Housing starts down

Shelter has described figures showing showing a drop in new homes started as shocking and worrying.

But the housing minister, Brandon Lewis, said the government had "got the country building again" and was "delivering the homes that hard-working people rightly deserve".

Shelter's concern arose from official housing statistics for England which showed the number of foundations laid down fell to 33,280 in the three months to June, a fall of 14% compared with the previous quarter.

The annual figure, comparing the latest 12 months to the year before, was 1% lower at 136,320.

However, the figures also show that the number of new homes actually completed over the latest 12 month period rose by 15% to 131,060.

The National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations, said the news was encouraging.

Before the election David Cameron predicted that we would be building 200,000 homes a year by 2017.

Compensation for 2 million

Two million people who were sold unnecessary card protection policies will be able to claim compensation from later this month.

Some will have paid £25 a year for the policies for as many as ten years. So, including interest, they could receive up to £270 each.

The compensation scheme is being financed by 11 top banks and credit card companies, whose customers bought card protection under a stable of brands from Affinion International Limited - brands including Sentinel, Safe and Secure Plus and Card Protection.

The policies offered protection against fraudulent use of a card if it was lost or stolen. But card providers would normally have covered most or all of the losses in any case.

The millions affected will be sent claim forms from later this month, with the first payments made in September.

The Financial Conduct Authority announced in January that there would be a compensation scheme.