• Spanish bank could take over 318 Royal Bank of Scotland branches as early as next week• UK arm of bank reports 10% rise in profit as it bids to take on 'big four'Santander will..

Annual rate of house price inflation drops to 6.6% as demand from homebuyers remains subdued in face of uncertain climateHouse prices fell in July for the first time since February as..

• This week's top news stories• Virginia Wallis answers your homebuying questions • Switching tariff: how to reduce your energy billsThis week's top stories• People will be..

Financial experts underwhelmed by a lack of introductory offers and products which can usually be beaten by shopping around"The British banking revolution begins today," claimed Metro Bank...

Annual rate of house price inflation has dropped to 6.6% compared to 8.7% in June, a Nationwide report shows, and the outlook remains bleakHouse prices fell in July for the first time since..

Will the first new high street bank for more than a century give the old ones a run for their money?Is the opening of Metro Bank this morning the start of a revolution in British banking,..

From a thatch in Devon to a Yorkshire hall

Trace the ups and downs of UK house prices since May 2006

Which? report finds that only five out of 12 banks and building societies inform customers about changes to interest ratesSavings providers are failing to keep their customers informed..

Q I am a leaseholder on a house which I have extended without the freeholder's permission (I didn't know you had to seek consent first). Now the management company is asking for £329 ..

Q On inheriting 50% of my mother's house, are there any tax implications in selling my share to my sibling rather than a third party? The whole estate is worth less than £100,000 and..

FOS figures are expected to show 150 people a day complain about PPI, as Lloyds Banking Group calls halt to sales for loans, credit cards and mortgagesLloyds Banking Group has stopped..

As NS&I pulls its index-linked certificates investors must look beyond cash investments to combat the effects of inflationShould we be worried about inflation? More than 580,000 National..

Parliamentary ombudsman Ann Abraham says Equitable Life proposals would 'not enable fair and transparent compensation'Proposals that victims of the Equitable Life scandal should share no..

• First decline in house prices in 15 months – Hometrack• Markit/YouGov survey shows households more pessimistic• National Housing Federation warns on affordable housingThere is..

We have asked Lloyds to compensate us but it refusedMy dad had a stroke and needed confirmation that he owned his house before the local authority would fit a stair lift. He was confused..

While living alone brings more freedom, a downside is that there's no one to share bills with. Here are some ways single people can get a better dealYoung, free and single is a description..

Property industry slates plan, being considered by Coalition, to increase stamp duty for homes with poor energy ratingA new green tax being considered by the government could add £850 to..

Our mortgage was approved in principle but we still can't get a formal offerNatWest confirmed my new mortgage in principle. I returned the signed application on 3 March and within a week..

It's forgotten about, but for how long?What's going for it? There are few scraps of France not conquered by the Brits, few provincial Carrefours where you will not hear dulcet Surrey tones..

As the world's population expands, China switches from rice to meat, and biofuel growth looks set to rocket, City experts think agriculture is the best place to make money in the next..

Equitable Life policyholders should be grateful, in a time of austerity, that they are getting anything from the taxpayerThe public finances are in their most lamentable state ever in..

A wreck, a rural retreat and an urban pad, all en France

The money has never appeared after Santander sent it to Yorkshire and we fear it has been lostMy elderly mother-in-law is at her wit's end over the transfer of her Isa from Santander to..

Jason Shearer was curious when he read Guardian Money's article on free bets. Could you really beat the bookies at no risk? He followed our advice, made £770, and reckons it's even simpler..

Bank of Baroda, a little-known Indian bank, is topping the savings best-buy tables with fixed rates of up to 4.9%Most Brits have probably never heard of it, but Bank of Baroda has this week..

Unsure about savings products, need advice on where to put your money for the best returns in these troubled times? Put your questions to our panel of experts who will be online from 12.30..

A goverment report suggests a total payout of £400m to £500m will be made to Equitable victims next year, a fraction of the expected figureVictims of the Equitable Life scandal reacted..

Rics survey says 24% of dealers reported a rise in prices rather than a fall in the second quarter of the yearThe art and antiques market remains buoyant depite tough economic conditions,..

A miscaculation by the Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks means some mortgage holders could be asked to repay up to £300 more each monthThousands of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank mortgage..

From an Algarve apartment to a converted Methodist churchAnna Tims

Q My ex-partner and I bought a house together in November 2007. Both our names are on the mortgage, but he moved out in April as we are no longer together.We bought the house for £123,000..

Q I have an interest-only mortgage of £30,000. This was taken out several years ago and the house is now valued at around £135,000. As I am over 70 I would like to downsize to a..

Seasonal pick-up in mortgage loans – but experts predict activity will tail off later in the year as buyers 'wait and see'Mortgage lending rose by 15% in June to an estimated £13.1bn ..

Flood of applications for index-linked certificates from savers seeking refuge from inflation threatened to disrupt government-set targetsNational Savings and Investments (NS&I) has closed..

• Commodity speculators push cocoa to 33-year high • Bets 'risk the most vulnerable in the world starving'Financial speculators have come under renewed fire from anti-poverty..

Unanswered letters and phone calls meant a frustrating period trying to close a Santander eSaver accountI have been trying to close an eSaver account held with Santander since late last..

From an idyllic cottage in the village of Lord Nelson, to a Lanzarote estate, with volcanic crater and cave

Bleak, wild, windswept: the perfect place to escape toWhat's going for it? Nobody would ever find you in the Yorkshire Wolds. Nobody really knows about them, overshadowed as they are by..

New rules forcing mortgage lenders to check on a borrower's income should be welcomed, even if the self-employed sufferBack in 2007, Ayodele Thomas of Hornchurch, Essex, presumably obtained..

Despite a huge glut of property on the Spanish market, there are few real bargains to be had. And even fewer good investmentsTorrevieja is the Spanish resort that exploded in size as Brits..

Stephen Bates spent a year on his quest to discover why his Irish Life endowment payout was £1,200 less than expectedIt's fair to say that when I took out an endowment policy on my flat in..

Some endowment policyholders are getting back less than they have paid in premiums over many yearsEndowments continue to provide dismal returns for savers, with many paying significantly..

Timeshare salesmen have new tactics and are enticing unwary tourists into investing in resorts, with promises of part-ownershipBritish consumers about to set off on their summer holidays..

Announcement this morning expected to say that pension investors will no longer be forced to buy an annuityThe government will announce a long awaited consultation on the scrapping of..

Home information packs weren't perfect, but they might have deterred some speculative sellers from pulling out of dealsWhen home information packs (Hips) were scrapped in May, estate agents..

A report from insurer LV= says one in five people approaching retirement are reducing their pension savings by more than £300 a monthCash-strapped people over the age of 50 have reduced..

Estate agent denies recession-busting single-storey chalet in Dorset overlooking Chesil Beach is a 'glorified shed'A beach hut is on sale for £300,000. The single-storey chalet has no..

Basic rate taxpayers need to earn 4% on their money just to tread water, according to moneynet.co.ukBasic rate taxpayers need to earn 4% gross interest to beat inflation and maintain the..

From a Scottish island to a thatch in an area of outstanding natural beauty

• Investors voice concern over executive pay• More than 16% of M&S shareholders fail to support remuneration report, but Sainsbuury's wins 98% support10.15am: Roll up, roll up. Take..