Residential Landlord: HMO licence warning on student lets Landlords are being warned that HMO licensing will place the onus on them to prevent student properties descending into 'Young Ones' condition.

My Finances: First-time buyers struggling But even though house prices have now stopped their rapid rise, Abbey reveals today that 50 per cent of prospective homeowners think that if they do not get on the property ladder soon, they never will. This is a large rise on last year, when half the number of prospective first-time buyers felt the same pressure.

Reuters: US Federal Reserve enters Bernanke era White House adviser Ben Bernanke won Senate approval on Tuesday to become chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, just after the central bank raised interest rates a 14th straight time.

This Is Money: Pension plans doomed to fail Far from heeding calls to save more for retirement, Britons are saving less with life assurance companies, with new business premiums down from £95bn in 2001 to just £80bn in 2004.

This Is Money: Demand for shop space plummets The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) painted a gloomy picture of falling demand for shop space and rising availability, particularly in second-tier shop space and retail warehousing.

This Is Money: Troubled Tinsley is hit by cash crisis FEARS grew for the future of DIY hardware maker Eliza Tinsley today as a cash crisis forced it to suspend trading in its shares.

This Is Money: 'The landlord who ripped us off' A LONDON landlord is charging prospective tenants hundreds of pounds before turning them down and keeping their money. Erich Kofmel, 31, demanded huge fees in advance from flat-hunters to carry out credit references.

BBC: Shop sales 'weaker than expected' December's much-vaunted recovery in UK retail sales was short-lived, with sales suffering a bigger-than-expected drop in January, the CBI has said.

CML: How disruptive will HIPs be? We see a combined effect of sellers listing before 1 June 2007 to avoid the cost of a HIP and buyers, particularly first-time buyers, waiting until after 1 June 2007 to benefit from the greater certainty and lower transaction costs associated with buying a property with a HIP. This is likely to lead to an oversupply of properties in the first half of 2007, and a rapid unwinding of that position after HIPs come in.

Reuters: Consumer credit weakens in December Consumers' unsecured borrowing rose by its smallest amount in five years in December but mortgage lending accelerated more than expected to a 1-1/2 year high, the Bank of England said on Tuesday.

Reuters: Housing revival dents rate cut expectations The housing market is showing new signs of life, according to data released on Tuesday which dented expectations of further Bank of England interest rate cuts to stoke consumer confidence this year.

First Rung: House prices have risen by £130 or 0.082% in the last 6 months The latest Nationwide report, on initial headline grabbing inspection, makes for disappointing reading for first time buyers. However, further investigation reveals some inaccuracies in the information with the possible suggestion that selective data has been relied on that could potentially alter opinion on the state of the current housing market.

SKY News: Heathrow Workers Strike Workers building the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport have begun a three-day strike after rejecting an improved pay offer.

BBC News: Iran move prompts oil price rise Crude oil prices continued to rise on Tuesday amid growing tension between the international community and Iran over its nuclear programme.

BBC News: Greenspan tees up last rate rise Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan will preside over his last rate meeting on Tuesday before retiring after almost 19 years at the central bank's helm.

Reuters.co.uk: House prices up in January House prices rose at their fastest monthly pace in a year and a half in January, Nationwide building society said on Tuesday, in further evidence that the property market is picking up.

BBC: Island sees unemployment increase The number of unemployed in Guernsey rose by 40 people in January, bringing the total up to 243 people.

smh.com.au: Little pressure to up interest rates Home owners look set to be spared an interest rate rise next week, as slowing home lending growth balances out the impact of strong business borrowings.

ThisisMoney: House price rises 'picking up' BRITAIN'S housing market got off to a flying start in 2006, with property prices posting their biggest jump for 18 months in January. In the latest sign the market is picking up after slowing sharply during 2005, Nationwide Building Society today said the average price of a home rose by 1.4% to £158,478 this month.

BBC NEWS | Business | House prices 'pick up in January' The UK housing market made a "strong start" in 2006, with prices rising 1.4% in January, the Nationwide has said. The increase - the biggest monthly rise since July 2004 - took the annual rate of house price growth to 4.4%.

