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More Buyers Building Homes - The Old Way

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 12 April 2015 | 16.01

By Enda Brady, Sky News Correspondent

With property prices rising and many young people still finding it hard to get a mortgage, more and more would-be homeowners across Britain are turning to one of the oldest methods of building.

Cob building involves using earth, sand, straw and clay as the raw materials for walls. It's estimated that a three-bed cob home would cost in the region of £25,000 to build.

All that's needed is a plot of land and planning permission - and the right knowledge.

Charlotte Eve runs classes on how to build cob homes from her Norfolk base and says that hundreds of people are signing up to learn the skills needed for their own projects.

"You can't get more sustainable than a cob home," she told Sky News.

"You dig your foundations on site and you use the clay from that foundation trench to make your walls. It's very environmentally friendly and it's also cheap - cheap in terms of construction costs and also in terms of heating the finished home.

"Your costs for the project are extremely low."

Self building accounts for only 10% of the UK market. That's despite lower costs - £150,000 for the average project, which is £80,000 less than a ready-made home.

Tony Tkaczuk from Lancashire is working on an upgrade of his cob cottage and says he'd recommend a self-build to anyone.

"It's very fulfilling actually, you have done it yourself and that's a great feeling," Tony told Sky News.

"You can work together as a team, like my wife and I do. And at the end it's wonderful to think to yourselves 'yes, we did that'."

At the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in Watford, experts monitor construction trends across the UK each year. They point out that around 11,000 projects in Britain last year were self-builds.

"There's a lot of time, energy and emotion required," said BRE's chief executive, Dr Peter Bonfield. "There are a lot of benefits to self-builds, you can feel really proud of what you have achieved.

"There are also a lot of professional companies out there doing this kind of thing day in and day out. So it's a choice really, a big decision for people."

The Government hopes self-built properties could help combat a housing shortfall of 750,000 homes across the UK by 2025.

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UK Holidaymakers Being Conned Out Of Millions

A warning has been issued to those booking holidays online, as it is revealed that British holidaymakers were conned out of £2.2m last year.

Criminal groups have targeted online booking firms to steal cash from unsuspecting customers and many only find out they have been conned when they arrive at their hotel and find no record of their booking.

A report from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau found that in one case a holidaymaker lost £62,000 in a fraud relating to a dodgy timeshare scheme.

But losses are not just financial, with a third of victims saying the fraud has a substantial impact on their health as well as their finances and 167 victims said the impact of the crime was so severe they needed medical treatment.

The scams see a spike in the summer months and in December, which mean that many ruined trips will be for those trying to visit loved ones for Christmas.

The report shows that, during a 12-month period, 1,569 cases of holiday booking fraud were reported to the police action fraud team, with most relating to plane tickets, hacking accounts, posting fake adverts online and setting up bogus websites.

Sports and religious trips were an attractive target because of limited availability and higher prices and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and World Cup in Brazil were also targeted, with many people paying for fake tickets or accommodation.

Those aged between 30 and 49 were most often targeted and most victims were defrauded by methods such as bank transfers or cash with no means of getting their money back. Only a small number paid by credit or debit card where some form of redress is available.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA chief executive, said: "Holiday fraud is a particularly distressing form of fraud as the loss to the victim is not just financial but it can also have a high emotional impact.

"Many victims are unable to get away on a long-awaited holiday or visit to loved ones and the financial loss is accompanied by a personal loss.

"We would also encourage anyone who has been the victim of a travel-related fraud to report it so that the police can build up a case, catch the perpetrators and prevent other unsuspecting people from falling victim."

Detective chief superintendent Dave Clark, the City of London Police head of economic crime, said: "Online shoppers must be vigilant and conduct all the necessary checks before booking a break to ensure the conmen are kept at bay."

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Conservatives Promise To Cut Inheritance Tax

The Conservatives have said they will take family homes out of inheritance tax by introducing a new allowance which effectively increases the threshold for tax to £1m.

