Money round-up video: Social tenants locked into energy tariff and record low mortgage deals

The Independent’s Personal Finance Editor Simon Read talks over the latest Money news

(Christopher Furlong | Getty Images)

This week: social tenants locked into energy tariff; record low mortgage deals; motorists will need a code to hire a car abroad.

Social tenants locked into energy tariff for 40 years

More people than ever are finding the costs of heating and lighting their homes are becoming unaffordable. The simplest way to combat the problem is to switch energy tariff with experts reckoning those that have never switched could save up to £300 a year.

But many Londoners who live in social housing estates are not allowed to switch because their landlord has ‘locked’ them in to buying from one supplier.

In one shocking case, residents of Myatts Field North estate in Lambeth have been locked in to buying their heating and hot water from E.on for 40 years under a Private Finance Initiative contract agreed by Lambeth council.

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Record-low mortgage rates

The lowest-ever two year fixed rate mortgage has been launched by the Co-operative Bank. At just 1.09 per cent, the rate will lead the best-buy tables but is only available to those with at least a 40 per cent deposit and comes with an expensive arrangement fee of £1,499.

Competition is getting so fierce now that we could soon see even lower rates, reckons Mark Harris, chief executive of the mortgage broker SPF Private Clients. "With the Co-op launching a two-year fix at 1.09 per cent, unbelievable as it may seem, it could only be a matter of time before we have a sub-1 per cent two-year fix," he predicted.

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Motorists will need a code to hire a car abroad

Motorists planning to drive abroad after 8 June will need to take a special code with them if they want to hire a car. From that date, the paper counterpart of British driving licences – which records endorsements and fines – is being computerised.

This means that anyone wanting to hire a car overseas will officially need a code to show convictions for offences like speeding. To get it, motorists need to log on to the online DVLA Share Driving Licence service, to be launched shortly.

Those who do not have internet access should call 0300 083 0013.

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