Money digest: today’s need-to-know financial news | 16 May 2016

There’s some good news for homeowners this morning: asking prices for houses jumped to a new record high of £308,151 on average in May, according to property website Rightmove,

Thisismoney reports that some towns have seen ‘eye-watering’ increases while across England and Wales, the average price tag on a property coming to market has risen by £1,118 on last month.

The price increase comes despite a three percentage point stamp duty hike for buy-to-let investors, imposed from April 1, which it was thought would take some heat out of the market. But the rush from homebuyers in March to beat the extra stamp duty on buy-to-let properties and second homes has led to a property ‘drought’.

Rightmove said the price of an ‘entry level’ home with two bedrooms or fewer leapt by £11,298 over the last month alone to reach £194,224 on average. Homes in this bracket are typically sought after by both first-time buyers and buy-to-let investors. Housing transactions shot up 80 per cent in March, the property website said.

According to The Guardian, high street banks will learn this week whether regulators intend to press ahead with proposals to cap overdraft charges in a bid to make it easier for customers to switch current accounts. The Competition and Markets Authority is due to publish provisional recommendations from its delayed investigation into retail banking on Tuesday. It will be followed by a month’s consultation before a final ruling. The watchdog is also expected to say whether it will want two banking price comparison websites set up. Besides a site for retail customers, an additional one for small businesses could be created under the auspices of innovation charity Nesta. Banks could be required to contribute millions of pounds to a prize fund for the development project.

New research from Halifax Insurance has found that almost half of UK adults have turned to digital technology to develop or learn new skills, with financial savings driving the online uptake. The fourth annual Halifax Insurance Digital Home Report found that almost half of those who are learning or developing skills and hobbies through online platforms or apps said they are saving money from doing so.

British savers risk being left in the ‘slow lane’ unless the UK Government takes a more active role in ensuring the successful delivery of a Pensions Dashboard, according to a new policy paper from Royal London.

Nearly one million people aged over 75 live in poverty and need more help from the Government, a report published on the BBC website suggests. The charity Independent Age says ministers should do more to make older pensioners aware they can top up their pensions with other benefits. It also suggests the income of those aged over 75 is, on average, £3,000 a year less than younger pensioners. In its report, Independent Age defines the ‘poverty threshold’ for a single pensioner as £182 a week before housing costs. For couples, its figure is £272 per week. The break-up of BAA is on course to create £870 million of consumer benefits by 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority says in a new report to be published today. Forcing the airports operator to sell Gatwick, Stansted and Edinburgh produced legal challenges, but the resulting competition has led to more investment and faster passenger growth, the CMA says. It also has led to better service quality at Heathrow, after which BAA has been renamed. ‘In a more competitive environment and with the freedom to make their own commercial decisions, UK airports are working harder to attract passengers and airlines,’ Alex Chisholm, chief executive of the CMA, writes in The Times. Meanwhile, more than 300 company bosses have written to The Telegraph backing Brexit, claiming that ‘red tape stifles every one of Britain’s 5.4 million businesses’. The signatories letter include Peter Goldstein, a founder of Superdrug; David Sismey, a managing director of Goldman Sachs; and Sir Patrick Sheehy, the former chairman of British American Tobacco. The bosses have signed the letter ‘in a personal capacity’, The Telegraph notes.