Money latest: When is traditional landline switch-off? (2024)

The number of 56-65 year olds looking to buy their first home has grown by 13% in the first quarter of this year.

The average age of a first-time buyer is 33 - but 2.2% are now in the 56-65 age bracket.

This compares with 44.8% aged 18-30 and 35.6% aged 31-40, according to data from Legal & General.

Further analysis found the average loan searched for at the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024increased by 3.7% from £214,299 to £222,148, pointing to the fact buyers can afford larger loan values due to inflation dropping and monthly earning increasing.

Kevin Roberts, Legal & General Mortgage Services managing director, said: "Our figures show that the desire to own a home remains strong, even for those who are waiting longer to take those first steps onto the property ladder.

"As affordability begins to ease, we'll likely see further activity in the first-time buyer market, especially if inflation continues to fall and the Bank of England reduces its base rate later in the year."

BT Group has pushed back its timetable for moving all customers off the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and onto digital landlines.

New digital landlines provide services using the internet and will replace 40-year-old analogue landline technology that has become increasingly fragile and difficult to fix.

It aims to allow all UK telecoms companies to offer consumers and businesses clearer and better quality phone calls, as well as new features such as anonymous caller rejection or three-way calling, according to the Gov.uk website.

When is the switch happening?

BT now says the switch is happening in stages.

From this summer, customers who have not used their landline in the last 12 months, who do not identify as vulnerable or have additional needs, have not contacted an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) in the last 24 months and live in an area where a data sharing agreement is in place, will be switched - unless they have opted out.

Vulnerable customers or those with additional needs will start to be switched from summer 2025 with theaim to have all customers moved off the old analogue PSTN by the end of January 2027.

Howard Watson, chief security and networks officer at BT Group, said: "Managing customer migrations from analogue to digital as quickly and smoothly as possible, while making the necessary provisions for those customers with additional needs, including telecare users, is critically important.

"We need all local authorities and telecare providers to share with us the phone lines where they know there's a telecare user."

Young twin sisters have gone viral on TikTok after fuming over the prices charged by an ice cream man.

In a video posted on the social media site, Marnie and Mylah rant after being quoted £9 for two ice creams.

"There's an ice cream van there selling two ice creams with two chewing gums in it for bloody £9," one of the twins says.

She adds that the ice cream van who visits her street usually charges between £1 and £2 for an ice cream.

"He's going to get nowhere with that," she says.

To make the situation even worse, she's outraged that he only accepts "bloody card".

"Bloody hell. It's bloody well bad," she says.

The average price of a 450ml - 1 litre tub of ice cream is currently £3.39 - up 6.3% since last year, the latest data from the Office for National Statistics show.

The ice cream van industry has been plagued with difficulties, from rising running costs and rubbish weather.

According to the Ice Cream Alliance, the market is worth a huge £1.4bn.

Sky News contacted the ICA, the industry's trade association, for comment.

A popular music magazine has been closed down just months after being relaunched online.

Q, which originally closed after 34 years in 2020, was revived as an online publication nearly six months ago after a licensing deal was struck by New-York based Empire Media Group.

But its surprise closure, which came to light on Friday, means a team of six full-time staff have lost their jobs.

Writer Will Harris is one of them, saying he'd lost his "first full-time employment in a dozen years".

Writing on Substack, he said the move had been a "business decision" but that staff had been working long hours to "make it the best publication" possible.

"We worked our shifts, worked before and after our shifts, and delivered consistently top-shelf content that was, to our way of thinking, exactly the sort of thing that a new incarnation of Q Magazine should offer," he wrote.

Editor-in-chief Andrew Barker said the decision to shut the magazine down "came with no advance warning, and no indication that anything was wrong".

"To say that we were shocked and devastated would be a colossal understatement."

Sky News has contacted Empire Media Group for comment.

Separately, last week saw the return of a 90s lads mag Loaded.

The magazine relaunched its website after disappearing nine years ago, offering a £9 monthly membership.

As part of its revival, it has changed its tagline from "for men who should know better" to "for men who know better".

