Demand for rented homes is outstripping the supply of properties available to let, research claimed today.

Demand for rented homes is outstripping the supply of properties available to let following a rise in reluctant tenants, research claimed today.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla) said the number of homes available to let was falling, while demand for rented accommodation was rising as people struggled to find properties to buy or mortgages they qualified for.

Around 41pc of letting agents said there were more potential tenants than properties during the final quarter of 2009, up from 24pc during the three months to the end of September.

The situation is a marked turnaround from early last year, when the rental market was flooded with properties from so-called accidental landlords, as people who had been unable to sell their home while house prices were falling, were forced to rent it out instead.

But the number of accidental landlords has fallen in recent months as the property market has picked up, enabling them to sell their homes.

At the same time, many people who would like to buy a property are struggling to find somewhere suitable, due to the shortage of homes on the market, while others are unable to raise the deposits they need to meet the strict lending criteria of banks and building societies, forcing them to rent instead.

Around 54pc of letting agents said they thought consumers were being forced to rent a property rather than buy one.

The research also showed that the length of time for which a property is empty between tenants fell slightly during the fourth quarter to 3.9 weeks, down from four weeks during the previous three months.

Ian Potter, operations manager at Arla, said: “New tenants include those homeowners who were forced to sell their home during the last year either due to financial instability or a job move.

“And many people now in a position to buy are struggling to find the right property, as there is also a shortage of both properties for sale and realistic mortgages.”

But he warned that, while the private rented sector would be key to meeting the accommodation needs of future generations, it was likely to struggle without significant Government support.

http://www.workfromhomeinuk.com/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/

Britain’s biggest energy supplier is inviting business owners to apply to join a new “listening panel”. The lucky hand-picked few will have “unprecedented access” to British Gas and its executives, we are told. They are to be flown to offshore gas fields, winched up gas-fired power stations and dazzled by energy trading rooms.

If they survive all that, they can tell managing director Phil Bentley and the senior leadership team exactly what they really think of British Gas.

For the “one or two business owners” chosen to join the 20-strong customer panel (the rest will be domestic customers) this is no doubt an opportunity to ask the company some tough questions.

They could start with asking why it makes switching from its services so hard and why its championing of “plain English” contracts do not stop it from hiding rules in the small print that would challenge even the most eagle-eyed linguist.

The more cynical commentators would suggest this is just a PR stunt. And they have. Consumer Focus energy expert Audrey Gallacher says that “only time will tell’’ if British Gas will take notice of its customer panel. “Consumers are already suspicious that all this talk of ‘listening’ is nothing more than PR window dressing,’’ she said.

The announcement is timed with the rollout of the company’s new Smart meters. Households can chose to use these devices if they want but will not be forced to do so by law until 2020.

The Government is, however, expected to announce soon that it will require businesses to use smart meters more quickly than previously expected. The decision will affect approximately 2.2m electricity meters and 1.5m gas meters.

Adoption of new technology on such a large scale will inevitably generate problems: meters failing; vital gas and electricity supplies cut off because of misunderstandings.

For that reason alone, having some small businesses feeding back their concerns into British Gas will be invaluable. Volunteers should visit: www.britishgas.co.uk/listening

http://www.askhowtosave.com

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/richardtyler/

Richard Tyler is the Daily Telegraph’s Enterprise Editor. He writes about all aspects of business life and edits the Telegraph’s Your Business page, which appears in print every Tuesday and Sunday and is updated daily online.

United Utilities has warned that it will have to lower its dividend by 12.5pc and make more job cuts, after accepting the regulator’s decision to reduce customer bills over the next five years.

The FTSE 100 company said it has already cut 500 jobs and more will go as it undertakes a large cost-saving programme, primarily in its regulated business.

“It is inevitable that there will be more job cuts,” said Philip Green, chief executive of the water group. “But we are also bringing costs down in other areas, like customer service delivery, where costs have gone from £23 per customer to £19 per customer. We are also looking at pension costs.”

United has also signed new supplier contracts which it hopes will deliver significant savings and improve operational efficiency.

The company will pay a total dividend of 34.3p per share for the current financial year, dropping to 30p next year. It hopes to grow the payout by 2pc a year after that.

United has spent two months deciding whether to refer Ofwat’s tough pricing review to the Competition Commission. It was asked to reduce household bills by 0.4pc and accept a capital investment programme of £3.6bn rather than the £3.7bn it wanted between 2011 and 2015.

Shares in the company, which has 3.2m customers, rose 16½ to 525p and analysts expressed relief that the dividend cut was less than the 20pc-40pc many had feared.

United’s decision not to challenge the review came as Bristol Water, now majority-owned by French utility giant Suez Environnement, decided to challenge Ofwat’s pricing restrictions with the Commission. The regulator said it could raise bills by 7pc – a generous settlement compared with other companies – but Bristol Water wanted a 29pc increase, lifting average bills from £157 to £202 over the next five years.

