the months and years to come.’ The pound spiked after the inflation figures were published but settled to trade at $1.2250 – up 0.4 per cent from Monday’s close. Meanwhile, a sell-off in the British government bond market continued on Monday amid political instability jitters, pushing 10-year gilt yields to their highest since June’s Brexit vote and further pressuring the battered pound.

Self-employed

Average wages for self-employed workers are lower than in 1994-95, researchers say.

The Resolution Foundation said that while the UK’s self-employed workforce had grown by 45 per cent since 2001-02, their weekly earnings had fallen by £60. It blamed the rise of lower paid jobs and the financial crisis, which had reduced pay rates. The report comes as a ruling on a closely watched case on pay for self-employed drivers for Uber is expected. Savings Data from Moneyfacts.co.uk shows that rate reductions in the savings market have now outweighed rate rises for 12 consecutive months. In September, Moneyfacts recorded 29 savings rate rises. Disappointingly, rate reductions over the same period completely outshone this figure, with the number of rate decreases standing at 164 – which translates to around six cuts to every rate rise – with some deals falling by as much as 0.75 per cent. The rise in inflation means savers now have very few accounts to choose from that match or beat this level. Today, less than half (266) of the 644 savings accounts currently on the market can beat or match inflation, and of these 250 (12 no notice, 18 notice, 152 fixed rate bonds and 68 cash ISAs) are without restrictive criteria. Online fraud

Annual fraud and cybercrime losses in the UK have grown to the equivalent of £210 per adult, according to research.

A total of £10.9 billion was lost to the UK economy in the 12 months to April, prevention group Get Safe Online said. Fraudulent emails and messages directing people to websites that gather victims’ personal information are the most common con-trick, it said. It urged people to use many different strong passwords and to ensure security updates are loaded. Landlords A new minimum bedroom size and the extension of licensing to thousands more properties are to form part of a government crackdown on rogue landlords who cram tenants into overcrowded homes, The Guardian reports. As rents have risen in recent years some landlords have attempted to maximise profits by squeezing tenants into ‘rabbit-hutch’ properties. Family homes have been divided into bedsits, with some landlords letting spaces that are just three metres squared, or advertising rooms that are shared with other tenants. Meanwhile, The Telegraph reports that nearly half a million landlords will be forced to pay 40 per cent tax for the first time from April next year, when the Government enforces its planned buy-to-let tax raid, according to analysis. According to the National Association of Landlords, the new harsher tax rules will push the taxable incomes of around a quarter (440,000) of the UK’s two million landlords who currently pay basic rate tax at 20 per cent, above the higher-rate tax threshold of £41,786. Housing

New research from estate agency Jackson-Stops & Staff shows that in 1995, 87 per cent of properties sold in London were for less than £150,000. Today the market has undergone a complete reversal with only 2 per cent of homes sold today now fetching below this price. Jackson Stops & Staff anticipates that homes sold below £120,000 will completely disappear from the market this year.