Investigation into London's property market reveals there are only 17 properties for sale that cost less than £280,000 (and the majority are house boats). It is unwelcome news for the capital's first-time buyers and families hunting for a larger home.

Chancellor George Osborne landed buy-to-let and second homes a huge shock by announcing a stamp duty surcharge on property purchases from April. The addition of a 3% extra charge on all stamp duty bands above a £40,000 starting level will more than treble the bill on a £275,000 home - hiking it from £3,750 to £12,000.

There was no real rabbit pulled from the hat, although a new 3 per cent surcharge on stamp duty for buy-to-let properties and second homes from April 2016 was a nasty surprise. The focus as expected was on boosts to housebuilding, a climbdown on cuts to tax credits, and revisions to economic forecasts as Mr Osborne tries to tackle Britain's stubbornly high budget deficit.

Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed the basic state pension will rise by £3.35 to £119.30 a week from April, and the starting rate for the new single-tier version will be £155.65. But a big shake-up of private pension tax relief is still waiting in the wings, after he failed to update on his plans.

In May, I realised I had not received an electricity bill since the start of the year. Not wishing to receive a huge bill, I contacted customer service at Co-op Energy. On May 6, my meter was read. I called customer services on May 27, June 9 and again on June 17, when I also wrote a letter to the chief executive.

Partnership crunched the numbers on pension savings and found that Essex retirees had the largest average pots in the UK at £125,478. Retirees in Shropshire had the smallest pots at £44,336 per person on average, while the average UK pot in the study stood at £87,724. Our interactive map shows the average pot in your area.

In Britain, almost half of all homes in towns and cities have paving in their front or back garden, and a staggering 4,100 more patios are being added every day. With soaring property prices and high moving costs, many growing families cannot afford to buy a bigger house and so are extending their existing homes instead.

Asset prices are expensive and investors have their work cut out for them in hunting for decent dividends. The manager of Fidelity's Global Dividend fund says what is needed is a contrarian approach. Watch him explain why in our exclusive interview.

Hotpoint, Indesit & Creda tumble dryers bought between 2004 and 2015 could be a fire risk. The manufacturer is rolling out a national repair and upgrade programme. Customers have been told they can still use their machines but not to leave them operating while unattended.

The state-backed giant (up 0.7p to 72.8p) said it is cutting about 945 jobs as part of a restructuring plan first outlined a year ago. The staff affected are currently employed within the bank's retail, commercial banking and consumer finance teams, and in several back office divisions, the taxpayer-backed lender said.

Guy Buswell, the boss of embattled delivery service UK Mail, has stepped down from his role as chief executive with immediate effect. Buswell's departure comes after the group last week said it half-year pretax profits dropped 81 per cent to £2.2million amid 'softened' expectations for the year ahead.

Barclays, PayPal and Apple customers have been warned not to fall victim to a wave of 'smishing' attacks that see fraudsters send text messages containing malicious web links. Messages should be deleted immediately or reported to Action Fraud.

Winter weather warnings means the demand for 4x4s is about to sky rocket. To help you choose the best one for you, AutoTrader- the UK's largest marketplace for second-hand motors - has listed its ten best SUVs for different requirements.

My mother recently died and I was shocked to discover that she left her entire estate to a local charity despite the fact that I own next to nothing. Can I challenge the will, and how likely am I to succeed? Our expert discusses the options.

Dave Fishwick has returned to our small screens in a bid to help British consumers slash costs on everyday items and services, scoring the highest Monday night ratings for Channel Four to boot. We take a sneak peak of tonight's show on buying diamonds and the expensive cost of a funeral.

Most people will be better off gradually withdrawing cash from their pension pots rather than buying an annuity to fund retirement - unless they expect to live well beyond 85, according to a new study. Pension pots of £100k-plus should not run dry until you're at least 80 or even older, finds Cass Business School.

Alternative Bank Schweiz told customers they face a -0.125 per cent rate on their money from 2016 - and a -0.75 per cent rate on deposits above 100,000 Swiss francs. It echoes the Swiss central bank's -0.75 per cent negative deposit rate. In September, the Bank of England's Andy Haldane said the UK could one day have to consider negative rates.

Where should investors look for the best future gains - and how much risk will they have to take to get them? Psigma's chief investment officer Tom Becket, joins the Investing Show to discuss the best investments and explains why those who can stomach the risk of China, emerging markets and even miners could see value turn into future gains.

To clear the average national household debt of £13,000 at 6% interest with a monthly repayment of £100 will take around 17 years. There are, however, plenty of simple ways to make significant savings on your regular spending that could clear your debt - or boost your savings - in less than a year. This is Money's top 50 - updated - money-saving tips may appear light-hearted but are deadly serious.

Choosing the right DIY platform is crucial but a wealth of choice and changes to charges have left many investors scratching their heads. We pick some of the best. We also highlight why investing in an Isa makes sense, as it should protect your hopefully growing investments from tax forever.

Interest rates will not move until mid-2016 and may not even rise for the whole of next year, economists have suggested following the latest Bank of England inflation report. A big shift back in the markets outlook for rates had preceded the second Super Thursday combination of an MPC verdict, minutes and Inflation Report.

For many buy-to-let looks an attractive income investment in a time of low rates and stock market volatility. Climbing house prices, rising rents and improving mortgage deals are tempting investors - although they will need a big deposit. Read This is Money's top ten buy-to-let tips

The influence of financial services on the economy is spelled out again as City brokers steal top spot in this year's official list of highest earners. According to the detailed 2014 annual salaries survey, brokers pocketed around 40 times more this year than those at the bottom of the list - the people responsible for keeping children safe on the way to school. Lollipop crossing patrols earned around £3,400.