Jeremy Williams, a spokesman for the company, said Bristol Water had “absolutely no choice” but to launch an appeal. “We have never done this before but it’s the only way we will be able to finance our investment programme,” he said.

“We don’t think Ofwat has taken into account the special circumstances of population growth and need for investment in the Bristol area. We are putting our faith in the Commission to do the right thing.”

The company serves 450,000 customers in the Bristol region, where the population is forecast to grow by 40pc in the next two decades. Severn Trent and South West Water owner Pennon announced this week they will not challenge Ofwat.

http://www.askhowtosave.com

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/utilities/

Council tax will rise and services face cuts to plug the looming £60 billion hole in local government pensions, the Liberal Democrats have warned.

The “most vulnerable” people in society, including pensioners, would be hardest hit as councils attempt to reduce the pension deficit, the party said.

Council tax could be increased by hundreds of millions of pounds while the worst impact would be seen on local services.

Steve Webb, Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “The reality is that council tax will rise but it will be capped, so services will have to be cut.

“And if budgets have to be squeezed, then education and social services are the most likely to be in the firing line.”

The party claimed Freedom of Information requests made to pension fund managers in charge of local government pensions revealed 83 out of 87 schemes were in deficit in 2007.

And it suggested that since then, one in 10 funds have seen deficits up by more than 280 per cent.

The party forecast that all local government schemes would have a deficit of more than £60 billion next year.

Mr Webb added: “The Government has failed to grasp the nettle of local government pensions funding.

“A failure to set aside enough money and run the scheme responsibly means millions of people could be faced with cuts to vital services and council tax hikes, hitting pensioners especially hard.

“It’s totally unfair to burden people with these unexpected demands. Thanks to ministers sticking their heads in the sand many vulnerable people will suffer.”

Justine Greening, shadow local Government Minister, said: “Town hall pensions are now costing every taxpaying household almost £300 a year – equivalent to a quarter of everyone’s council tax bill going on pension costs, rather than emptying bins or cleaning streets. We can’t go on like this. The Government should find ways to cap the biggest public sector pensions, including those for town hall chiefs.”

However, Gail Cartmail, Unite’s assistant general secretary for the public sector, said the Liberal Democrats’ forecast was “far removed from financial reality”.

She said: “The Liberal Democrats are playing into the hands of commentators peddling the line that hard-working public servants are living in the lap of luxury once they have retired.”

The Government described the size of the deficit as “pure speculation”.

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: “This year’s valuation of the fund has not been carried out yet and is legally required to be based on market levels at the end of March – no one has any accurate way of knowing what that will be.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/

Keeping the heating on for longer will add £70 to the average January gas bill.

Households keeping the heating on for longer during the cold snap will add £70 to the average January gas bill – a 52 per cent rise on last year, according to estimates.

Families will pay £1.9 billion in extra heating charges if the freezing weather continues for another week, with the average gas bill for the month reaching £227, according to Energyhelpline, a price comparison service.

With thousands cutting back on heating their homes rather than face a hefty bill, there were fears that winter deaths could multiply.

Mark Todd of Energyhelpline said: “Normal temperatures for January over the past 10 years have been about 5C. For every degree it drops outside it costs more to heat our homes, as the heat loss is greater. Wind chill can also increase this as the cold wind strips our homes of warmth just as it strips us of warmth when we go outside.”

He said householders could help to cut bills by maintaining a temperature of 18C in bedrooms at night, while living rooms during the day might need to be kept at 21C.

The weather provoked fears among thousands of A-level students that they could miss out on university places as exams were thrown into chaos. Though conditions eased in many areas, about 300 schools remained closed in the worst hit areas. More than a million pupils are due to take AS and A-levels in the next few weeks.

Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, urged head teachers to do everything possible to stay open. Isabel Nisbet, the acting chief executive of Ofqual, the exam regulator, said postponing the programme was not an option. In rural counties, many roads remained impassable.

With concerns remaining over “dangerously low” grit stocks, Theresa Villiers, the shadow transport secretary, accused ministers of making “inadequate preparations” for the cold snap. Several councils warned that salt levels were reaching critical levels.

Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary, said that in the face of “the most prolonged spell of freezing conditions” since December 1981 “all main transport networks are operational”. But he told the Lords that “further measures are likely to be required over the next 48 hours to keep networks open”.

The National Grid issued its fourth gas shortage alert in a week yesterday and 100 factories had their gas cut off.

Temperatures were noticeably warmer than of late, at an average of 34F (1C) and the picture for the rest of the week was relatively stable, although more snow showers were forecast in some areas, with lows of 27F (-3C).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/

Vouchers worth £400 that go towards the cost of a new energy-efficient boiler under the scrappage scheme will be issued on January 18.