David Cameron said that if his party wins the 7 May election, parents will be offered a new £175,000 allowance to enable them to pass property on to children tax-free after they die.

For properties worth more than £2m, the allowance will be gradually tapered away so that those worth more than £2.35m do not benefit.

Inheritance tax is currently payable at a rate of 40% on the value of an estate above the £325,000 threshold - or £650,000 if a couple takes advantage of the existing allowance.

It is thought around 22,000 families will benefit from the move by 2020 and Mr Cameron said the costs would be paid for by a £1bn raid on pension tax relief for people earning more than £150,000.

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Mr Cameron will say today: "We will take the family home out of inheritance tax.

"That home that you have worked and saved for belongs to you and your family.

"You should be able to pass it on to your children. And with the Conservatives, the taxman will not get his hands on it."

Conservatives promised a £1m inheritance tax threshold in the 2010 election, but were blocked by Liberal Democrats from implementing it when in coalition.

Labour Treasury spokesman Chris Leslie said the move was a "panicky promise from the Tories".

He added: "The Tories made a promise on inheritance tax before the last election and they broke it.

"At a time when our NHS is in crisis and most working people are paying more under the Tories, it cannot be a priority to spend £1bn on a policy which the Treasury says would not apply to 90% of estates.

"The Tories would choose to give a £140,000 tax cut for a house worth £2m while they have increased VAT on families and pensioners."

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Meanwhile, Labour has revealed its plans to crackdown on tax-dodgers if it wins the election, hoping to cut avoidance and evasion by at least £7.5bn a year by the middle of the next Parliament.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said it would take a Labour government to "call time" on the Tories' "lax approach", adding that Labour would set targets for HMRC to reduce tax avoidance by at least £7.5bn a year.

He said: "We will close the loopholes the Tories won't act on, increase transparency, toughen up penalties and abolish the non-dom rules.

"And our first Budget will make sure that, following an immediate review of HMRC, it has all the powers and resources it needs to come down hard on tax avoidance and evasion."

Conservative Treasury minister David Gauke said: "Ed Miliband and Ed Balls turned a blind eye to aggressive tax avoiding and evading for 13 years when they were in charge - they were the tax avoiders' friends."

The Lib Dems have also set out tax plans, promising "light at the end of the tunnel" with moves to eliminate Britain's deficit by 2017/18.

Nick Clegg said his plan has "a heart as well as a brain", trying to drive home his claim that his party will cut less than the Conservatives and borrow less than Labour.

Spelling out plans for a consolidation totaling £27bn by 2017/18, made up of £12bn in additional tax, £12bn in public spending reductions and £3bn in welfare cuts, Mr Clegg will challenge the other parties to spell out in similar detail how they would balance the nation's books.

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Tories To Freeze Train Fares For Five Years

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 11 April 2015 | 16.01

Rail fares will be frozen in real terms for five years if the Tories win the General Election, David Cameron has pledged.

The Prime Minister said extending the Retail Price Index inflation cap on regulated ticket prices until 2020 would save the average commuter £400.

The coalition has imposed the same restrictions for the past two years, and also removed the "'flex" train that allowed operators to increase some fares by more than inflation as long as others went up by less.

According to the Conservatives, the policy means commuters are already paying £75 less than they would have been.

The announcement is part of an effort to blunt the Labour attack over the cost of living, and accusations that most people are not benefiting from the economic recovery.

Mr Cameron, who is campaigning in the south west today, said: "The cost of commuting is one of the biggest household bills that hardworking families face and it is something we are determined to bear down on.

"It shouldn't just be taken for granted that people across the country who get up early and come home late, spend a large amount of the money they earn travelling to and from work.

"Because of the difficult decisions that we have taken to repair the economy, we have been able to hold down commuter fares for the past two years.

"If elected in May, we would freeze them in real terms for the next five."

But Mick Cash, leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said: "This latest stunt would still mean annual fare increases that would institutionalise the harsh reality that the British passenger pays the highest fares in Europe to travel on rammed out and unreliable trains.