BBC News: Reported fraud 'at 10-year high' Reported fraud in the UK has reached a 10-year high, with cases involving a total of almost £1bn reaching the courts, according to a study.

Nasdaq: Fed Expected To Raise Interest Rates To 4.5% Tuesday One and done. That's been Wall Street's mantra over the past few weeks as it anticipates the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate hike, expected Tuesday.

Independent: Master of your own mortgage - how to save time and money The offset mortgage marches on. Once the preserve of richer borrowers, this type of flexible home loan - which lets you set your savings against what you owe in return for lower interest repayments - is moving steadily into the mainstream.

Scotsman.com: 'Vanished' housing bubble may be a dangerous illusion If there is one certainty in economics, it is that the biggest problems can be made to disappear depending on the statistics used.

Reuters.co.uk: Britons save harder to buy first home First-time buyers need at least five years to save for a deposit on a new home as house price rises far outstrip earnings, according to a report by the nation's largest mortgage lender.

Reuters.co.uk: House prices up for second month House prices rose for a second consecutive month in January, according to property consultant Hometrack's latest survey published on Monday.

Daily Mail: Blair to quit as PM 'within two years' Tony Blair has reached "a new understanding" with Gordon Brown that will see him take over as Prime Minister within two years, David Blunkett has revealed.

This is Money: So much for credit checks then, Matey There it was nestling in the pile on the mat by the front door looking for all the world like yet another piece of junk mail.

Telegraph: Student debts are forcing thousands into bankruptcy Thousands of graduates are declaring themselves bankrupt because they are unable to pay off their student debts.

Reuters.co.uk: New year sees financial belt tightening Early signs that Britons are starting to exercise greater financial control look set to continue in 2006, the British Bankers' Association said on Friday.

This is Money: Bank of England fears over soaring debt Soaring evidence of Britain's huge credit binge will emerge this week as banking figures show lending still rising at a breakneck pace. At the same time, results from Britain's banks due over the coming month will show a huge rise in debt write-offs.

Expatica.com: House prices '10pc too high' House prices in the Netherlands are 10 percent too high, according to a new report by the Central Planning Bureau (CPB).

Firstrung.com: Why more people are putting their homes on the line The latest annual results from London Scottish Bank, the "speciality provider of financial services", make worrying reading.

The Business Online: UK house price bubble has not burst but shifted If there is one certainty in economics, it is that the biggest problems can be made to disappear depending on the statistics used. We may now have reached that point in the UK housing market where the problem has been made to vanish. Has not even Roger Bootle, the last pessimistic housing bear, growled in retreat and thrown in the towel?

BBC: Axe falls on 380 food plant jobs Management broke the news to workers at the Farm Fed chicken factory at Coleraine. It employs about 380 staff, including 90 from Poland.

BBC: Seasonal slowdown for mortgages Mortgage lending has shown its usual end of year slowdown, according to the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

Property News: First time buyers save harder for deposit "It now takes the typical first time buyer five years to save a deposit, according to the latest Halifax First Time Buyer Annual Review."

ThisisMoney: Banks warned over family debtSPIRALLING debt is pushing an ever-growing number of families to breaking point, the City's watchdog has warned.There are signs of 'growing distress' among consumers as they struggle to cope with debt totalling £1.1trillion, said the Financial Services Authority.

ThisisMoney: New lenders to shake mortgage market Buyers with poor credit records and would-be landlords can expect to benefit from an outbreak of fierce competition in the mortgage market over the next few months.Lenders owned by names that are unfamiliar to most housebuyers are planning an aggressive move into residential home loans. They include Deutsche Bank, Lehman Bros, Bear Stearns, Citigroup and the Oakwood Group.

BBC NEWS | UK | First-time buyers 'at record low' The number of first-time home buyers across the UK is at a 25-year low, according to research. The average person has to spend five years saving for a deposit, says the study from Britain's biggest mortgage lender the Halifax.

The Guardian: MFI shares plunge as rumours fly Yesterday the shares went into freefall on rumours of an emergency board meeting, store managers being summoned to meetings and an imminent rights issue. A spokeswoman said there was "no truth at all" in the speculation.

