A ONE-bedroom flat in a Scottish town is set to go up for auction at a bargain price – but there’s a catch.

The home, located on Lawn Street in Paisley, has been dubbed the cheapest property in Scotland.

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The flat is being sold by Prime Property Auctions, who have offered a guide price of just £5,000.

The firm explained that it has recently been reduced and is a bargain for anyone looking to snap up a home in the area.

Especially since one-bedroom properties in the surrounding location have recently sold for over £50,000.

But there’s a catch – the home needs a complete renovation.

The flat needs a revamp as it’s more of a fixer-upper and not in a complete state.

The property currently has no windows and the walls are fully exposed with the brickwork visible.

The ceilings are also caved in, with wires and electrical outlets hanging from the sides.

The door frames have been removed and the flooring has been ripped up, with a huge mess left on the ground.

There is also no fitted kitchen and no useable bathroom.

However, someone with the ability to fix the problems and do the place up could turn it into a wonderful home.

If they did, then they could make around £550-625 a month in rent for the property, which has been valued at around £50,000 once refurbished.

Experts at Prime Property Auctions have said that the property is also located in a prime spot in the town.

It sits near a whole host of local amenities including many popular restaurants, bars and supermarkets, with local schools also nearby.

A spokesperson from Prime Property Auctions said: “This property is ready for builder, investor or developer to bring to life and is a potentially high-yielding investment property.

“Sure to appeal to investors looking for an easy lettable flat in a sought-after location with great potential for Capital Growth.

“The local areas have seen some great sales recently showing that there is strong demand.”

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SPORTS Direct has unveiled its star-studded Christmas advert for 2024 which is set to appeal to football, rugby and wider fitness fans.

The action-packed film features sporting legend Frank Lampard and a plethora of other high-profile sporting legends.

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The clip, named “New Traditions Start Here’”, also sees England and Chelsea footballer Lucy Bronze make an appearance, as well as endurance athlete Russ ‘Hardest Geezer’ Cook.

They are joined by boxing industry entrepreneur Eddie Hearn, and England Rugby player Maro Itoje.

The professionals are shown encouraging the take up of new sporting traditions that can be enjoyed throughout the festive season.

The film follows a sporty family and begins outside a snowy UK home, where a spirited nan shadowboxes with a snowman in the front garden.

With a kick, she sends the snowman’s head flying into the sky.

This is followed by fitness coach Faisal Abdalla enjoying a makeshift HYROX session in the garage alongside the son.

Frank Lampard appears on an opposing football team, while Lucy Bronze steps in to assist the daughter to score a winning goal.

Irish sprinter athlete Rhasidat Adeleke joins the mum on her run club, before sprinting off.

Boxing industry stars and Everlast ambassadors Eddie Hearn, Conor Benn and Johnny Fisher enjoy a trim in a barber shop and Skye Nicolson also makes an appearance.

Ultra-runner and endurance athlete Russ “Hardest Geezer” Cook appears as a giant while England Rugby star Maro Itoje takes part in some pad work with the nan before being tackled.

The ad aims to show that from family runs to football and rugby matches or exercise sessions in the garage, there’s something sporty for all families to embrace over the festive period.

Almost two thirds of Britons will engage in sporting traditions this year, according to Sports Direct.

One in five will go on a run, while a further one in ten will play football with family and friends.

More than half the nation will engage in a hike or walk and a third will do some form of functional fitness. 

The campaign showcases a selection of key Sports Direct products, ideal for those embarking on new sporting traditions. Featured items include the PUMA Deviate Nitro 3, adidas Predator Elite, Under Armour Infinite and Nike Pegasus 41 Gore-Tex trainers.

David Clark, chief customer officer at Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct, said: “At Sports Direct, sport is at the centre of everything we do, and we believe in its unique power to inspire.

“This winter season, we’re challenging sports enthusiasts to level up their usual festivities, embrace new traditions, and elevate their holidays with sport – whether it’s a Boxing Day football match or a winter walk.”

Sports Direct Christmas adverts through the years

It’s not the first time Sports Direct’s Christmas ad has featured a cast of stars.

In 2021  Sports Direct splurged £6million on the the most expensive Christmas advert at the time with tennis champ Emma Raducanu and football ace Jack Grealish leading a line-up of 16 sports stars.