"The only solution is to end the rip off of rail privatisation which would allow us to free up the hundreds of millions of pounds drained off in profits to invest in services and cut fares."

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Easyjet 'Rescue' Flights For Kids After Strike

Easyjet is laying on "rescue" flights to bring schoolchildren home after a French air traffic strike saw hundreds of flights axed.

The budget carrier is running five special flights: Luton to Paris, Paris to Barcelona, Barcelona to Luton, Gatwick to Madrid, and Marrakech to Gatwick.

Larger planes may be used to ease delays caused by the two-day controllers' strike, which started on Wednesday.

Easyjet, one of the worst-hit airlines, had to cancel 331 flights on Thursday and 248 on Wednesday.

Others, including Ryanair, Flybe and BA, were also affected by the industrial action.

Ryanair axed more than 250 flights on Wednesday alone. The Irish carrier's services from the UK to Alicante and Malaga in Spain were among those hit.

French air traffic controllers are set to stage further stoppages in the next few weeks. The first will be from 16-18 April and the second from 29 April to 2 May.

An Easyjet spokesman said: "We recognise that there are a number of passengers across the network who have been affected by these cancellations and still require flights as soon as possible.

"We are operating five rescue flights, prioritising the repatriation of three groups of schoolchildren."

Nathan Thorne, 23, from Goole on Humberside, has been trying to get home from Limoges to Leeds Bradford since his Ryanair flight was cancelled.

He and his younger sister have been unable to get another flight home until next Thursday, when the next strike begins.

Mr Thorne said: "All the flights before next Thursday are booked up and the Eurostar train is extremely expensive."

The controllers were striking over restructuring proposals and government plans to change the retirement age.

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M&S Sourcing Chiefs Set For Lavish Payday

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Two brothers hired to boost the efficiency of Marks & Spencer's (M&S) clothing business are in line for multimillion pound paydays which could make them the company's best-paid employees over a three-year period.

Sky News can reveal that Mark and Neal Lindsey, who were recruited just over a year ago, will receive a fixed proportion of the savings generated by the improvement in M&S's gross margin, in addition to basic salaries of £400,000 each.

The retailer said earlier this month that it remained on course to record a gross margin improvement of between 150 and 200 basis points, which analysts say would translate into an increase in profits worth tens of millions of pounds.

Sources said on Friday that the Lindseys had been hired on a three-year contract, with one adding that while their payout for 2014-15 would be substantial, it was likely to be far higher in the subsequent two years.

M&S refused to disclose the brothers' remuneration arrangements to Sky News because they are not on the company's main board.

However, company insiders said that their financial rewards would be aligned with the long-term interests of M&S shareholders, who have been boosted by third-quarter results showing the first improvement in general merchandise sales for more than three-and-a-half years.

One person close to the retailer insisted that the Lindseys would not be the highest-paid M&S employees for 2014-15, but conceded that their bonuses were directly tied to margin improvements in the general merchandise business.

A number of institutional shareholders have told Sky News that while they welcomed greater efficiency within the business, they were keen to understand the potential scale of the rewards that could accrue to them over the duration of their contract.

Unlike at banks and insurance companies, listed businesses in other sectors are not obliged to disclose - even anonymously - the remuneration of their most highly-paid employees.

The two sourcing chiefs were lured out of semi-retirement by M&S after an impressive track record as the architects of rival Next's widely-envied supply chain.

As the Hong Kong-based sourcing directors for general merchandise, the Lindseys have specific responsibility for clothing and footwear, overseeing M&S's network of regional sourcing offices around the world and its large London-based central sourcing team.

Although little-known in the UK, they played an important role in assisting Next's rise to prominence on the high street and its establishment as a darling of the City.

Speaking on 2 April, Marc Bolland, M&S's chief executive, said: "We have made strong progress over the quarter.

"We continued to deliver on General Merchandise gross margin, and are pleased that we have achieved this whilst also improving General Merchandise sales.

"M&S.com has returned to growth, as planned, with further improvement in customer metrics."