"The relaunch of the platform is a digital rebellion for the modern man who refuses to fit into a stereotype, from the finest in music, sports, film, and anything else that is of interest," it said in a statement.

"Loaded is about building a space where men challenge each other, celebrate wins, and tackle all that matters to them."

Virgin Trains has applied for a licence that could see it return to running rail services on the West Coastroute between London and Glasgow, five years after losing its contract.

The company had operated the service, which runs from London Euston via Birmingham and Manchester to Scotland, for 22 years before Avanti West Coast took over in 2019.

The company has now applied to the regulator - the Office of Rail and Road - for an Open Access licence. If granted, it means Virgin Trains receives no subsidy and runs services alongside the franchise, at its own risk.

A spokesperson for Virgin Group told Sky News: "While this application is just the first step towards exploring what might be possible, we think Open Access is the way forward.

"Open Access increases consumer choice and competition both of which Virgin has always supported."

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire, business reporter

After four weeks of rises the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 250 index of the 101st to 350th most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange has begun a fifth week in positive territory - up 0.54%.

If it ends this week higher than now it'll be the best run it has had since before the pandemic, in December 2019.

The most valuable companies on the London Stock Exchange - the FTSE 100 index - also started the week on a high, up 0.22%.
Mexican mining company Fresnillo is the best performing company of the day so far with shares up 3.17% as copper hit an all-time peak.

The oil price is staying lower than all of April and most of March at $84.24 for a barrel of Brent crude oil - the benchmark price.

A pound is equal to $1.2696 or €1.1675.

The average salary advertised on job sites increased by 0.45% to £38,810 in April, according to vacancies website Adzuna.

Only two sectors - legal and travel - experienced a fall in the average salary being offered.

"[This] demonstrates rising business confidence throughout the UK and that companies are keen to hire specialist staff," said Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna.

"They are willing to pay well for new team members too."

He said the East Midlands continued to see the largest annual increases for the fifth month in a row - helped by roles in science, tech and professional services.

Every Monday we get an expert to answer your money problems or consumer disputes. Find out how to submit yours at the bottom of this post. Today's question is...

We bought a Ford C-Max second hand four years ago. It's less than eight years old now with 77,000 miles. Our garage says the car is a write-off due to a known issue with EcoBoost engines. Ford refuses to pay for repairs. Anything I can do?

Rory Raftery

Rory did not leave his contact details so we haven't been able to talk to the dealership - but we had some luck with Ford. First though,Scott Dixon, from The Complaints Resolver, lays out your basic rights...

Your contract is always with the trader who sold you the goods (in this case the garage), not the manufacturer.

Any reference to warranties is irrelevant, as the Consumer Rights Act 2015 overrides this and gives you an implied statutory warranty for free for up to six years in England and Wales and five years in Scotland.

The actstates that goods ought to be:

• Fit for purpose
• As described
• Satisfactory quality
• Last a reasonable length of time

As we are past six months since you bought the car, the onus is on you to prove it had inherent faults when it was sold.

I would seek an independent report to reinforce your case and dispute. Given that this has been a well-known issue with EcoBoost engines for quite some time, the trader who sold you the vehicle should have carried out additional checks.

A cursory Google search reveals that a loss of engine power and serious valve damage is commonplace on higher mileage EcoBoost engines.

I would check to see if this vehicle has been subject to a recall. Also check the MOT history to see if any advisory notices were flagged and not remedied before you bought the vehicle.

Is the garage a member of The Motor Ombudsman? You can check that too here.

How did you pay for it?

You should always pay at least a deposit by credit card if possible, as it gives you additional free protection and joint liability under S75 Consumer Credit Act 1974 for purchases over £100.

If you paid a deposit by credit card, contact your credit card provider and say you want to raise a S75 dispute and claim for a faulty car.

They will ask for more details – say the supplier is in "breach of contract" under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and has supplied a defective/faulty car. You have exhausted all options with the retailer and cannot resolve your dispute.