The following year in 2022 Mason Mount channelled his inner Greek God in the festive ad alongside legends Eric Cantona and Thierry Henry.

And last year’s ad again featured Mason Mount alongside lionesses Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp.

The confidence in UK adults’ ability to have enough capital during retirement has dropped since last year.

This is according to Nucleus UK Retirement Confidence Index which found that overall confidence is 4.6 in 2024 down from 6.9 in 2023.

Nucleus technical services director Andrew Tully said last year the figure was higher than the company expected it to be.

The research from last year has been expanded to include UK adults from the age 18+ whereas last year it was based on adults over 50.

Out of the different age groups, it was the 35-44 and 45-54-year-olds with lowest retirement confidence, 3.7 and 3.8 respectively.

The retirement confidence is split between genders but both have witnessed a drop from last year. Men’s retirement confidence has dropped from 7.2 to 5.1 and women 6.5 to 4.1.

Furthermore, 44% of people do not believe the State Pension will exist in the future. Additionally, 36% of men and 46% of women have no income being contributed to pensions.

The amount of being contributed to defined benefit (DB) pension schemes also declined and was 6.5 down from 7.5 in 2023.

Last year, the report said that the long tail of DB pensions coming to maturity was creating a false confidence among people in or approaching retirement.

The 2023 report rightly predicted that: “This is clearly not sustainable, and we predict the UK Retirement Confidence Index will fall over the next few years as a consequence.”

As well as confidence dropping, peoples targets also seem to fall short. The majority of respondents believe they will need between £20,000 and £30,000 a year for a comfortable retirement.

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), however, have said £43,100 is needed a year for a comfortable retirement.

Another factor that has weighed on pension confidence was chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget on 30 October.

Only 2% said they were more positive after the budget with 26% said they were either slightly or much less confident about their financial planning retirement prospects.

This figure increased to 36% for those aged 65+.

This drop in confidence coincides with the amount of seeking financial advice being down 2% points from last year.

The lang cat’s 2024 advice gap research found that only 11% of UK adults have paid for advice.

Tully did call on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to do more to promote advice.

“We need to shout louder about the importance of what advisers and planners do and the value they add.”

Tully did add that another point that came through clearly in the report was the need for financial education.

“Clearly people do not feel that they know enough.”

He added that Martin Lewis did come up a lot as the best person to get help in finance.

Lewis set up MoneySavingExpert.com, a consumer finance website. He is an English financial journalist and host of the Martin Lewis Money Show. He often stresses the information he provides is not regulated financial advice.

In October 2023, LV=’s wealth and wellbeing research programme found 43% of adults turned to websites such as MoneySavingExpert.com for what they considered to be financial advice.

This compared with 38% seeking advice from a qualified adviser.

To obtain these results, Nucleus commissioned YouGov to carry out an online survey of 4,318 UK adults aged 18 and over.

JOHN Lewis has gone back to basics with its Christmas advert this year with a magical tale about finding the perfect gift for a loved one. 

The two minute ad is called The Gifting Hour and follows a woman’s last-minute dash to find a gift for her sister.  

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After 17 years, it’s the first time that one of John Lewis’ 34 shops has featured in the advert. 

The mini-film was shot in John Lewis’ flagship store on Oxford Street during an overnight shoot back in October.

The department store had a multi-million pound makeover earlier this year after the retailer invested £6.5million. 

The advert, created by Saatchi & Saatchi, follows the woman, Sally, rushing into a John Lewis store looking for a last minute gift. 

The beginning is reminiscent of a Christmas film but Sally quickly enters a fantastical world, where she journeys through childhood memories looking for clues to help her pick the best present. 

She sees her sister as a child at Christmas, fighting with her as a teenager and as a pregnant mum-to-be. 

The scenes represent the thought process that goes through your head when you’re thinking about buying a gift at Christmas. 

She returns back to reality once she has found the gift, which is ready and wrapped.

Then, she heads outside and has a special moment with her sister. 

It ends with the strapline: “The secret to finding the perfect gift? Knowing where to look”. 

John Lewis intentionally does not reveal what the gift is, as it wanted to make the advert about the sentiment of giving.

The soundtrack is also a little different this year.
John Lewis is famous for using covers of popular songs for its advert – but this year it’s Sonnet by The Verve. 

It’s one of the nods to the 90s, which is a major theme this year. 

