Tony Hazell  

Vulnerable at risk of costly funeral fees

Tony Hazell

Tony Hazell

Eight years on, the Financial Conduct Authority highlights that unarranged overdraft fees can still carry around 10 times the fees of payday loans. Weak competition in this sector of the market is seen as a prime cause.

Yet banks seem to have generally escaped a crackdown with much talk of consultation.

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There is a 'perhaps' here and a 'maybe' there, but the FCA's high-cost credit review will have left bank executives heaving a sigh of relief rather than letting out a gasp of horror.

Commercial property outlook not good

What is it about commercial property that still attracts some private investors?

OK, it can offer an income stream, but in a world increasingly dominated by internet shopping and home working can shops and offices really be said to be a good long-term investment?

Knight Frank’s February 2018 report showed 'zone A' retail yields on prime shops at around 4 per cent. That is only a tad higher than when I was writing on commercial property more than 30 years ago.

Is anyone seriously suggesting the outlook for high street retail is as good as it was then?

Warehouse and industrial yields are where the big changes have taken place, with prime distribution warehouses yielding just 4.25 per cent for 15 years' income. That has fallen by three quarters of a percentage point in a year and is well down from the 6 to 8 per cent I recall in the 1980s. 

So, the internet has had an effect here. But would I want to be buying office space on yields of 4 to 5 per cent or 'good secondary' retail on 6 per cent? Not on your nelly.

Tony Hazell writes for the Daily Mail's Money Mail section