There is still time to register for our flagship conference, Money Marketing Interactive London, which takes place in five days’ time.

This not-to-be missed event, in association with Fundment, will be held at Convene, 155 Bishopsgate, on Tuesday, 8 October.

The day will be packed with intriguing sessions led by industry experts and thought leaders.

Some of the subjects they will explore include the impact of the Consumer Duty twelve months on and the implications of the FCA’s new SDR proposals.

MMI London will feature practical sessions on key supplier relationships including platforms, back-office systems, and investment management options as well as run the rule over tax planning and investment strategies to help advisers provide value-added advice.

NextGen Planners will also be there to talk more on philanthropy and sustainable investing.

Our keynote speaker, broadcaster and journalist will chat to delegates about the impact of the new Labour government on financial regulation.

Timeline’s CEO Abraham Okusanya and Benchmark Capital CEO Ed Dymott will be among those on a panel discussion to help you choose the right tech stack for your business.

The event will give people the chance to connect with peers, experts and potential collaborators during our networking sessions.

The conference is not just about gaining knowledge; it’s an opportunity to foster meaningful relationships that can drive your business’ success.

There will be workshops from SimplyBiz, Albemarle Street Partners, HSBC Life, EV, Verve and a breakfast briefing by The Financial Planning Club too.

Workshop selections are now closed, but there is still opportunity to sign up on the day at the registration desk.

Reserve your 5-hour CPD accredited place today and join us.

You can register for free here.

To see the full agenda, click this link.

THE areas where house prices are falling the most and the “affordable” locations where they’re rising have been revealed.

A typical home in the UK was worth £267,100 in August, 0.7%, or £1,970, more than a year ago, according to Zoopla.

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On a monthly basis, the value of a typical home rose by £700.

House prices are now on track to rise 2.5% higher by the end of the year, Zoopla estimates.

Property sales have increased as mortgage rates are now at their lowest level for 15 months, making it cheaper for homeowners to borrow money.

A borrower who is looking to remortgage and owns 25% of their home can now lock into a five-year deal at 4.3% down from 5.5% a year ago.

On a loan with £250,000 left to pay this would be equivalent to a £250 decrease in the amount they would need to spend on their mortgage each month.

Meanwhile, interest rates have continued to fall as lenders compete with each other to attract borrowers.

The number of buyers looking for a new home and homeowners putting their property on the market has risen as a result.

As more buyers return to the market the level of competition for each home has increased, which has moderately pushed up property prices.

The website said affordability continues to constrain house price growth, particularly in southern England.

Greater choice for home buyers is also expected to keep house price growth in check in the months ahead.

And not all homes are fresh to the market. A fifth of homes currently for sale were previously on the market at some stage in the past two years, according to Zoopla’s data.

Setting the right price is important to attract buyers, Zoopla said.

How have prices changed per region?

Manchester has seen the greatest increase in house prices of any region in England, with the value of a typical property up 2.3% in the past year.

An average home in the city is now worth £227,200.

Liverpool has also seen prices climb in the past 12 months, pushing up the value of a typical property to £160,400, which is 2% higher than a year ago.

But not all regions have seen house prices rise in the last year.

Aberdeen and Glasgow have both seen prices tumble by 1% since last August, the greatest fall of any UK region.

A typical home in Aberdeen is now worth £135,700 while in Glasgow it’s £150,200.

Cambridge also saw prices edge down by 0.1% in the past year but the value of an average home is still well above the national average.

A typical property in the area was worth £469,300 in August, £202,200 more than the national average.

Meanwhile, prices remained unchanged in Bournemouth and Leicester over the past year.

A typical home in Bournemouth is still worth £333,800 after seeing nothing added to its value in the past 12 months.

Meanwhile, an average property in Leicester is worth £226,200 after its value failed to increase in the past year.

Here are the average prices in August and their annual change, according to Zoopla:

• Belfast – £1,78,200, 5.1%
• Manchester – £227,200, 2.3%
• Liverpool – £160,400, 2%
• Glasgow – £150,200, 1.9%
• Leeds – £210,600, 1.7%
• Cardiff – £256,000, 1.6%
• Sheffield – £173,300, 1.4%
• Birmingham – £211,800, 1.3%
• Newcastle – £155,400, 1%
• Nottingham – £203,700, 0.9%
• Edinburgh – £273,400, 0.8%
• Oxford – £452,000, 0.6%
• Bristol – £340,100, 0.3%
• Southampton – £258,400, 0.2%
• Bournemouth – £333,800, 0%
• Leicester – £226,200, 0%
• Cambridge – £469,300, -0.1%
• Aberdeen – £135,700, -0.1%
• Portsmouth – £279,800, -1%

Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla said: “Lower mortgage rates are delivering a much-needed confidence boost to homeowners, many of whom have sat on the sidelines over the last two years. 