If the car is on finance, they bought the defective vehicle from the dealer and own it. You can go down the same route and raise a S75 claim against them for a breach of contract under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

If you reach a stalemate with the credit card provider or finance company, ask for a deadlock letter setting out their final position so you can submit a formal complaint (with the final response/deadlock letter) to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

They do not like cases being referred to the FOS as it costs them money. The FOS will examine documents given to you as the customer at the point of sale. The dealership is responsible for any representations made in those documents. You are seeking to reject the car, so make this clear.

Offers made will be calculated on the anticipated lifespan of the goods – time of use and depreciation. Ask for any offers made to be evidenced with calculations to ascertain how the amount has been arrived at.

Car dealerships will often cite that they are entitled to deduct 45p a mile for use on refund calculations when you try to reject a faulty vehicle. This is a scam. The FOS has ruled that 25p a mile is fair and acceptable, so keep that in mind when any offers are made.

Statutory limitations on any consumer dispute is six years in England and Wales and five years in Scotland from the date the goods were received.

This does not detract from the expected lifespan of the goods – it is simply a limit on the time you have to resolve the dispute under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Options and next steps

If all else fails, you could take your case to the small claims court if it was England, or follow simple procedure in Scotland.

Ford response

A Ford spokesperson told the Money team: "Ford is confident in the robustness and reliability of its EcoBoost engine technology when the stated guidelines for maintenance and service are followed.

"Ford UK is happy to investigate service support and/or compensation measures for any customer who believes they have had an EcoBoost engine issue and is happy to review cases with a full-service history for vehicles up to 10 years old with less than 150,000 miles.

"For any customers in the UK whose vehicle meets these parameters, you can speak to our customer relationship team and contact details can be found on our website here."

Ford offered to look at this specific case - but sadly Rory didn't leave contact details for us to pass on.

This featureis not intended as financial advice - the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about.Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via:

• The form above - make sure you leave a phone number or email address
• Email news@skynews.com with the subject line "Money blog"
• WhatsApp ushere

A tiny Mexican taco stand has won a Michelin star.

El Califa de Leon in Mexico Cityoffers just four types of tacos, with McDonald's prices, no reservations and plates served in plastic bags.

"The secret is the simplicity of our taco. It has only a tortilla, red or green sauce, and that's it. That, and the quality of the meat,"chef Arturo Rivera Martinez told AP.

He's also probably the only Michelin-starred chef who, when asked what beverage should accompany his food, answers: "I like a co*ke."

Thousands of time a day, he grabs a fresh, thinly sliced fillet of beef from a stack and slaps it on the grill, tosses a pinch of salt over it, squeezes half a lime on top, and grabs a soft round of freshly rolled tortilla dough onto the solid metal slab to puff up.

After less than a minute - he won't say exactly how long because "that's a secret" - he flips the beef over with a spatula, flips the tortilla, and very quickly scoops it onto a plate - then calls out the customer's name who ordered it.

Asked how it felt to get a Michelin star, he said in Mexico City slang, "esta chido ... esta padre," or "it's neat, it's cool".

El Califa de Leon, which was founded in 1968, is the only taco stand among the 16 Mexican restaurants given one star, as well as two eateries that have got two stars.

Other than perhaps one street food stand in Bangkok, it is probably the smallest restaurant ever to get a star

Half of the 100 square-foot (9.29 square-metre) space is taken up by a solid steel plate grill.

The other half is packed with standing customers, and an assistant who rolls out the rounds of tortilla dough constantly.

The prices are quite high by Mexican standards: the tacos range in price from 53 Mexican pesos to 82 Mexican pesos - that works out at around £2.50 to £4.

Waitrose's new Ottolenghi range has proved popular with customers, with sales reportedly 97% higher than predicted.

The nine products created in partnership with restaurateur Yotam Ottlenghi launched in 275 stores last month.

It marked the supermarket's first major deal with a celebrity chef since it ended its tie-up with Heston Blumenthal last year.

According to The Grocer, demand has been "unprecedented", with five of the nine lines unavailable online last week.

We checked and it seems stocks have since been replenished.

Waitrose told the news outlet performance of the range had "exceeded expectations", with sales 97% higher than anticipated.

The Pomegranate Harissa Paste has proved to be the top seller for the first two weeks.

The products have a 20% launch discount until 18 June.