Reuters: Loans lessen,households exercise more control New lending on personal loans and overdrafts totalled 2.5 billion pounds in December, a sharp decline on the previous six month's average of 2.99 billion.

Money Week: How 5% of the global oil supply has suddenly vanished The respected oil industry newsletter Petroleum Intelligence Weekly says that Kuwait has only half the oil that official estimates have claimed. That would mean that 5% of the global oil supply has vanished overnight, says Byron King in Whiskey & Gunpowder. But this might be just the tip of the iceberg - Saudi Arabia may well be facing the same problem...

BBC News: US growth suffers sharp slowdown US economic growth slowed to its weakest rate of growth in three years in the last quarter of 2005. The economy grew at an annual rate of 1.1% from October to December, compared with 4.1% in the previous three months.

This is Money: House prices could still crash House prices are overvalued by 20% and a crash cannot be ruled out, a leading economics think-tank warned today.

ThisisMoney: House prices could still crash HOUSE prices are overvalued by 20% and a crash cannot be ruled out, a leading economics think-tank warned today.The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said low interest rates and strong demand amid a lack of supply had created a bubble in the property market.

IFAOnline: Market perception 'virtually unchanged' since mortgage regs Mortgage regulation has prompted little dramatic change in consumers' perception of the mortgage market, but negative feelings remaine about advisers' behaviour, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Times: Leap in mortgage approvals Further evidence of a recovery in the housing market emerges with lending data showing mortgage approvals rose 28 per cent in December compared with the same time last year.

Hertfordshire Mercury: £50,000 a year just for a two-bed flat A would-be home owner must earn more than £50,000 a year to buy a two-bedroom flat in Hertford, a shocking new survey reveals. Although prices are lower in Ware, a buyer would still need a salary of £43,500 to buy a similar flat there.

TimesOnline: Branson fears oil will cause biggest recession Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire entrepreneur, has warned that any conflict with Iran could push oil prices over $100 a barrel and trigger "the biggest recession we have ever seen".

BBC News: Jobcentre staff strike over cuts Thousands of Jobcentre and benefit office workers are expected to join a 48-hour strike over job cuts. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans to axe 30,000 posts by 2008 as part of moves to modernise services.

Telegraph: Slump in growth worst since 1992 Growth fell last year to the lowest rate since the slump of 1992 as car output declined and British industry continued to lose global export share at a disturbing pace.

Telegraph: FSA fears consumers can't afford debts The City's top watchdog warned banks, building societies and finance houses yesterday they could suffer severe damage to their reputations if the current turn in the lending cycle reveals "they have given credit to large numbers of consumers who are unable to afford their debt repayments".

Independent: Inflation worries put pay to cut in rates next month Hopes of a February cut in UK interest rates were finally killed off yesterday as the economy accelerated and the Bank of England said it was still worried about inflation.

Independent: Chancellor 'needs £2.5bn extra tax' Households face a £2.5bn tax increase - equivalent to a penny on income tax - if Gordon Brown wants to meet his "golden rule" on the public finances, an independent think-tank said yesterday.

Guardian: Up to 1,700 jobs to go as Rentokil shuts down loss-making laundry business Up to 1,700 jobs are to be lost after Rentokil announced it is to close its loss-making linen and workwear laundry business. The ratcatching and roller towel business said it is to shut down 25 cleaning plants and distribution offices nationwide. Together they employ 2,000 staff and there are definite alternative jobs available for only 300 of them. The shutdown will cost up to £50m, but much of that will be offset by property sales.

FT: Wall Street worried by housing weakness News of a third consecutive month of falling sales of existing homes underlined concerns that the housing market has slowed, which could undermine consumer confidence and hurt the US economy.

NAEA: Mandatory licensing of HMO's will help prevent 'studentification problems ...a single person or letting agent will be responsible for the property and, therefore, the behaviour of those in residence... Problems regularly reported to NAEA members that are caused by students include...

NAEA: Uncovering A Hidden Gem! - The NAEA Offers Advice To House Buyers "Many house hunters go on a crusade to find the most idyllic looking house in an area and as such will overlook any other property in its path. However, some imperfections have easy and inexpensive solutions that could transform the property into the house of your dreams."

