Financial data, housing, business rates and customer service

Some worrying news from consumer group Which? this morning regarding trading of personal and financial data on a ‘huge scale’, sometimes illegally and in breach of guidelines from the Information Commissioner’s Office. The BBC reports that after contacting 14 companies that sell data, undercover Which? researchers were able to access personal information on approximately half a million people over the age of 50, including details about their salary and pensions, sometimes for as little as 4p an item. Information like this can be instrumental in helping scammers who con people out of their pension savings, or persuade them to move money from their bank accounts. Housing The Guardian reports on new research from Halifax which found that ‘house price growth in Britain’s new towns has outperformed the national average over the past decade’. Milton Keynes, which is now half a century old, was identified as the best-performing new town for property price growth over the past 30 years.