The retailer is also launching a search for a coverstar on TikTok, and legendary lead singer of the band Richard Ashcroft will help pick the new star.

The winner will record and release their own track with BMG and a version of the advert with their rendition will be played on TV on Christmas Day. 

They will also win a £3,000 shopping spree and tickets to a Richard Ashcroft headline show in 2025. 

Proceeds from the single will be donated to the John Lewis Partnership’s Building Happier Futures programme, which helps care-experienced people. 

It also doesn’t have an official merchandise range from the advert, which is a huge change from previous years. 

The John Lewis Christmas ad is widely considered the biggest advertising event of the year – and signals that the run up to the festive season has begun. 

In previous years it has spent up to £7million on making and promoting the advert. This year it says it spent a similar amount – but certainly not more.

Charlotte Lock, customer director for John Lewis, said: “The secret to finding the perfect gift is knowing where to look. 

“Our ad heroes the thoughtful gift-giver and celebrates ‘the gifting hour’, the moment when you go a little deeper in your heart and in our stores to find something really special and meaningful for the ones you love. 

“Our shops are the beating heart of our brand and our customers love the ritual of Christmas shopping there – so we wanted to give the store a starring role in our ad for the first time.”

This year, the advert is the final instalment of a three-part series, to relaunch the chain’s Never Knowingly Undersold pledge.  

It will air first on John Lewis’ social media platforms at 8am tomorrow, but MyJohnLewis members can watch it from 8am on the John Lewis website. 

It will be broadcast on TV during the ad break for Coronation Street on ITV at  8.45pm on Friday November 15. 

We have rounded up all of the John Lewis adverts throughout the years. 

The employee-owned business has already hailed a strong start to Christmas trading, announcing last month that sales from its Christmas shop were up 18% year on year.

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HOMEBASE collapsed into administration yesterday — but 1,600 staff will be saved by the “Del Boy” billionaire behind The Range.

Plymouth-based tycoon Chris Dawson yesterday confirmed a deal to take over the Homebase brand name, rights, and 70 of its stores.

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It is expected the stores will be rebranded to The Range, but Homebase will continue as an online brand and will be used on some of The Range’s DIY products.

It comes just a year after The Range snapped up fallen Wilko and re-opened a number of its shops.

Around 2,000 Homebase staff are still at risk, but administrator Teneo said there would be no immediate redundancies and stores would still trade.

Buyers are being sought for Homebase’s remaining 49 stores, after Sainsbury’s recently snapped up 11 of its outlets.

Homebase’s collapse comes after going through a string of different owners.

Argos sold it for £360million in 2016 to Aussie conglomerate Wesfarmers, which disastrously tried to use it as a UK launchpad for its Bunnings DIY brand, with car park “sausage sizzles” and soft furnishings scrapped for power tools.

Turnaround firm Hilco then stepped in.

Despite DIY spending soaring in the pandemic, Homebase racked up losses as costs spiralled, and the cost-of-living crisis then hit demand.

Homebase CEO Damian McGloughlin said: “It has been an incredibly challenging three years.

“A decline in consumer confidence has been exacerbated by persistent high inflation, global supply chain issues and unseasonable weather.”

TYCOON PLAYING THE FOOL

CHRIS Dawson left school without qualifications and can’t read or write — but has become one of the richest retailers in Britain.

His beginnings as a market stall trader gave him the gift of the gab and the art of cutting a deal.

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He started The Range in 1989 and has since made millions from it.

Chris, 71, leans into his reputation as a Del Boy billionaire with personalised number plates — while posing against his motor in Only Fools-inspired get-up.

Snapping up Wilko and Homebase so quickly suggests he isn’t done with his business empire just yet.

DELIVERY giant Just Eat Takeaway dealt with a severe case of indigestion yesterday by offloading its GrubHub US business for $650million (£509million).

It bought the firm for $7.3billion in 2021 at the height of the lockdown takeaway boom.

BURBERRY BID TO FEND OFF RIVALS

BURBERRY keeps it steamy in the winter months as it casts Rivals stars Alex Hassell and David Tennant in its Christmas campaign.

But like the characters in the saucy story by Jilly Cooper, the retailer has been thrust into its own rival takeover drama.

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For the past fortnight, the firm has been at the centre of rumours that Moncler, which sells puffa jackets for up to £1,500, is exploring a bid to snap it up.