First Rung: Why more people are putting their homes on the line Secured loans are easier to obtain than unsecured ones. That's because the lender gets to keep your house and chuck you out on the street if you don't pay them back. So if lenders make it harder to take out unsecured debts, more people are forced to put their homes on the line if they want to borrow more money...

Reuters: Markets to test new Fed chief Ben Bernanke is poised to take over at the U.S. Federal Reserve next week just as financial markets are heading into a very volatile period for which he is untested, senior bankers said on Wednesday.

This Is Money: IBM sparks pension fears THOUSANDS of British staff working for American computer giant IBM will this week become the latest victims of the growing pensions crisis. The company has summoned hundreds of its managers to the Hilton hotel on London's Park Lane tomorrow...

This Is Money: N Rock says door is open to first-timers ...'It looks as though people who were punting in the buy-to-let market are thinking along these lines too, which means that they no longer expect a spectacular rise in asset values and are looking for more attractive investments for their money.'

Bloomberg: Poland's Noga Sees Lower Rates as Inflation Slows Poland's central bank should reduce its benchmark interest rate next week from 4.5 percent to stoke economic growth as inflation slows, policy maker Marian Noga said.

Reuters: Economy grows faster than expected The economy grew at its fastest quarterly pace in a year in the last three months of 2005, helped by a pick-up in services and reinforcing expectations interest rates will stay on hold for now.

This is London: Brown awaits economic growth report The extent to which Chancellor Gordon Brown over-estimated GDP growth last year will be laid bare with the City forecasting the worst economic performance in more than a decade.

BBC News: Rentokil jobs lost as unit closes Rentokil Initial is closing its loss-making workwear and linen operations at Initial Hygiene UK with the loss of up to 1,700 jobs.

What Mortgage: Rise in buy-to-let-to lifestyle One in five landlords uses their rental income to give them the freedom to live the life they want, according to research from Standard Life Bank.

BCB News: Defence workers protest over cuts Hundreds of defence staff are to stage a rally in central London to protest against job cuts and privatisation.

BBC News: Dove splits MPC for second month The Bank of England's rate-setting committee voted 8-1 to keep the cost of borrowing at 4.5% earlier this month, latest minutes show.

BBC News: China's economy continues to soar China's economy maintained its stellar growth last year, official figures have confirmed, expanding 9.9% in 2005.

BBC News: Brown 'needs tax rise of £2.5bn' Chancellor Gordon Brown must raise taxes by £2.5bn to get the UK economy back on the track he laid out in 2005, an independent report warns.

Moneyweek: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time...or of the sales that aren't there Why should the baffled British property investor look to Australia for clues?

Guardian: Manufacturers cut 25,000 jobs in three months British manufacturers are continuing to suffer from weak domestic demand and sharply rising prices of oil and gas, which squeezed profit margins and forced them to cut 25,000 jobs in the past three months, the CBI said yesterday.

FT.com: Estate agents admit to pushing up values Estate agents, members of a profession not especially known for frankness and honesty, have confessed to a practice long suspected by homebuyers and sellers: overvaluing people's homes.

Independent: Manufacturing faces more cuts Manufacturers will accelerate their job-cutting programme in the coming months as rising costs continued to devastate their profit margins, the CBI warned yesterday. The employers group said its latest quarterly survey showed the gap between price rises and cost increases had widened to a near record level.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | 700 jobs go as printer site shuts Computer printer firm Lexmark is to close its manufacturing plant in Fife, with the loss of 700 jobs. Workers at the firm's plant in Admiralty Park, Rosyth, were told that 500 jobs would be cut by April with the last 200 going by the end of the year.

This Is Money: ONS data 'doesn't tick right boxes' THE Office for National Statistics has come under renewed fire after its monthly retail data failed to paint a true picture of online sales growth... The ONS pointed out it is hard to keep track of how much shops sell online. The main reason is simple - the ONS does not ask for fear of creating too much work for respondents.

