Financial news

• Reeves could raise £10bn a year by reducing pension tax relief, report says

  26-08-2024 17:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Fabian Society says tax breaks cost £66bn and are skewed towards better-offRachel Reeves could raise at least £10bn a year through a radical shake-up of pensions that would make tax relief less generous to better-off earners, a leading left-of-centre thinktank has said.The report by the Fabian Society says tax breaks for pensions have become markedly more expensive for the government and its proposed changes would fill half the £22bn shortfall the chancellor has iden
  
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• Improved version of ‘Robocrop’ only picks ripe raspberries

  26-08-2024 15:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Developers say the Fieldworker robot will soon be in use in the UK, Australia and PortugalA new version of the world’s first raspberry-picking robot, a four-armed machine powered by artificial intelligence and able to do the job at the speed and effectiveness of a human, is to be employed on farms in the UK, Australia and Portugal over the coming 12 months.The developers claim that Fieldworker 1, nicknamed Robocrop, can detect more accurately than previous models whether a berry
  
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• Can you apply for pension credit? It’s key to help with rising energy costs

  26-08-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  It is a benefit that brings winter fuel payments with it, but many people are missing outEnergy prices are set to rise after the regulator announced the new price cap on Friday. From October, the annual gas and electricity bill for a typical household will go up to £1,717. But, while the winter fuel payment would have gone a long way to covering the increase in previous years, this time it will only be given to pensioners who receive pension credit.About 880,000 people who could get that b
  
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• First-time buyers made up 48% of house hunters in London this year, data shows

  26-08-2024 08:01 via theguardian.com
  Proportion was biggest since at least 2010 as cheaper mortgage deals slowed exodus from city, says estate agentAlmost half of house hunters in London at the beginning of this year were first-time buyers as cheaper mortgage deals slowed the exodus from the capital, figures from a leading estate agent show.First-time buyers made up 48% of purchasers in the city between January and June, according to analysis by Hamptons of data from Countrywide estate agents. Continue reading...
  
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• Superloops, Bees and bottlenecks: onboard England’s new bus routes

  26-08-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Devolved transport powers for mayors represent exciting prospect, but traffic and costs are still a major hurdleCan you make everything better with a bus? “I can’t speak for everyone,” says Janet McGlone, 74, onboard the SL3 Superloop service from Thamesmead shopping centre on her way home to Bexleyheath in south-east London. “But this has been a godsend for us.”The Superloop, a psychedelic-branded network of express orbital buses dreamed up by the London mayor, Sad
  
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• My brother has fallen victim to the retirement home transfer fee money grab

  26-08-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  He and others continue to be fleeced by an ‘indefensible revenue stream’ set up by freeholdersIn 2022 my brother bought a flat in a retirement complex built by McCarthy Stone. A year later he had to move to a care home because of cognitive difficulties, and I am now having to sell his flat on his behalf to pay for his care fees. The managing agent, FirstPort, is demanding 1% of the sale price without explanation. That’s on top of the approximately £7,000 annual service ch
  
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• UK has record 991,000 self-employed workers aged 60 or over

  26-08-2024 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  More opt to work beyond traditional retirement age but some are forced to, says advice group Rest LessThe number of people aged 60 and older who are self-employed has reached a record of almost 1 million, research suggests.This represents an increase of more than a third (33%) in the past decade, to reach 991,432 self-employed people aged 60 or over in 2023, according to analysis by Rest Less, which offers advice to older people. Continue reading...
  
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