Ruth Emery

The government has failed in its appeal to overturn the decision that blocked a bid to reduce the feed-in tariff (FiT), a subsidy that is paid to homeowners that sell the electricity from their solar installation.

Mortgage fees have jumped almost 70 per cent over the past 12 months. The average mortgage arrangement fee now stands at a lofty £1,498, up from just £899 a year ago.

The government is planning to reduce the solar subsidies paid to homeowners from 1 April.

EEA Fund Management, which runs one of the UK’s largest traded life policy funds, has called the Financial Services Authority ‘reckless’ and ‘without merit’ for issuing a warning last year on the asset class, in which it called the funds ‘toxic’.

Government plans to cut the subsidies on homeowners’ solar panels are illegal, the High Court has ruled.

London has experienced a surge in house prices over the past year, with only four boroughs recording no or negative growth.

The Financial Services Authority has come under fire for branding traded life policy (TLP) funds ‘toxic’ and ‘high risk’, which subsequently caused a run on the funds and left many investors unable to withdraw their money.

The government has announced that two tax-free allowances will rise in line with the Consumer Prices Index rate of inflation, rather than the more generous Retail Prices Index rate.