Property Finance: Cebr - House prices to rise 4.4 per cent: "The centre for economics and business research (cebr) has said it expects house prices to rise 4.4 per cent this year"

FT: Gilts bubble savages pensions The health of pension funds is being savaged by what investors describe as a bubble in the gilt market: pension deficits of FTSE 350 companies have increased by £20bn this month, according to Mercer Investment Consulting, thanks to a dramatic fall in the real yield on long-dated gilts.

Money Week Letters: Investment trusts look a better buy than houses & Housing bears can sleep easy As interior decorators, we know all the tricks of making houses attractive to prospective buyers and have always sold our previous homes almost immediately - even in the poor market conditions of 1993...

Investment & Business news: Pension deficit soars Pension funds reacted to the stock market collapse earlier this decade by migrating to bonds. Many bailed out at or near bottom. Since then shares have enjoyed substantial rises, but thanks to the falling long term rate of interest, bond yields have fallen, and the pension funds have seen their deficit fall even further.

First Rung: Desperate first time buyers beware By the end of this summer every local authority must have in place a development plan for its housing stock and must complete works by 2010. The government hopes this huge upgrading programme will put all local council flats in a better state of repair -some say a state ready for sale. The plan could herald the owner-occupier revolution the government wants. But in the meantime, thousands of leaseholders will be stung for sky-high service charges.

Mondaq: Deloitte Economic Review - Outlook for 2006 Recovery or Relapse? In this Review, Roger Bootle, Economic Adviser to Deloitte, looks at whether the slowdown in economic growth seen in 2005 is likely to mark the beginning of the end of a golden era in the UK economy or simply a pause for breath before the...

First Rung: Housing oversupply could hit land values ...given the oversupply of flat developments some urban centres are experiencing, developers are unlikely to add more stock. Housing output and density are therefore likely to fall over the next year according to this research. This in turn will threaten urban land values leading to a drop of up to 15 per cent within some city centres, the study predicts.

Money Week: Index-link auction at lowest ever yield The UK' s Debt Management Office has sold a tranche of index-linked 50-year gilts on their lowest ever real yield as pension funds desperately try to match their long-term liabilities.

Reuters: Factory orders fall but demand abroad improves Within the CBI's monthly survey, the balance of manufacturers who expected to raise prices on domestic orders over the next three months rose to +12, the highest in a year.

Reuters: Big imbalances risk market disruption - Bank's Lomax Large global economic imbalances increase the risk of financial market disruption, which could hurt economies, Bank of England Deputy Governor Rachel Lomax said on Tuesday. Lomax also warned in a speech that the impact of any market disruption could be exacerbated if it were to lead to a rise in rock-bottom long-term interest rates around the world back towards their historical averages.

SKY News: Manufacturing Jobs Go Around 25,000 jobs were lost in the manufacturing industry over the past three months, says the CBI's latest survey.

Guardian: Switchers feed credit card rate increases Credit card customers of two of the UK's largest retailers are to see the rate they pay on their borrowing increase, despite the bank base rate remaining unchanged since August, it emerged today.

AgWeb: Bank of Canada Raises Interest Rates The Bank of Canada today announced that it is raising its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 3 1/2 percent. The operating band for the overnight rate is correspondingly increased, and the Bank Rate is now 3 3/4 percent.

BBC News: DaimlerChrysler cuts 6,000 jobs DaimlerChrysler is cutting 6,000 management jobs over the next three years in an effort to save 1.5bn euros (£1bn; $1.8bn) per year.

BBC News: Benefits shake-up to be unveiled Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton admits it will be a "huge challenge" to get one million incapacity benefit claimants back to work within 10 years.

BBC News: 'Taxing the rich' plan ruled out A plan to replace the council tax with an income-based service tax has been dismissed by a parliament committee.

Telegraph: Do-It-For-Me, say today's homeowners Do-It-Yourself is becoming Do-It-Through-Someone-Else, one of the most senior figures in Britain's builders' merchant industry claimed yesterday.

IFA Online: Interest in commercial mortgages on the rise Commercial First says 85% of intermediaries now receive commercial mortgage enquiries, with 50% of firms receiving such enquiries going on to process the applications themselves, and only 10% turning the business away altogether.

