The people using pawnbrokers to pay for food and fuel
Money Box
BBC
4.2 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 11 June 2022
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The National Pawnbrokers Association tells Money Box it will hold talks with the Financial Conduct Authority next week. That follows a report which shows people on low incomes are pawning goods to pay for food and fuel. As the cost of living crisis hits more households, pawnbrokers say they're becoming a more important source of credit. Critics argue that pawnbrokers charge annual interest rates of 120% and undervalue people's possessions whilst supporters say they're a vital source of finance for people on low incomes who can't get loans from banks. We'll discuss this - and hear from people in Chester selling things like phones and laptops in order to keep afloat financially.
New analysis of Land Registry figures suggests house prices have gone up by 11 percent since before the pandemic. But the data, which compares average prices of properties sold in December 2019 with those in December 2021 shows that not all homes are equal. Prices of terrace houses rose by 13% but prices for flats dropped by the same amount. Semi detached and detached houses rose the most. Up by 20% and 26% respectively. We'll discuss that with property and mortgage experts.
We'll hear how some young people are facing months of delays trying to access money from their Child Trust Funds.
And the new rules on claiming tax relief for working from home.
Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Sandra Hardial Editor: Jess Quayle
(First broadcast 12pm on Saturday 14th May, 2022)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On a winter's night in 1974, a crime took place that would obsess the nation. |
| 0:07.0 | It was an extraordinary news story. |
| 0:09.0 | The story of an aristocrat, Lord Lucan, who's said to have killed the family Nanny, |
| 0:14.0 | mistaking her for his wife, then somehow just disappeared. |
| 0:18.0 | One of the great mysteries in English criminal history. We're still looking for |
| 0:21.7 | Lucan. It's honestly one of the most powerful stories of my lifetime. I'm Alex Fontunzelman. This is |
| 0:27.8 | the Lucan Obsession. Listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast. |
| 0:38.8 | House prices are up, but the cost of flats is actually down, surprising new figures from |
| 0:44.7 | the land registry analysed by Moneybox. |
| 0:47.5 | The rules on claiming tax relief for working from home get tougher, and some 18-year-olds |
| 0:52.7 | are struggling to get hold of the money in their state-backed |
| 0:56.0 | child trust fund. But first, the National Pornbrokers Association has told Moneybox it will |
| 1:02.0 | hold high-level talks with the Financial Conduct Authority next week. That follows a report which shows |
| 1:07.8 | people on low incomes are pawning possessions to pay for food. As the cost |
| 1:12.6 | of living crisis hits more households, pawnbrokers say they're becoming more important as a source |
| 1:18.0 | of credit. But their numbers are shrinking, not least because banks are closing their accounts. |
| 1:24.0 | Are they a vital resource or just exploiting low-income households? |
| 1:27.8 | More on that debate in a few minutes, |
| 1:29.4 | but first Moneybox's Dan Whitworth went to a pawnbroker's in Chester. |
| 1:37.7 | Hi, how can I help? |
| 1:39.0 | Hey Dave, it's Dan from Radio 4. Is that all right if I come through? |
| 1:41.4 | Is it done, yeah? |
... |
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