Live Better Blog: September Saves
It’s September already!
We’ve made it through nine whole months of madness, and now we’re here. Perhaps you’ve found yourself in a completely different situation than you were in at the start of the year, or maybe you’ve pulled through untouched by the pandemic. Either way, we hope you’re staying safe.
Here’s some news from the last month, so settle in and take a break…
Affordable housing
The government has announced a new £12.2bn affordable housing investment to help more people get onto the property ladder, which includes £700m for new homes.
About half of the new homes will be available for affordable home ownership, while the rest will be made available for discounted rent, including 10% for supported housing – to support those with physical or mental health challenges.
Kickstart scheme
UK businesses are being urged to sign up to a £2bn Kickstart Scheme, which is aimed at getting young people into work.
The scheme will see funding provided to employers to create six-month training placements for 16 to 24 year olds to help diversify their skill set.
The placements will be available to young people who are currently on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment – the first placements are likely to be available from November.
Funding for each job placement will cover:
- 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week
- Associated employer National Insurance contributions
- Employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions
Financial Aid
Research suggests 322,000 people in the UK have fallen behind in rent payments since March of this year, and six organisations are calling for short-term financial aid for tenants.
They say £270m is needed to help tenants and assist landlords who rely on rental income for their livelihoods.
In addition, the ban on rental evictions in England and Wales had been extended until 20th September, following fears thousands could lose their homes.
On the other end of the spectrum, pent-up demand from lockdown has boosted house prices to their highest rise since 2004, taking the average price to £224,123.
However, forecasters expect a drop in prices again when the economic impact of the virus is felt on jobs…
Utilities refunds
Energy supplier British Gas has paid 270,000 of its prepay customers over £1.7m for failure to notify them about a change of top-up provider.
This lack of communication meant that some customers wasted journeys to try and top-up at shops which no longer offered the service, or in some cases may have gone off supply altogether!
Meanwhile, over £20m in compensation was paid to broadband customers who used a new scheme to complain about their service in the last six months of 2019… In comparison, regulator Ofcom said just £8m was paid to customers in the first six months of 2019 (before the scheme was introduced).
1 Man, 3 Counties, 100 Miles
Our very own Commercial Director, Jonathan Mills, will be taking on a mammoth challenge in October, all to raise much needed funds for our cherished Manchester Youth Zone!
Jonathan will be battling treacherous ascents and speedy straights as he cycles 100 miles in one day in a circular route that sees him start and finish at the Youth Zone in Harpurhey.
The route will cross through Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire, and he’ll be raising funds for his hearty challenge with all proceeds going directly to the Manchester youth Zone.
Jonathan is aiming for a donation target of £2,500, so if you’d like to donate to his ride, just click the link below and give what you can!
If you didn’t already know, the MoneyPlus Group supports the Manchester Youth Zone every month through its Dress Down for a Pound Fridays, in which all staff members have the option to come to work in casual attire in exchange for a £1 donation to the Youth Zone.
We also regularly host events to help our staff support the local community, such as annual Christmas gift donations, and our very successful 2.6 Challenge (each of our participating staff members donated money to take part in their own challenges that incorporated the numbers 2 and 6, such as running 2.6 miles, or doing 26 star jumps!)
Social scene
Our blooming good social competition, #12MonthsOfBloom, is BACK for September!
We adore our social media followers, so we’ve partnered with Bloom & Wild for the whole of 2020 to give 5 of them a monthly chance to win a free bouquet – and you could be in for the win, too!
To be in with a chance to win September’s bloom, just do the following:
- Like our Facebook page
- Then share this post with the hashtag #12MonthsOfBloom.
Simple! (Don’t forget to set your shared post to ‘public’, otherwise we won’t be able to see who shares it!)
Winners will be announced at the beginning of next month, so stay tuned to our social to see if you’ve won!
(T&C’s apply – https://bit.ly/2uhOyZx).
A little extra help.
We know that times can get tough, and we’re here to support you, so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need extra financial support.
Just call 0161 837 4000 between 9am-5pm Monday to Friday, or email info@moneyplus.com and one of our friendly team members will get back to you as soon as possible.
Together, we can live better.