Reuters: RBI raises key interest rate 25 bps to 5.5 pct The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) unexpectedly raised short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Tuesday, highlighting the risk of inflation as it lifted its growth forecast for Asia's third-largest economy.

FT.com / Markets - Prospect of housing downturn casts pall over US economy

Daily Reckoning: US Recession ahead ...the yield curve has flattened much earlier than expected. While the consensus does not seem to worry, it is a fact that in the past this has always signalled an impending recession. Why not this time?

The Times: Banks set to profit from pension crisis Chief executives of large companies struggling to deal with ballooning pension scheme deficits have contacted leading banks. Yields on gilts have been in freefall since the beginning of the year, increasing the aggregate pension fund deficit of FTSE 100 companies from £75 billion to £110 billion in 19 days.

BBC News: Ford preparing for mass job cuts Ford is due to unveil plant closures and 30,000 job cuts aimed at reviving the fortunes of its US business. The carmaker, the first to use production lines in its factories, is facing increased competition from Asian rivals such as Toyota and Nissan.

Thisismoney: High Street fears 'panic saving' HIGH Street spending could slump as turmoil in the market for British Government securities scares shoppers into 'panic saving'. Sinking returns for investors in Government bonds - gilts - mean millions will need to build up a bigger retirement nest-egg.

Thisismoney: Barratt's high hopes of a recovery BARRATT, Britain's biggest housebuilder, is quietly optimistic that 2006 could see the housing market start to recover, although it is making no firm predictions until the key spring selling season gets under way.

BBC NEWS: UK economy 'shows recovery signs' The UK economy is showing signs of reviving in 2006, the influential Ernst & Young Item Club has said.

Reuters.co.uk: Equity release should get more attractive Homeowners who use equity release to supplement their income in retirement should benefit from increased competition between providers, low interest rates and the introduction of more flexible products in 2006.

BBC NEWS | Business | Lenders bid in mortgage auctions A website has been launched that pits lenders against one another in an auction to secure mortgage business.

This is Money: £50,000 - no questions asked Consumer groups and charities are demanding tighter checks on credit card and loan applications. New research shows that 88% of credit cardholders did not have to prove their income when applying for credit.

BBC NEWS | UK | 'Plan' to move jobs abroad denied Union leaders claim they have uncovered proposals to transfer civil service posts overseas which could result in tens of thousands of jobs being lost.

Bloomberg: Euro May Rise as Economy, ECB Signal Higher Rates, Survey Shows The euro may gain against the dollar as economic growth in the region quickens and European Central Bank officials suggest they will increase interest rates, a Bloomberg News survey shows.

FT: Not everything is rigid in a new-build scheme Given the newfound optimism in the housing market you could be forgiven for thinking that the days of property bargains are over. But paying the asking price for a new-build property may be a mug's game, judging by a shopping exercise carried out by the FT.

IFAonline: Standard Life 'wasted' £3.5m on sipps - papers 8th Dec Standard Life has wasted up to £3.5m gearing up for aspects of new pensions legislation scrapped just four months before they were set to come into force, according to the Scotsman.

The Observer | Cash | Danger lurks for first-time buyers If recent reports are to be believed, first-time buyers are entering the housing market in droves.

Business Online: Brown 'is in denial' about public Finances In a devastating attack, Peter Spencer, the Item Club's economic adviser...said: "Would a company chief executive who issued eight profit warnings - and is likely to have to issue a ninth - go on to become chairman?"

Business online: Russia's gas pact with Ukraine breaks down THE deal over gas prices struck between Russia and Ukraine, which ended the threat to Europe's gas supplies this month, appeared to be about to collapse this weekend.

This Is Money: High Street fears 'panic saving' HIGH Street spending could slump as turmoil in the market for British Government securities scares shoppers into 'panic saving'.

IFA Online: Government warned Homebuy scheme should change The current rules on who qualifies for shared equity schemes and what mortgage lenders can offer need to be changed if the initiative is to have real market impact, the government has been warned.

BBC: Iran 'moves assets out of Europe' Iran has started moving its foreign exchange reserves out of Europe in a bid to shield the country from the threat of sanctions, reports suggest.

