The North West has been the most lucrative area for rental returns over the past five years, but landlords have profited most in London and the South East from rising house prices. LendInvest's latest Buy-to-Let Index, shows average annual returns between 2010 and 2015 - but it says property price returns could soon shift.

A new route to saving for a mortgage deposit has opened up for first-time buyers with the launch of the Help to Buy Isa. Find out how the Help to Buy Isa scheme works and check our pick of the best Help to Buy Isa rates to save for a mortgage deposit.

NEW Sally Monoghan, 29, and her boyfriend Matt Larman, 28, are trying to buy a three-bedroom house in Surrey. The mortgage lender, Nationwide, says in order for the mortgage to be completed they need to take out home insurance with the current insurer of the house. But it is no longer selling home insurance or accepting new customers.

My brother has invested £10,000 via a brokerage called Wealth International Management Limited, into a company called Osage 1 and its Oklahoma oil project. Alarm bells have rung and I need to show my brother further information. Have you come across this company before?

Gerard Lyons was chief economist at global bank Standard Chartered. Then he gave it up to be economic adviser to London Mayor Boris Johnson. One thing he is sceptical about the great shibboleth of Tory thinking - getting people on the property ladder.

Dixons Carphone has flown since chief executive Sebastian James guided Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse through their merger last year. Expansion into America is the next big step and analysts believe that alone could add £65 million to the group's already sizeable earnings of £381 million last year. Not surprisingly, the electrical retailer's share price has jumped since the merger and the group is now worth £5.5 billion.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates this Wednesday following a 'substantial recovery' in the economy. But despite a relatively rosy outlook, this does not mean investors should rush to send their money across the pond.

It is on the face of it a policy that would not sit well with those on the laissez-faire, small state, rightist end of the political economy spectrum: and indeed it is a favourite with the Green Party. But a universal basic income is actually pretty much the same thing as a negative income tax - a system propounded by Milton Friedman and other economic libertarians, largely for its simplicity and efficiency.

Chancellor George Osborne has promised £51million to families and businesses hit by the storms and floods in Cumbria and Lancashire. But with a maximum payout set at £5,000 each, individual help is limited. The Mail on Sunday provides key advice on how to deal with the financial consequences.

Global corporations have gone on the warpath against smaller firms, claiming they are copying well-known trademarks. City lawyers are reporting a leap in the number of legal challenges - the vast majority of which are made by big groups, in what many see as a David and Goliath battle between struggling entrepreneurs and big business.

British rowing champion Ben Hunt-Davis was so poor before he won his Olympic gold medal in 2000 that some days he would survive on a diet comprising loaves of Tesco 'value' bread. At the time, Hunt-Davis - who now takes £20,000 family holidays and spends £50,000 a year privately educating his children - was so desperate for money he struggled to even get to his rowing training sessions in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

The department store chain has embarked on an investment programme to be completed by the end of 2018 which will add hundreds of recruits to its IT department as online demand for products continues to soar. Internet sales at John Lewis rose 13.6 per cent in the week to December 5 compared with the same period last year.

The private equity-owned chain, which has 523 hotels in the British Isles, has written to 20 owners of retail space to pitch the possibility of opening hotels next to or above commercial units. Those approached include British Land, Grosvenor, Hermes Real Estate, Prudential and TH Real Estate, which between them own some of Britain's best known shopping centres.

It may have been a slow start, but Copas Turkeys - which numbers Harvey Nichols among its stockists - reckons sales will be strong this year. Sarah Copas, 37, who runs the family business, near Cookham, Berkshire, with her brother Tom, 30, said: 'We think because of the mild winter so far people have perhaps not thought about Christmas so much and not got quite so interested as usual. In some areas sales have been slow to pick up, but they're absolutely coming in and it's looking like it will be a strong Christmas.'

BBC Dragon Sarah Willingham shares her advice for would-be entrepreneurs, including the traits she looks for in the Den, and who has been her biggest inspiration. Sarah was one of the youngest high-street entrepreneurs, turning Indian restaurant Bombay Bicycle Club into a profitable chain before reportedly selling her stake for millions.

One of the best Christmas presents you could possibly give is remarkably close to home. In fact, the recipient of this sought-after present should be your home itself. And the joy is that, long-term, you will be the one to reap the benefits, especially if you are planning to sell next year. So give your property the gift it deserves - and you'll be streets ahead once the market starts to pick up in 2016. Here's Santa's suggested list ...

The UK has reaffirmed its commitment to an agreement that all new cars sold by 2050 will be zero emissions vehicles. In the meantime, here is a list of the best hybrid cars you can buy today that are stepping stone between petrol and diesel cars and full-blown zero-emissions vehicles.

Jeremy Lang, of Ardevora, reveals how he doesn't meet company bosses and plans for bad news to last longer than expected to avoid mistakes and deliver market-beating returns. Also, on this fortnight's show, Simon Lambert, of This is Money, Richard Hunter, of Hargreaves Lansdown and Nick Batsford, of TipTV, discuss the prospects for a Santa rally, how markets fared in 2015 and reveal the best-performing investment trusts of the year.

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

Musicians have seen pay rises averaging nearly 20 per cent in 2015, while cleaners are getting 17.8 per cent more, and window cleaners 12.3 per cent. Artists in general are earning 14.6 per cent more in 2015 than 2014, according to the huge annual data dump of pay scales by the Office For National Statistics highlights.