As the digital revolution continues apace, it has emerged that Britons over the age of 60 are the fastest growing group of people taking to contactless card payments.
According to Barclaycard, contactless spending within the older age group has more than doubled in the last year. Its growth has been most noticeable in Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff and Edinburgh. Separate figures showed that total spending on contactless cards hit £1.5 billion for the first time in March. The Barclaycard data suggests the number of silver surfers using ‘touch and go’ payments increased by 116 per cent over the last 12 months. The Times reports that British shoppers have provided a glimmer of good news for the economy after retail sales rebounded in April. Consumers spent £7 billion a week last month, official figures revealed, while sales volumes rose 1.3 per cent on the month, which was more than double that expected by economists. Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotiabank, said that the panic about a wider consumer slowdown was over. ‘Despite the doom and gloom in the headlines, retail sales are in good shape. This marks a great start to the second quarter and could help to avert too much of a slowdown in GDP growth for the second quarter.’ House price surge The real price of UK property has surged 251 per cent in the last 20 years to stand at an average of £2,216 – a measure of the cost per square metre of floorspace has revealed. Mail Online reports that the most expensive floorspace in the country is in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea at £11,321 per sq m – despite dropping 1 per cent on last year.That equates to £120,000 for a 3m by 3.5m double bedroom – compared to £10,700 in the UK’s cheapest location, Airdrie in Scotland. Britons are paying an average of £23,268 for such a room. While London and the South of England dominate the list of most expensive locations, the data by Halifax found five areas outside these areas that fetch a higher property price per sq m than the national average.
Meanwhile, figures released yesterday by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) estimated that gross mortgage lending reached £18.5 billion in April. This is 29 per cent lower than March’s lending total of £26.2 billion, but 16 per cent higher than the £16 billion lent in April last year.Responding to the CML release Henry Woodcock, principal mortgage consultant at IRESS, said: ‘Even with the availability of high numbers of low interest rate mortgages deals, it’s no huge surprise that borrowing in April was so much lower than in March given the false peak which resulted from a rush to beat the Chancellor’s 3 per cent tax hike on buy-to-let. Will we see a rise in lending in May? That will depend on a number of factors. Lenders may increase the number of long-term deals of up to 40 years to tempt borrowers struggling to afford shorter terms, but on the flip side, as the Bank of England interest rate remains static, lenders may increase interest rate margins. The lowest rate tracker deals have already risen by 0.24 per cent in the last six months. The unknown effect of the EU vote in June may further depress lending in May as borrowers wait and see both the result and the impact on lenders and house prices.’
More money to keep the lights on
Households will be paying £100 more for their annual bills within five years to fund four government policies designed to keep the lights on and support low-carbon electricity, according to a review published in The Guardian. Independent consultancy Cornwall Energy said energy subsidies will have risen by 124 per cent by 2020-21 due to the cost of the capacity market, renewable obligations, contracts for difference and feed-in tariff schemes. The cost estimates will anger Conservative backbenchers opposed to subsidising green energy, even if it is designed to play a key role in the fight against climate change. ‘While the future path of wholesale prices remains uncertain, policy costs are moving only in one direction,’ said Jo Butlin, managing director of Cornwall. We need to talk about death The number of people who have died without making a will has more than doubled in the last five years, according to Citizens Advice. Dying without a will is known as intestacy and the charity says the number of intestacy problems it deals with has more than doubled, rising from 1,522 in 2011 to 3,747 in 2015. Data from SunLife reveals that 115,000 people die without a will each year, and this causes problems for those left behind, with 27 per cent of those administering the estate without a will having difficulties. ‘Death is such a taboo subject”, said Graham Jones, director at Sunlife. ‘People do not like talking about it, and as a result, they are not planning for it. Without a will, you have no say in how your assets are shared, so it is really important you do so.’ Half-term holidays Research by M&S Bank shows the typical cost of a family holiday this May half-term has risen by 3.3 per cent, or £78, year-on-year. However, families can save an average of £388 on the cost of a week-long holiday simply by choosing alternative destinations instead of more popular resorts in the same country. Sweden offers the biggest ‘alternative’ destination saving, with a family of four able to save £932 by choosing to stay in Gothenburg rather than Stockholm. Direct flights to Gothenburg, one of Sweden’s largest cities, are nearly three times cheaper than flying to Stockholm’s main airport, costing £524 for a family of four compared to £1,492, and it’s a family-friendly flight time of just two hours. Shocking statistics New analysis of claims data by SELECT Premier Insurance from Direct Line, reveals that a single lightning bolt can cause more than £45,000 of damage to a property within seconds. A policyholder claimed after a single lightning bolt struck their home, damaging its electrical system causing £45,884 of damage. CCTV cameras, intruder alarm, water features, telephone line, heating and lighting systems were just some of the listed items that required replacing in the insurer’s biggest lightning claim to date. The strike damaged four flat screen TVs and Sky boxes together with a Bang & Olufsen sound system in the home’s gymnasium. The core units of the property’s Lutron home control system were damaged, requiring the bespoke system to be completely redesigned.Finally, one British firm is seeking to put the buzz back into budgeting by giving bank customers an electric shock if they overspend. Intelligent Environments has launched a platform which can link the Pavlok wristband, which delivers a 255 volt shock, to a bank account.
If the funds in the account go below an agreed limit, the band kicks in. It can also work with smart meter Nest to turn down the heating and save energy bills if funds are low. No bank has yet announced that it will be offering the Interact IoT (Internet of Things) platform to customers but Intelligent Environments lists several British banks as clients for its existing online banking platforms.
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