Interest rates have been kept on hold at 4.5% for the seventh month running, with no change likely in April. Paula John reports

Will BT plump for profits or customers if Ofcom’s plans to remove price controls are put in place? Pauline McCallion looks at changes afoot in the ever-growing home phone market.

The UK debt problem is serious, with advisers increasingly unable to cope with the sheer volume of calls from debtors asking for help. Mike Collins reports

Cafe culture has spread into our homes, as each household admits to spending £3,113 on their kitchen, according to research from Churchill.

More detached property owners are potentially liable to pay inheritance tax (IHT) than five years ago with one in three (29%) detached property sales in the UK above the 2006/07 IHT threshold of £285,000.

Property owners are leaving themselves vulnerable by not taking out mortgage payment protection policies – despite evidence of increasing repossessions, warns Paymentcare.

Approximately 2.3 million unpaid carers have given up the option of paid work to look after families and the home. But Lincoln warns households that rely on the unpaid work to tide them over are taking massive financial risks.

For the first time, at £257,120, the average price of a residential property in London is now above the £250,000 threshold at which stamp duty is paid at 3%, according to the Halifax.  This means the average homebuyer in London would pay stamp duty of £7,714, compared with £1,535 five years ago.