“Market activity is up across the board and expectations of lower borrowing costs will continue to bring buyers and sellers into the market.”

Who else tracks house prices?

Halifax is part of Lloyds Group, which is the UK’s biggest mortgage lender.

Its monthly house price index is based on the mortgage data it holds and has been going since 1983.

It’s one of several key barometers of the property market.

The official measure of house prices is from the Office for National Statistics, which uses data from the Land Registry where the actual sold price is recorded.

This is the most accurate of all the indices, but the figures come out three months after the homes are sold, so there’s a big time lag.

Halifax and Nationwide each publish a monthly index tracking the average prices of homes on which they provide mortgages.

While they do adjust their figures to iron out big outliers, both lenders measure average house prices based on the properties they see.

As it’s based on mortgage approvals, cash buyers are not included.

Rightmove and Zoopla also publish monthly house price data.

The former is based on asking prices from the property listings on its website.

The latter uses sold prices, mortgage valuations and data on agreed sales.

Neither takes into account the price a property actually sold for like the ONS Land Registry, which could end up being higher or lower and some might not even sell at all.

Here’s the latest data from other indices:

• Rightmove (September 2024) +0.8% monthly, +1.2% annually
• Nationwide (August 2024) +0.7% monthly, +3.2% annually
• Halifax (August 2024) +0.3% monthly, +4.3% annually
• ONS Land Registry (July 2024) +2.2% monthly, +2.2% annually

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

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ZeroKey has brought on board former FE fundinfo head of proposition Stephen Mitchell in an advisory role.

He previously spent 18 years at FE fundinfo and spanned both the asset management and financial advice sides of the business, including FE Analytics and FE CashCalc.

Since leaving FE fundinfo earlier this year he has taken a variety of advisory roles, which he will combine with his latest role with ZeroKey.

ZeroKey co-founder and chief executive Joseph Williams said: “Steve is a big believer in how 1% improvements can all add up to make a significant difference.

“His approach is therefore completely aligned to what we are seeking to achieve with ZeroKey, but more importantly Steve brings with him vast knowledge and experience, and will inject an exciting dynamic into the team.”

Mitchell added: “I passionately believe in the theory that the aggregation of marginal gains can slowly but surely transform our profession and help to close the advice gap.

“So as soon as I heard what Joe [Williams] and Matt [Wiltshire] were up to, I was keen to get involved. They are a formidable team and I’m very excited by what’s to come.”

The news of Mitchell joining ZeroKey comes shortly after the publication of NextWealth’s latest research, which highlighted integration between systems is still a significant pain point and re-keying data is a major source of frustration.

This further added to the findings published independently by Intelliflo and FE fundinfo earlier this year and original research by Origo and the Lang Cat in 2019.

ZeroKey is currently available to use in beta mode.

This includes integrations with both Intelliflo and Iress, as well as ‘quick actions’ into FE CashCalc, Voyant, 7IM, Fidelity, Fintegrate, Fundment, Oxford Risk, Transact, Aviva, Timeline, Mabel Insights, M&G and Abrdn.

A ‘quick action’ is a feature that is designed to help streamline repetitive tasks, such as manually keying client details into a platform.

BANK payments for millions of customers could be paused by up to four days as part of a crackdown on fraudsters.

Banks and building societies currently have up to the end of the next business day to process or decline a transfer.

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But under new Government legislation coming into effect at the end of the month, this will be extended by an extra 72 hours.

It will give banks more time to investigate potentially fraudulent activity that can see customers scammed out of their hard-earned cash.

It comes as Government figures reveal an estimated £460million was lost to fraud just last year.

Tulip Siddiq, economic secretary to the Treasury, said: “Hundreds of millions of pounds are lost to scammers each year, targeting vulnerable communities and ruining the lives of ordinary people.

“We need to protect these people better, which is why we are giving banks more time to investigate suspicious payments and break the criminal spell that scammers weave.”

The new law will better protect a growing number of vulnerable customers targeted by purchase and “romance” scams.

These scams see victims targeted and tricked into transferring large amounts of money.

Ben Donaldson, UK Finance managing director of economic crime, said it was “delighted” to see the new legislation put forward.

He added: “This could allow payment service providers time to get in touch with customers and give them the advice and support they need to avoid being coerced by the criminals who want to steal their money.

“This could potentially limit the psychological harms that these awful crimes can cause and stop money getting into the hands of criminals.”

Under the new rules, banks who believe a customer could be scammed will need to tell them if their payment is being delayed.

They will also have to explain to the customer what they need to do to unblock any payments and compensate them for any interest or late payment fees they receive because of any delays.

Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy from Which?, said the new law was a “positive step in the fight against fraud”.