The Government announched the scrappage scheme which encourages people to ditch their for old boiler for a new one in the pre-Budget report. It hopes the scheme will help cut CO2 emmissons – domestic heating accounts for 14 per cent of the UK’s CO2 emissions.

New boilers have rated efficiencies of 90 per cent or more meaning that they use less fuel, resulting in lower CO2 emissions and running costs. Renewable heat technologies do not use fossil fuels, reducing CO2 emissions still further.

By upgrading your G-rated boiler to an A-rated one, your household heating bill should drop by about a quarter – a saving, on average, of around £235 a year.

People who apply to the scheme will receive their voucher on or after January 18.

The Energy Saving Trust says that a good quick test for gas boilers is to see if it has a permanent pilot light -if it has then it is very likely to be a G-rated boiler. If it is gas fired and over fifteen years old it is likely to be eligible. If it is oil fired and over twenty five years old, it is likely to be eligible.

For a better idea, see if your boiler make and model is listed as G-rated or worse by clicking here .

The £50m scheme, which will benefit only people living in England, is likely to be funded entirely by the taxpayer.

Will Marples, an energy expert at uSwitch.com, the price comparison service, said: “Heating and hot water account for £756 a year on average so it makes absolute sense to focus energy efficiency efforts here, where people have the most to gain. Installing a modern efficient boiler can save up to £235 a year on heating bills.

“However, for many families and households the cost of buying one and having it installed is prohibitive. Hopefully this new scrappage scheme will put it within reach of more people.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/

Banks and building societies insist they are lending again, but latest figures suggest home buyers are facing a different reality.

Three quarters of home buyers said it was as difficult or harder to find an affordable mortgage in the last three months of the year, compared to the previous three months.

The figure is up 2 per cent, from 73 per cent, for the three earlier months, according to property website Zoopla.co.uk.

It comes despite high street banks receiving billions of pounds of financial support after the economy faced a meltdown.

Nicholas Leeming, Commercial Director of Zoopla.co.uk, said: “This time last year, confidence in the property market was at rock bottom and the outlook was bleak. But, a year is a long time in the housing market and, while the recovery is still in its infancy, optimism is now back to levels not seen since the credit crunch began in 2007.

“The shortage of homes for sale has prevented any improvement in transaction levels over recent months but with increased confidence among owners about putting their homes on the market to match the pent-up demand from buyers, we could see a welcome boost to the recovery of the housing market.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/

All householders would have a legal right to a high speed broadband connection under new plans being considered by the Government.

The proposals would place high-speed internet access on a par with utilities like water and gas, which are already covered by legislation guaranteeing their supply to every home in the country.

The legal broadband obligation has been proposed by council leaders in response to concerns that rural communities are being left behind by the digital revolution, with residents and businesses in much of the countryside forced to endure sluggish internet connections.

Local authorities say that the Goverment’s existing “commitment” to provide 2 Mbps broadband access to all homes by 2012 is insufficent, and are calling for faster minimum speeds to be enshrined in law.

While many city dwellers will soon enjoy super-fast 40 Mbps connections, around 42 per cent of rural households are still unable to access the internet at 2 Mbps, because of the distance between homes and telephone exchanges.

Keith Mitchell of the Local Government Association (LGA), which has forwarded the proposals to ministers, said that fast internet was now “essential to everyday life” and should be viewed as a necessity rather than a luxury.

He said: “From doing business, to banking online, accessing information or just downloading music, high speed broadband would change the lives of people and boost businesses in rural areas across the country.”

If the proposals are accepted by John Denham, the secretary of state for communities and local government, and ministers at the Department of Innovation and Business, Britain would become one of the first countries in the world to oblige internet service providers to deliver fast broadband. Finland passed a law guaranteeing 1Mps connections in October last year.

The plans were shortlisted by the LGA for consideration by ministers after being selected from more than 300 ideas to improve local life drawn up by councils across the country.

Christopher Snowling, cabinet member for health and community at Mid Sussex District Council which originally proposed the new law, said that guaranteed broadband speeds would help close the digital divide between rural and urban areas.

“People living in rural areas deserve the same quality of internet connection as those living in major towns and cities. Better broadband internet would encourage commuters to work from home which would cut traffic and CO2 emissions,” he said.

“Faster internet speeds will allow rural businesses to compete on a more level playing field with businesses in urban areas and make sure school children in rural areas are not disadvantaged by not being able to access information online.”

The Telegraph has launched a campaign for a better deal for broadband users in rural areas to ensure they do not miss out on vital services and business opportunities.

But the Government has been reluctant to make firm commitments to minimum broadband speeds because of the costs of improving networks in rural areas. The cost of installing the fibre optic lines required for super-fast broadband to all homes has been estimated at up to £30 billion.

