The Reporter

The Reporter

Hot property Southern Europe is the summer holiday theft hotspot, and with some beach bags now bulging with several hundred pounds' worth of items, pickings can be very rich. Britons suffer 1.4m incidents of holiday theft each year, and more than one in eight occurs while people are sunning themselves by the pool or on the beach, says Halifax Travel Insurance, which is warning Brits to remain extra-vigilant this summer. With many beach bags now containing a mobile phone, digital camera and an iPod, as well as towels, sun cream and some warm sandwiches, the modern sun-worshipper is an easy target for the beach burglar, says the insurer.

Up, up and no going away A warning was sounded this week that millions of homeowners could see their mortgage payments rise yet again. The Bank of England indicated it may need to raise interest rates to 6% in order to keep inflation under control. We have already had five rate hikes in the past year, and some analysts have suggested they could soar to 6.5% or higher. If that happens, next year's summer holiday might be a deckchair in the garden.

Of interest to late payers Paying your tax late became a more costly business this week. The taxman has raised the penalty interest rates imposed on tardy payers. They have risen from 7.5% to 8.5% for late payments of income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax and stamp duty.

Those who.....continued below

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are overpaid tax credits as a result of fraud or negligence, will also be charged interest at 8.5%. Late payers of inheritance tax will also see the rate of interest increase from 4% to 5%. The rate it pays those in credit rises from 3% to 4%. Could you get fixed on 25 years? If you're worried about your mortgage payments going through the roof, maybe you should consider a fixed-rate deal. But would you want to fix for 25 years? Yorkshire building society this week became the latest player to enter the long-term mortgage market with the launch of two 25-year fixed rate deals. It follows hard on the heels of Nationwide and Halifax, who have launched quarter-century home loans in the last few weeks. The Yorkshire is offering a rate of 6.29% where people have to pay a 3% early redemption charge if they pay off the loan in the first 10 years, or 6.49% where you only face redemption charges for the first five years of the mortgage. Both deals are available from Wednesday and have an arrangement fee of pounds 595.

Memories are made of these Old Beatles albums, vintage tin toys, plates commemorating the Queen's coronation ... Britain's over-50s are sinking their cash into a wide variety of collectables and antiques in the hope that they will provide them with a decent nest-egg when they are older. Over the past five years, this age group has spent a whopping pounds 2.5bn on such items, according to research from Direct Line. Old coins and banknotes were judged the most popular collectables, followed by royal, pop and advertising memorabilia, antique glass and ceramics, and toys.

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