Guardian: A poor year for shops despite Christmas spurt The value of retail sales grew at its slowest rate since the end of the second world war last year despite a surge in business at Christmas.

FT: Fears grow of bubble in gilts market Pension fund liabilities are calculated using long-dated bond yields. So as yields fall, the present value of their liabilities rises. Every fall in bond yields means the deficit grows bigger and pension funds are subsequently forced to buy more bonds.

Economics UK: Jobless rise threatens growth Mervyn King, the Bank of England governor, is concerned that current favourable conditions won't last, and that the trigger for turbulence could be a rise in long-term interest rates..."underlying joblessness" of 3.5m...

First Rung: Buy to let boom over Both Mortgages for Business and My Mortgage Direct says lenders are getting increasingly nervous about prospects and are clamping down.

Firstrung.com: First time buyers almost extinct Young couples in their 20s and 30s are still finding it difficulty to make the first elusive step onto the UK's property ladder, a new survey has found.

Firstrung.com: First time buyers, how much deposit can they afford to save? Firstrung recently ran a poll amongst its newsletter subscribers to determine just how much a first time buyer could realistically afford to save towards a deposit in a year.

Firstrung.com: Glasgow unaffordable for 70% of workers Families and first-time buyers are being priced out of the Glasgow property market, a shock new survey reveals. It shows people on average wages can't afford 70% of homes sold across the city - compared with just 36% a decade ago.

BBC NEWS: Drop in cost of average SW house The average cost of buying a house in the South West has dropped by more than 4% in a month, according to a report.

NEWS.com.au: Rate rise hits owners Mortgage defaults increased noticeably following the latest interest rate rise, one of Australia's leading lenders has revealed.

Evening Times: We live in this street but we couldn't afford to buy a house here any more Affordable housing is more than twice as hard to come by in Glasgow than a decade ago, a new report reveals. Many areas, even those not usually deemed fashionable, have seen soaring property prices, while salaries have failed to keep up with the rises.

The Motley Fool UK: Remortgaging And Getting Out Of Debt Rising house prices have meant that many homeowners now have plenty of equity in their homes and one increasingly popular method of dealing with debts is to consolidate them by increasing your current mortgage or by taking out a separate home loan with another lender that is secured against the property.

ABC Money.co.uk: Mortgage lending increased by 25 percent on a year-on-year basis in December - CML Mortgage lending in the last month of 2005 was up by 25 percent as compared to the corresponding figures in December 2004, according to the latest report released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

SKY News: Cost Of Releasing House Equity To Fall The costs of unlocking equity from homes are set to fall in 2006 as lenders compete for new customers, a survey suggests.

Norwich Evening News 24: We must build more cheap homes Surging house prices are making it so tough for families to find homes that council bosses want to pressure developers to provide a higher percentage of affordable homes.

Tiscali Business: Oil price rise could boost Indian inflation The rise in global oil prices could boost India’s inflation but the government and the central bank will take monetary and fiscal steps to control inflation, the country’s finance minister said on Sunday.

SKY News: Mortgage Bulk Buying Power Online An online mortgage service claims it can cut the cost of borrowing by making lenders bid for business.

BBC News: Strong growth in mortgage lending Mortgage lending showed unexpected vigour in December, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The CML said that mortgage lending totalled £26.3bn, 25% higher than during the same month in 2004.

Thisismoney: Teenage debtors owe £60,000 THE average person taking out an Individual Voluntary Agreement to reduce their debt problems owes £60,000 to creditors. Research from accountancy giant KPMG showed that record numbers of consumers are applying for IVAs, which allow them to clear a large chunk of their debt without resorting to bankruptcy.

Guardian: Merseyside factory could make its last Chewit Forty years of Chewit sweet production in Britain looks like coming to an end, at the cost of 150 jobs, as the brand's owner switches production to eastern Europe.

BBC NEWS | Business | Jobs go as crisp-making transfers Details have been revealed of how the final Golden Wonder crisp operation at Corby will be moved to Scunthorpe. Administrators say most own-label and Golden Lights production will move from Northants to North Lincolnshire, by the close of business on 20 January.