But last June Gordon Brown conceded that more must be done to help rural businesses cut off from the benefits of the web, acknowledging that “a fast internet connection is now seen by most of the public as an essential service, as indispensable as electricity, gas and water”.

A Government spokesman said: “The Government remains absolutely committed to improving the lives of people in both urban and rural communities. We will carefully consider the full shortlist of proposals when it is received from the LGA.

“We don’t want rural Britain to miss out on the social and economic benefits of quality broadband, which is why the Universal Service Commitment of 2Mbps set out in the Digital Britain White Paper aims to provide good quality broadband to all parts of the UK.

“We believe this commitment achieves the best possible balance between faster services and affordability. Our plans foresee a fast roll-out of 2Mbps by 2012, after which our efforts and resources will focus on enabling Next Generation Access to most of the UK by 2017, providing much higher speeds of 40Mbps or more.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/broadband/

Switching energy providers could save you £325 in 2010.

Shopping around and switching suppliers is one of the easiest way to cut bills – but more than a third of households have never switched suppliers for any type of fuel.

So why not act now and save yourself hundreds of pounds? Moneysupermarket.com claims the average household pays £325 more a year than necessary.

Energy companies usually change their prices twice a year and what can be the best deal one year can prove less competitive the next.

The cheapest deals are for those opting for dual fuel – both gas and electricity from one supplier – and who manage their account online and pay by direct debit.

For example, the best online tariff for dual fuel at present is npower’s SOL 17, with an annual bill of £907 compared to the average standard tariff of £1,232 when you pay quarterly by cash or cheque.

Scott Byrom, utilities manager at moneysupermarket.com, said: “Moving online to a dual fuel direct debit deal is the easiest way to make savings, and will ensure your hard-earned pennies don’t go to waste. There are also some simple measures you can take to cut down energy costs. Just turning down the thermostat by one degree celsius can cut your annual bill by 10pc and even just turning appliances off standby can help reduce costs.”

Anyone looking to move suppliers should first take a meter reading. Then call your supplier and ask for your annual energy consumption in kilowatt hours. If you are paying by direct debit already you need to find out whether your payments to date are in line with your annual usage. Ask for your money back if you are in credit. If you are underpaying, you may want to redress this before switching.

Visit

http://www.utilitywarehousenetwork.com

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/

Figures from price comparison site moneysupermarket.com show on average people could save more than £4,070 over the next 12 months by reviewing their finances.

It makes sense for people to review their finances on a regular basis and the turn of year is a great trigger to do just that.

Dig out every single financial record you possess, including: savings balances, Peps and Isas, bonds of every colour and shape, insurance plans, both general and life, pensions statements, receipts, income payments and anything else relevant to tax returns.

Do the same with borrowings: mortgages, credit cards and storecards, personal loans, student loans, hire purchase agreements.

Work out how much spare cash you have, over and above money needed to take care of emergencies and bills. If you have debts, use it to repay them. Borrowing rates may be low, but savings rates are lower still.

The more sophisticated may have super-flexible mortgages, or offset plans, which automatically use savings to bring down borrowing costs. The rest of us have to do the same thing manually.

Your savings will be looking pretty battered after a year of eye-wateringly painful interest rate cuts. Minimise the pain by transferring to the best possible rates.

Check out your investment portfolio. Make sure it is achieving what you originally intended it to do. How do you see the next few years panning out? Is the risk profile about right? Are there any real dogs you’d be better off without?

Did you ever have a joined-up strategy in the first place? Too many people are sitting on a mishmash of different Peps and Isas, invested willy-nilly in a myriad of different sectors and countries, equities and bonds, with no logical structure. Others have been contributing for aeons to a single, probably UK-based, unit trust savings plan with no attempt at diversification.

If you fancy seeking professional help, then visit www.telegraph.co.uk/findanifa. Try more than one; the good ones are prepared to travel to worthwhile clients. It’s worth paying a fee to avoid unsuitable, commission-led advice.

Make sure your will is up to date. If your affairs are in any way complicated, consult a good solicitor.

Check list:

Bills

Use direct debits wherever possible to save money. Check statements to ensure you are not building up credit balances. If you are, demand a cheque. It’s your money, not theirs.

Current accounts

Check monthly statements exhaustively. They’re computerised and staff no longer check for obvious errors. Retain lists of bank charges and keep them handy. Watch out for unnecessary credit insurance charges. They’re expensive and rarely worthwhile. Don’t be afraid to transfer to better-paying accounts. The process is getting simpler and faster.

Insurance premiums

Household and motor premiums have soared. Never renew without trawling the market for cheaper quotes. Brokers don’t always mention direct providers, so check them. Use the internet if possible. Don’t assume deals from big broker brands like the AA are alwasy the best.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/new-year-money-makeover/