Laura Whitcombe

The Equity Release Council is rubbing its hands with glee this morning. Its latest figures reveal £393.9 million was lent over the first three months of the year, making it the best first quarter on record. But it seems to me that this is no cause for celebration. Equity release – or a lifetime mortgage – is somewhat of an extreme form of secured borrowing. It enables over-55s to borrow money against equity they have in their home and the cash can be used for any purpose the borrower likes, such as home improvements, holidays, new cars or helping their family. Typically there’s no interest to pay upfront but instead it racks up at a fixed rate, agreed upon when the loan is taken out. The average rate is somewhere between six and seven per cent.

Since the start of April, anyone buying a home with a granny flat could have found themselves hit by an inflated stamp duty bill. They would have been caught up in the government’s move to get landlords and those who own second homes to contribute more to the Treasury’s coffers by way of a 3 per cent stamp duty surcharge. The planned rate varied between 3 per cent and 15 per cent of the sale price, depending on the property’s value. For example, a property with an annexe - the proper name for a granny flat - with an overall sale price of £500,000 would incur a new stamp duty bill of £30,000, compared to the £15,000 it previously cost. The change doubled the effective rate of stamp duty from 3 per cent to 6 per cent on properties of this price.

Savers are wasting a fortune by keeping their money in cash only. They may as well be burying the £735 billion they’ve collectively put by in a sock in the back garden for all the good it’s doing them. The figure was revealed by investment platform Selftrade, which also found that 62 per cent of savers leave their money in cash. Of those who have bank and building society accounts for the money they squirrel away, two-thirds keep it in their current account, just over half use ISAs and 16 per cent have a piggy bank. Only a quarter of British adults hold investment products, according to the company, and only 10 per cent take the trouble of shielding their returns from the taxman by using a stocks and shares ISA.

Do you trust your grown-up children with money? Apparently a lot of us don’t. More than half of the grandparents who plan to leave an inheritance to their grandchildren ring-fence the money so their own children can’t get their hands on it, according to data from insurer Sun Life. But is it any wonder? British adults have become addicted to debt. The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned we’re on course to spend more than we earn for the rest of the decade. In total, our overspend is expected to be £58 billion this year alone and £68 billion in 2019.

Here's an idea to improve social mobility, in the wake of Alan Milburn's damning report a couple of weeks ago: why not allow young people taking unpaid internships to claim benefits?   Right now, people are only entitled to Jobseekers' Allowance provided they are out of full-time education and if they work less that 16 hours on average a week.  Any more than that, and they're deemed not to be "actively seeking" paid work - so they don't qualify for the cash.   But what about a young person working full-time and for free at some investment bank, in the hope of one day securing a fully paid job?  It's hard to imagine how anyone could be more actively seeking paid work, but the rules currently say that they're not. It's a completely counterintuitive set-up.

Laura Staples recalls the American-born retailer whose great Oxford Street emporium revolutionised British shopping habits — and is holding out against recession today Laura Staples recalls the American-born retailer whose great Oxford Street emporium revolutionised British shopping habits — and is holding out against recession today One hundred years ago this week, Harry Gordon Selfridge threw open the doors of his famous Oxford Street store. After an early career with what became the Marshall Field department store company in Chicago, he was keen to build an emporium of his own. In doing so, he revolutionised British shopping and helped create the modern consumer society. Selfridge wanted more than just a big shop.