Money digest: today’s need-to-know financial news | 31 May 2016

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside…but it comes at a cost. According to the latest research from Halifax, house prices have increased by a third across British seaside towns over the past decade. The annual Halifax Seaside Town Review revealed average house prices have grown from £166,565 in 2006 to £219,386 in 2016, equivalent to an average increase of £440 per month.

The UK’s most expensive seaside town is Sandbanks in Dorset, with the average house price there nearly £665,000. Salcombe in Devon, where the average home is worth £539,950, came second. Unsurprisingly, eight of the top 10 most expensive seaside towns were in south-west England.

The least expensive was Scotland’s Port Bannatyne on the Isle of Bute, where the average house price is £77,132. Meanwhile, North Berwick has become Scotland’s most expensive seaside town, according to a Bank of Scotland report, which says the average house price there is £327,124. Tax troubles When will the stories of taxman incompetence end? Tens of millions of pounds in VAT and corporation tax due to the Government since February has not been paid as HMRC changed its bank details without telling businesses. Large