Burberry has stayed schtum, while Italian brand Moncler also declined to comment.

But today, new boss of Burberry Joshua Schulman will be under the spotlight in his first City debut, alongside half-year results that are expected to lay bare the company’s ongoing sales slump.

HUGE CAR CLAIM

MILLIONS more drivers could be owed compensation in a car finance mis-selling scandal, it has emerged.

The FCA watchdog yesterday asked the Supreme Court to decide quickly whether lenders can appeal against last month’s ruling that it’s illegal for dealerships to take commission from motor finance providers.

Money Saving Expert’s Martin Lewis said the ruling meant “almost everyone who had car finance may have a complaint”, and could be a “PPI scale of payouts and a substantial threat to the industry.”

P.O. ‘DOUBLE PAY

THE POST OFFICE is set to double postmasters’ pay.

All its 115 directly owned branches are to be closed, putting 1,000 jobs at risk.

But chairman Nigel Railton said the money saved will allow franchised postmasters a bigger share of revenue.

He added change was needed to get off a “burning platform”.

The Post Office also revealed it is negotiating to extend its tech contract with Fujitsu despite its role in the Horizon IT bug scandal, which saw subpostmasters bankrupted or wrongly convicted of fraud.

OZ FIRM’S CALL FOR RATES AID

THE boss of homeware brand Harvey Norman has called on the Government to overhaul business rates as it plots a bigger UK expansion.

Harvey Norman, which has 320 shops globally, opened its first UK store in Merry Hill, near Dudley, last month.

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The Australian retail brand is opening an office in Sutton Coldfield and plans further shops in the Midlands area within the next year.

It already has a UK website selling sofas, TVs, laptops and washing machines.

MD Lachlan Roach said: “Our website works well but we know some customers want to look and feel the products.

“We’re a bit of John Lewis, a bit of Currys and we have a price guarantee against online retailers like AO too.”

Mr Roach said: “I think a review of business rates would entice a lot more businesses to open more sites. It’s a big risk operating stores.”

THAMES’ CASH TAP

THAMES Water has been given a lifeline after a necessary 75 per cent of creditors agreed to a £3billion emergency loan.

The rescue deal must be approved by a court, but it delays the threat of temporary nationalisation.

Bondholders are charging the UK’s biggest water firm 9.7 per cent interest for the loan but say it is the best option.

Thames warned it would run out of money without funding due to its debts of £19billion.

MILLIONS of households are bracing for an essential bill to rise by a whoping £109.

Downing Street confirmed this week that town halls will be free to whack up council tax levies by up to 5% in April – significantly above the current 1.7% inflation rate.

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At a fiery PMQs on Tuesday, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch had demanded the Prime Minister rule out a rise.

But despite pledging in 2023 to freeze caps in Labour’s first year of government, Sir Keir Starmer replied: “On the question of councils, she knows what the arrangements are.”

The opposition chief responded: “I think the House will have heard that the Prime Minister could neither confirm nor deny whether the cap on council tax was being raised.”

The move will see bills in the average band D family household increase by £109.

The Tories accused ministers of secretly plotting to raise council tax by a whopping £2.4 billion.

At PMQs Ms Badenoch also slammed Sir Keir for not exempting care homes from the Budget employer’s national insurance raid.

She accused Labour of creating a “social care funding gap”.

The PM responded that an additional £600m for local authorities announced at the Budget would help plug any funding black holes.

It comes after The Sun reported how thousands of households could cut their council tax bill by up to £2,100 a year by filling in an easy form.

If you are on a low income or receiving benefits, you could be eligible for some help towards your council tax.

Whether you are eligible will vary depending on where you live.

If you find yourself struggling to pay your bill, you may also be able to get a deferral or speak to your council about setting up a payment plan to manage the cost.

But one thing to remember is if you are struggling you should contact your council as early as you can.

However, those on low incomes can get their council tax bills reduced by up to 100%.

With the average Band D council tax set by local authorities in England currently standing at £2,171, it means households could potentially save thousands of pounds a year.

The highest possible council tax is for people who live in Band H properties in Rutland, where they will be charged a hefty £5,087 each year.

This year is the first time that this levy has cleared £5,000 for any household.

While most of us have more modest payments, the sharp rises may leave many families feeling the pinch, especially against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis.

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