The Scotsman

Mortgages: Double Whammy for First-Timers As Prices Stabilise and Loans Dry Up

FIRST-TIME buyers hoping for lending conditions to improve so they can take advantage of subdued house prices have been warned they face a long wait. A lack of supply in the housing market has caused house prices to stabilise, frustrating would-be buyers waiting for further falls to ease their path on to the housing ladder. At the same time, the nascent housing market recovery has failed to produce a significant increase in the number of affordable loans for those with deposits of less than 2...

Commercial Property: Confidence Rebuilding in Bricks and Mortar

THE commercial property market evokes nothing more strongly than the excess that triggered the economic crash. Investors piled into the asset class between 2005 and 2007, seduced by returns far higher than would normally be expected from commercial property. Then it went pear-shaped, with so many people trying to pull their money out as prices plummeted that providers were forced to stop trading or introduce exit fees.

Eu Throws Ba's 3-Way Alliance Into Doubt

BRITISH Airways boss Willie Walsh is facing a battle to proceed with his planned alliance on transatlantic routes with the giant US carrier American Airlines. BA has received a formal statement of objections to the link-up from the European Commission's competition authorities.

A Strange Tale of Blues and Sole

DUNCAN McLean remembers the first time he heard the music of Thomas Fraser. McLean, a writer and life-long blues and country fan, was immediately hooked. "As soon as I heard the first track I went, 'Oh my God, that's fantastic, who is this guy? He comes from Shetland? It sounds like he comes from Mississippi in 1937.'" Fraser was one of Scotland's most unusual musicians. A fisherman on the Shetland island of Burra all his life, in his spare time he recorded hundreds of country and blues songs...

Comment: Don't Hold Your Breath for an End to Tesco Towns

COULD the end be nigh for the Tesco Town? Yesterday's seemingly hard line stance by competition officials would suggest so. The introduction of a so-called "competition test" promises to bring to an end the dominance of a single player in a particular area - Inverness, for example, where Tesco with its three superstores (and a fourth on the way) has been dodging the flak for years. Or that's the theory at least.

In Brief: 'Don't Invest in Big Supermarkets'

BRITAIN'S biggest supermarkets could be in for an earnings shock due to falling food prices, Citigroup warned yesterday. Issuing "sell" recommendations on Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury's, analyst Alastair Johnston said investments in the big UK supermarkets were "too risky" in the next six months as he forecast food price deflation will hurt sales and margins by more than currently forecast.

In Brief: Energy Network Giant Edf On Sale

THE UK's biggest electricity network is up for sale after its owner confirmed yesterday it was looking at "ownership options" for the business. EDF Energy operates 100,000 miles of electrical network across London, the south east and eastern England, linking eight million homes.

In Brief: Deutsche Bank Mulls Acquisitions

DEUTSCHE Bank's chief financial officer Stefan Krause said Germany's largest lender was "looking at quite a few opportunities" for acquisitions. With key rivals such as Commerzbank barred from making acquisitions until 2012, Deutsche is in pole position to snap up assets which may be put up for sale by distressed rivals.

In Brief: Private Equity Firms Eye Pets at Home

PETS at Home, the retail chain, is reportedly being circled by a number of private equity firms while it considers a stock market listing. The pet supplies business, which has 240 stores and employs more than 4,000 people, confirmed that it had appointed JP Morgan Cazenove to look at a potential offering of shares next year.

My Six Shilling Canvas Is Now Worth Gbp 18k - Pity I Painted Over Other 13

TO THE young art student they were just a pile of old paintings bought for a few shillings which he eagerly whitewashed to use as cheap canvases. But one of the pictures - a colourful portrait of a woman - caught his eye and, rather than paint over it he hung it on his wall.

Evening Standard to Go Free

THE Evening Standard has decided to take on its rivals in London's fiercely competitive newspaper market by switching to free distribution later this month in a major move to combat declining sales. The 180-year-old paper's Russian owner says dropping the 50p price will make it the world's first quality newspaper to adopt the free model.

Complaints of Mis-Selling by Banks Double in Six Months

COMPLAINTS from Scottish customers about banks selling them inappropriate savings and investment products have doubled in the past six months. A report out on Monday from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) will reveal a jump in complaints from over-55s who claimed they were persuaded to buy savings bonds without being told of the risk posed to their capital, The Scotsman can reveal.

Scots Team Shed New Light On Milky Way

STRIKING images of our galaxy have shown part of the Milky Way in a new light. The pictures were captured by a high-tech camera system partly developed in Scotland.

Ge Set for Uk Spending Spree

ONE of the United States' corporate engineering giants is poised to press the accelerator on an acquisitions spree in Britain as company valuations become "more realistic". Mark Elborne, who was appointed national executive for General Electric's northern European business in April, remains bullish on prospects for both acquisitive and organic expansion of the group. "It will be both. We have not spent billions in the UK over recent years for the fun of it," he said.

Paying for Bricks Is a Brake On Spending

HOMEOWNERS paid off GBP 7 billion of their mortgages in the second quarter of this year, the Bank of England revealed yesterday. It was the fifth successive quarter in which homeowners put more equity into their homes than they took out.

23,000-Strong Credit Union's Savings Rise

MEMBERS of a leading Scottish credit union have increased their monthly savings levels over the past year, new research has found. Almost 30 per cent of Scotwest Credit Union's 23,000 customers are putting more money away each month than they were a year ago, while another 50 per cent are saving the same amount, according to a recent survey conducted by the union.

The Level of Your Retirement Fund Really Can Be a Postcode Lottery

TODAY marks 50 years since the humble postcode was first used in the UK. Bet you didn't know that. Far from losing significance as we head into the second decade of the new century, postcodes are playing a more influential role in our lives, particularly when it comes to money. General insurers have long used postcodes to set the cost of policies including home and motor insurance. But now your postcode is increasingly being used to dictate how much money you'll have to live on in retirement.

Kenmore Chief in Talks to Buy Gbp 1.8bn Asset Division

ROB Brook, managing director of Kenmore Property Group, is in talks about buying the company's GBP 1.8 billion asset management division. Sources say negotiations over the proposed management buy-out are at a "critical" stage, with discussions expected to reach a climax next week.

Foreign Office Scrambling to Find Up to 16 Missing Britons After Disaster

OFFICIALS are trying to trace up to 16 Britons who have been missing since a tsunami struck the South Pacific on Tuesday. The two-year-old son of a British couple swept out to sea in Samoa is feared dead. His father was treated in hospital after being injured on the beach where the wave struck.

Samba On the Sand As Rio Gets Olympics

COPACABANA beach erupted into celebration yesterday as Rio de Janeiro claimed victory in the race to stage the 2016 Olympic Games. A huge roar broke out on the world-famous beach when the announcement came that the Brazilian city had dashed Madrid's hopes, collecting more than two thirds of the final votes.