The 40-year mortgage – solution to rising property values or too high a price to pay?

A growing number of first-time buyers are opting for 35- or 40-year mortgages in order to be able to buy a home. As house prices and interest rates remain high, buyers are taking out longer loans to keep their monthly repayments affordable, but experts say they risk paying thousands more over the length of the mortgage.A report from UK Finance, the lenders’ trade body, says that even though households are under less pressure than at the peak of the cost of living crisis, the number of people taking out lengthy loans is “far higher than seen in the past”. In June, 22% of loans taken out by first-time buyers were for 35 to 40 years. Just five years ago, this stood at 6%

New hybrid car sales allowed until 2035 in UK, government confirms

Sales of some new hybrid cars will be allowed until 2035, the government has said, but it denied that this was a change to a manifesto pledge to ban petrol and diesel cars from 2030.Ministers plan to reinstate a 2030 ban on new cars that run solely on petrol and diesel that was dropped by Rishi Sunak a year ago, with a decision yet to come on which hybrid cars will be allowed. That final decision will be made after consultation with carmakers and other interested parties.The statement followed a report in the Daily Telegraph at the weekend that it intended to “back away” from a total ban in 2030.A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “This is untrue as we have always been committed to restoring the original 2030 phase-out date for the sale of new cars with pure internal combustion engines

Jet fuel tax could raise £6bn a year in the UK, says thinktank

Campaigners have urged the chancellor to start taxing jet fuel – with a report showing that charging duty at the same rate paid by motorists would raise up to £6bn a year for the public finances.An analysis by the thinktank Transport & Environment (T&E) UK said introducing a “fair” equivalent to the fuel duty paid in other sectors could raise between £400m and £5.9bn a year, based on the 11m tonnes of kerosene consumed by planes taking off from the UK in 2023.T&E UK said the current system meant a teacher driving to school would pay more fuel duty than a private jet owner would to fly away on holiday. Airlines pay no tax on fuel, although other taxes on flights, including air passenger duty, are levied in the UK

‘There’s something in the air’: UK airport expansion gears up for takeoff

The younger, tormented minister mulling his position before the Labour government granted Heathrow’s third runway in 2009 might have been greatly relieved to know that, 15 years later, not a shovel would have touched the ground.But now, returning to power with a revamped energy and climate brief, Ed Miliband again finds himself in a cabinet which, many in aviation hope, may usher in bigger airports and more flights – as well as enough CO2 emissions to outweigh any new solar farms.Despite emerging victorious in political and legal battles over its plans for a third runway, Heathrow has dropped down the airport expansion queue. Among London airports alone, City has just been granted permission to expand passenger numbers by 40%, while Luton and Gatwick await ministerial decisions on large developments that would add huge numbers of flights.Net zero may still be the government’s stated ambition, but the messages ringing louder in airport executives’ ears are those from the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, stressing growth and planning reforms to get Britain building infrastructure again – particularly the type not funded by the battered public purse

Purple patch for British blueberries as sales boom

Whether they add them to smoothies or salads or just pop them straight in their mouths, Britons are eating more blueberries than ever before. But whereas supermarket shelves used to be filled with imports, fruit growers are hailing a “British blueberry boom”.Sales of British blueberries are up by 13% this year, despite challenging conditions for growers, according to British Berry Growers (BBG), the industry trade group. It said the rise was a “clear indicator of the rising consumer demand for healthier food choices and a testament to the quality of British blueberries”.Neil Donaldson, the commercial director at Hall Hunter, the UK’s biggest blueberry grower, said demand for the “ultimate superfood” was at record levels

Skip the lemonade stand: let kids be kids not mini-entrepreneurs

Would you eat ice-cream or cookies baked in some kid’s kitchen? Or drink a cup of lemonade made and poured by a first-grader? I don’t even feel safe eating at a Chipotle nowadays let alone consuming products made by six-year-olds with grubby hands and boogers on their fingers.So why is everyone so shocked by the countless tales of lemonade stands – like the ones in Texas, Alabama, Virginia, Colorado and Wyoming, all run by children – that were shut down out of health violation concerns? Or maybe the snow-shoveling business in New Jersey run by two teenagers that was forced to cease because it wasn’t deemed safe? Or the nine-year-old who was selling cookies baked at home that raised red flags with safety inspectors?People seemed generally outraged when they read these things. And lawmakers – like the ones in Texas and 13 other states – have passed legislation that, in some cases, allows children to do this stuff. I don’t like it. Shut ’em all down