M&S shares were trading at just over 574p on Friday afternoon, giving the company a market value of £9.3bn.

The shares are up by 30% over the last 12 months.

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HSBC Tax Scandal: France Starts Criminal Probe

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 10 April 2015 | 16.01

HSBC has expressed outrage at being placed on €1bn bail amid a criminal investigation in France into historical tax issues.

The UK-listed bank said it was informed on Wednesday that French magistrates were examining the "conduct of its Swiss private bank in 2006 and 2007 for alleged tax-related offences."

Its statement said the court's decision is "without legal basis and bail is unwarranted and excessive".

The bank added that it intended to appeal and "defend itself vigorously in any future proceedings".

Activities at the private bank are being examined in several other countries including Germany and Argentina in the wake of the publication of stolen files.

The papers claimed the Swiss operation had helped clients in more than 200 countries, including Britain, evade and avoid tax.

The accounts in question were said to contain £77bn ($119bn).

HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver apologised earlier this year for past practices at the Swiss arm.

He and chairman Douglas Flint told a committee of MPs in February they had completed a series of reforms to help restore trust and confidence.

Argentina last month stepped up its tax evasion row with HSBC by demanding it repatriates $3.5bn (£2.32bn) of cash allegedly moved from the country to its Swiss private bank.

The country's tax authorities issued the request weeks after the Central Bank of Argentina temporarily suspended HSBC Bank Argentina's operations of transferring money and assets abroad for a period of 30 days.

Argentina accuses HSBC of aiding more than 4,000 clients to evade taxes by shifting assets offshore.

HSBC Argentina denied the claim - insisting it respected Argentine law.

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Oil Find Near Gatwick May Be 'World Class'

The estimated size of an oil find near Gatwick Airport has been upgraded to 100 billion barrels by a company backing exploration of the area.

UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) said the Horse Hill-1 well in the Weald Basin was now thought to hold 158 million barrels per square mile.

In May 2014, the British Geological Survey estimated the Weald Basin to hold around 4.4 billion barrels of shale oil.

UKOG described the find as a possible "world class" resource with the potential for "significant daily oil production".

The company's chairman David Lenigas claimed it would create "many thousands of jobs" but cautioned that it would take a long time to begin production.

He said: "You've got to work through government process and to work with the local community. Everybody expects you to snap your fingers and all of a sudden the magic panacea is there. The key thing is there is a potential resource of significance here - but the fast track or slow track nature is really going to be determined by Westminster".

But Solo Oil PLC, another stakeholder in the exploration, was cautious about the potential.

Solo Oil chief executive Neil Ritson told Sky News: "We're not actually putting out that number of a hundred billion barrels. I know that a leading academic - Professor Fraser at Imperial - is talking about 40 billion.

"Certainly those numbers are possible, but that's not where we are at the moment. It's early days."

The US-based firm which studied the reservoir estimated that recovery of the oil would be limited at between 3% and 15% of the total.

It also insisted there was no need to use the controversial extraction process, known as fracking, to get access to the oil.

Mr Lenigas said: "Horse Hill is a conventional well, with conventional testing and we've got permission from the government authorities for a conventional programme. There will be no fracking at Horse Hill."

But local campaigners believe fracking will be necessary at some point in the future.

Anti-fracking campaigner Charles Metcalfe said: "South East England is the most densely populated corner of England. To start drilling holes all over the place will completely change the nature of our countryside forever. And if the result is that you're not getting very much oil out of it, then that's awful".

Environmental group Greenpeace urged people to focus on clean technologies.

Greenpeace's chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said : "To gleefully rub your hands at a new fossil fuel discovery you need to turn the clock back to the 19th century and ignore everything we have learnt about climate change since. We already have more than enough coal, oil, and gas reserves to fry the planet".

The UK currently produces 770,000 barrels of oil per day, compared to 11.1 million in the United States and 11.7 million in Saudi Arabia.

The announcement helped shares in UKOG rise more than 300% during trading on Thursday.