“While it should not affect the vast majority of everyday payments, it’s important that banks can delay a bank transfer and take action if they think a customer is being targeted by a scam.”

The new rules on extending the time banks have to investigate fraudulent transfers will come in just weeks after the introduction of a fresh scheme on fraud compensation.

UK banks currently don’t have to compensate customers who have been scammed out of money.

However, from next Monday (October 7), refunds up to a cap of £85,000 will become compulsory.

Nicola Bannister, customer support direct at TSB, said the bank welcomed the new rules coming into force.

She added: “Social media and telephone companies must now work tirelessly to cut fraud off at source and protect their users from scam content.”

How to protect yourself from fraud

While the Government’s new law will go some way to protecting customers from being scammed, there are other steps you can take to avoid being conned out of cash, according to Action Fraud.

First, never give out any personal information including your name, address, bank details, email or phone number, to organisations before checking they are legitimate.

And always think twice when receiving an unsolicited call, text or email requesting these types of details.

Instead, contact the company directly using a known email or phone number.

Second, make sure your computer, laptop and phone has up-to-date anti-virus software installed which will block any malware.

Third, always keep an eye out for phishing emails or texts which pretend to be legitimate but are designed to steal your personal information.

These messages usually come with a link which, if clicked on, can see your personal information including bank details stolen.

Fourth, be wary of post, phone calls or emails offering you business deals out of the blue.

If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is, so always question it.

In a world of constant tax policy changes, I find myself inundated with queries from clients increasingly worried about how to plan for their future with confidence.

The most significant talking point at the moment is chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget, due at the end of the month.

Year after year, governments introduce new policies affecting pensions, tax allowances and other frameworks.

These continuous adjustments create uncertainty and make it hard for clients to feel secure in their long-term financial plans.

The constant media speculation just amplifies this anxiety, and it’s happening much more frequently.

For example, in June, prime minister Keir Starmer made a misstatement regarding tax-free cash reductions, which was corrected by the Labour PR machine just hours later.

Headlines that Reeves was being “urged” to reduce tax-free cash do not tell the whole story

The media had already jumped on the story, however, exacerbating concern.

Missteps like this are unfortunate but the 24/7 nature of the media has made the situation worse.

Reporting on opinion from organisations like the Institute for Fiscal Studies just fuels the fire, as seen recently following its suggestion pension tax-free cash may no longer be sustainable.

Headlines that Reeves was being “urged” to reduce tax-free cash do not tell the whole story.

The speculation has led some clients to consider withdrawing their tax-free cash early from a pension regime, despite it not being in their best interest, simply to seek stability.

I’m sure many advisers routinely deal with these sorts of panicked queries.

While politicians and media speculate, we play a key role in providing stability

Many clients, especially those nearing retirement, have felt unsettled about a new left-leaning government, which may not necessarily align with their political views.

Speculative news stories about changes to tax-free cash, inheritance tax (IHT) or even the introduction of a wealth tax are enough to cause panic.

As an adviser, I cannot say such things won’t happen, but I do explain I believe changes as monumental as a wealth tax or even altering IHT (largely unchanged for 40 years) would likely take years to introduce, if they ever happen at all.

Clients begin to wonder if they should act pre-emptively. But it’s important to remind them that even if certain policy changes, like IHT on pensions, were known, the advice might not change.

Short-term revenue gains from frequent changes undermine this goal

Advisers understand not every political shift or proposed tax change will have a direct impact on a client’s long-term goals, and it’s critical to stay focused on the bigger picture.

While politicians and media might speculate, we play a key role in providing stability.

We may not always feel it, but I believe we can nudge policy in the right direction by participating in discussions with institutions like HM Revenue & Customs or the Treasury and through consultation papers.

For instance, the Finance Act at the end of the last tax year abolished the lifetime allowance.

While then-chancellor Jeremy Hunt made the initial decision, input from industry professionals, including myself, helped tweak and adjust the legislation, which could have been worse due to HMRC’s misunderstanding of its implications.

The speculation has led some to consider withdrawing their tax-free cash early, despite it not being in their best interest

That said, amendments to the legislation are still needed.

Our voices need to be heard to ensure policies are crafted with long-term benefits in mind.

Since pension “simplification” in 2006, there have been dozens of other significant changes. This constant tinkering has eroded confidence in pensions for many people. A lack of confidence can leave future generations poorer and more reliant on government support, which could create even bigger problems.

Ultimately, governments should focus on creating stability in tax policies and encouraging people to save for the long term.

Short-term revenue gains from frequent changes undermine this goal. While advisers will continue to help clients stay grounded, a more consistent, thoughtful approach from the government is needed.

Alistair Cunningham is financial planning director at Wingate Financial Plan