November 2024

Universities in England will be able to charge full-time undergraduate students up to £9,535 a year from 2025/26, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has announced today (Monday 4 November). Student living loans, also known as maintenance loans, will also rise by 3.1%, in a move MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis called "better than nowt".

If you've got a Tesco Clubcard, check if you have any vouchers close to expiring, as £18 million-worth are due to run out on Saturday 30 November. Don't want to spend your vouchers yet? We've got a trick to extend their validity.

Homeowners will have to wait even longer for major leasehold reform after the Government described the previous attempt at overhauling the sector as "flawed". Here's what you need to know.

NS&I will cut its Premium Bond prize-fund rate to 4% from 4.15% for the January 2025 draw and beyond. But this rate was already lagging behind interest rates on standard savings accounts – so if you're a bondholder, you may want to consider moving your cash to an interest-paying account.

The price most households pay for gas and electricity will rise by 1% on average from 1 January 2025 as energy regulator Ofgem has announced the latest Energy Price Cap rates.

If you're hoping to bag a bargain on Christmas presents, you might be better off buying on Black Friday rather than waiting for last-minute pre-Christmas sales. It comes as new MoneySavingExpert.com research reveals that over two-thirds of 50 popular items were cheaper on Black Friday in 2023 compared to in the lead-up to Christmas.

Chase has cut the rates on its linked savings accounts by 0.25 percentage points. As of Thursday 14 November, its easy-access 'boosted saver' now pays 4.5%, while its standard saver pays just 3.5%. The changes mean you can earn more on your savings elsewhere – though Chase is still worth keeping for its debit card perks.

The free and independent Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) – which settles disputes between UK-regulated financial companies and consumers – could be reformed in future, the Government has announced. But it's still very early days – for now, there are NO changes to how the Ombudsman works and you can still escalate your complaint to the service as usual.

Home improvements, gardening and DIY company Homebase has fallen into administration. Most orders will be fulfilled and the stores will remain open for now – but shoppers should be cautious as you could be left out of pocket if the retailer stops trading. Below we round up how this affects your installation, refund rights and more.

Cuts to fixed-rate mortgages have come to a halt and many lenders are now hiking rates following the Budget last month – but will this trend continue? We've spoken to four mortgage brokers to see what they think is next for mortgage rates.