大象传媒

We've been hearing a lot about how rising interest rates and double-digit inflation is making many homeowners worry about how they're going to meet their next mortgage payment. But what impact is the soaring cost of living having on our ability to pay back that other big purchase we finance....our car? No less than 90 percent of new car sales in the UK are now funded by some kind of finance, with PCP - or personal contract purchase - agreements being the most popular. But rates are starting to rise, forcing people to think now about what to do when their agreements come to an end.

Meanwhile first time buyers are being hit with the double whammy of high mortgage rates and the end of the Government's Help to Buy scheme. Launched by the then Chancellor George Osborne under Prime Minister David Cameron, the scheme has helped hundreds of thousands of people to climb on to the property ladder by keeping down the cost of deposits for new homes. With Help to Buy ending on Monday October 31 at 1800, and mortgage deals designed for first time buyers dropping 60% since January, has there ever been a worse time for first time buyers to secure a home?

You've heard of Work from Home - now comes Work from the Pub. With one study estimating that up to 50 pubs are closing every MONTH across England and Wales, landlords and chains are coming up with new ways of drumming up trade. A number have introduced a range of promotions aimed at encouraging customers to use their local boozer as a temporary office. We've been looking at the pros and cons.....

And millions of energy customers have just been given an even greater financial incentive to cut back on their power usage. The value of discounts on electricity bills for households that cut peak-time use is to be raised, as part of new scheme being launched by the National Grid next month designed to prevent rolling power cuts this winter. Households with smart meters will now be paid 拢3 per kilowatt hour instead of 52p, if they avoid high-power activities like cooking when demand is high. Several energy companies plan to take part in the scheme, including Octopus Energy, which also participated in a trial with the National Grid's electricity system operator earlier in the year. We hear from a customer who was a part of the trial and can explain how it works.

PRESENTER: PETER WHITE
PRODUCER: CRAIG HENDERSON