Pensions Dashboard and Leasehold

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Because Vivint adjusts your thermostat when it knows you're out, it's a smarter way to save. When Vivint guards your packages from Prowlers, it's a smarter way to protect. And when you can lock the doors and dim the lights for movie night with a single tap, Well, that's a smarter way to live. To get the smarter home system that just gets you, go to Vivint.com or call 1-855-4-VIVINT. Live intelligently.

Make money predicting football. Now you can. Now in Texas with Calci. Calci is the only platform that lets you legally trade on real world events in all 50 states from football to Bitcoin, the Oscars, and even politics. If it matters, you can trade on. Trade on who wins each game, props, spread, and more. Legally, now in Texas. Don't miss your shot. Download the Kalshi app or go to Kalshi.com. Use code PODCAST and get $10 when you trade on. This is an investment that carries risk.

BBC Sounds. Music, radio, podcasts. Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast. The man who says he cannot sell his home without paying more than £20,000 to get a form filled in. If two banks become one, what happens to the £85,000 savings protection limit? And should working parents in England with a child under two book a place now for the latest extension of subsidised childcare from September? But first, the pensions dashboard has...

lost its dash. This project was begun by the Department for Work and Pensions in 2019 and is intended to provide an online service to millions of people who've paid into a pension at work and show them all their pension parts and their value. report from the National Audit Office this week revealed that the costs of the dashboard are up and the projected date before all major providers have even uploaded their data has been delayed until October.

2026, two and a half years from now. Meanwhile, the cost has risen by almost a quarter to 279 million. And on top of that... The pensions industry will spend more than £688 million connecting to it, uploading their data and, after that, developing their own customer interfaces. But when, if I might say it eventually works well, the pensions dashboard will be useful for people like Lester, who lost track of all his pensions.

I've been working since like 1986. And as you can imagine, jobs are not for life these days. So I've moved around quite a few times and probably had around about eight or nine jobs. um and you know the biggest problem i had was like you know where is all this money because you know now i've hit my my 50s and it's only now you start kind of getting interested in how much money am i going to have to live on when i when i retire

And I lost track of everything. I didn't know who my employees were. Some of those employers were not around anymore. They'd been either acquired over the years or gone bankrupt. So just trying to figure out what I had was an absolute nightmare. That's why I think I've managed to lose some over the years. I don't remember where I've worked.

Leicester speaking for a lot of people, I'm sure. The National Audit Office Director in charge of the dashboard report is Laura Brackwell. What's gone wrong? At the outset, the Department for Work and Pensions commissioned... the Money and Pension Service, which is one of the bodies, it's one of its arm's length bodies, it commissioned MAPS to deliver the programme. And this was not something that MAPS had experienced.

of doing and it was known at the outset that maps at that point didn't have the digital skills it needed to deliver but the expectation was the hope was that it would be able to build up those skills There's now, over recent months, the programme's been in what's called reset, which means it's sort of being looked at, the fundamentals of it had been.

looked at. It's getting some new governance and management arrangements. The costs and benefits have been re-estimated. Do you believe those latest changes will deliver?

for October 2026. The Money and Pensions Service itself assesses the October 2026 deadline as AMBER initially assessed it as a red risk but that clearly indicates that MAPS itself recognises that considerable risks remain and so it's really important that it's supported by the Department for Work and Pensions absolutely focus now on

getting the final stages through smoothly so that ultimately the benefits can start to be felt by the public. Let's look forward to those benefits. Imagine it is there. Imagine it's up and running at 20. 20-something in the future. What will people get out of it? What financial benefit will they get from having a pensions dashboard which lists almost all their pensions? Clearly pensions isn't.

one of those areas of personal finance that people find difficult to feel they understand or to feel they're on top of and obviously is intended and I think it's probably you know a reason a reasonable intention that you know that will help people to to know what pension entitlements they've got they will should then be able to use that information to plan better for retirement many people because they have these pension pots you know sometimes accrued many years ago

lose track of them and they become lost so the intention is if you can see the information you're much less likely to lose them yes that's quite right that the pensions policy institute estimated that's right more than nearly three million pots were lost or misplaced, and that was £26.6 billion. The benefits to the public identified in your report are in... The low hundreds of millions, not the 20 billion. So most of those pots are not going to be found by this dashboard, are they?

Figures in our report for the benefits, as you say, which is the new estimate that the money and pension services has projected, which is 413 million. Just to be clear, that's a proportion of the total benefits of pension dashboards. So that's the proportion that's attributable to this particular program. 40% of the total, but you're right, even 40% of the total, i.e. 40% makes about a billion. So clearly, the assumptions that have been made in estimating those benefits.

i'm not assuming that 26 billion are going to be identified and recovered i think i think you you're right there so is it worth it it's going to cost the maps which is money that comes from the industry and the industry itself on the figures in your report getting on for a billion pounds you know you spend a billion and you're going to give a billion back to the public is that really worth it

We didn't, in our report, set out to assess the value for many of it. The key thing we would say is that the focus must be on getting the remaining stages completed smoothly to make sure that the benefits can start to be realised for the public. Laura Brackwell of the National Audit Office. And I have to say, emails are coming in. Dave said he worked and his wife worked in the 70s. Pay slips are lost. And the NHS says they've got no trace of them working there. So let's hope it sorts them out.

Maps and the DWP told us progress has been made to deliver a service to transform our savers' plan for their retirement. The DWP added action it's taken will mean connection testing will start this summer. Now, even if claiming your pension seems a long way away, it's a valuable benefit from your employer. And on Wednesday, Moneybox Live with Felicity Hanna looks at boosting your pay. How do you get a pay rise? Could cycling to work cut your tax? And will your boss pay more into your pension?

Your experiences and questions please. Moneybox at bbc.co.uk. Leave a phone number if you can.

People who want to sell their leasehold flat or house in England and Wales are being charged large amounts by their freeholder to fill out a simple form which enables that sale to go through. Harry, that's not his real name, has agreed a price and was just days away. from exchanging contracts on his two-bedroom flat in London when his sale collapsed because his freeholder wouldn't sign the form unless Harry paid more than £20,000. The form's called an LPE1.

Dan Whitworth's been looking at one. Dan, why is this LPE1 form so vital? Well, I've got one with me here, actually, Paul. It's around a dozen or so pages long, and it's kind of a bit like a questionnaire. So there are questions asking for details like the address of the freeholder, service charge details, possible restrictions on pets, any ongoing works, that kind of... of thing that you'd want to know if you were going to buy a property now it's important to say it's not a legal requirement

But it has very much become industry standard. In fact, so much so that the Law Society of England and Wales has helped standardise the form to smooth the process. There is no leasehold in Scotland and the laws are different in Northern Ireland. So what happened in Harris?

case okay so he's the leaseholder of a two-bed flat of a victorian terrace house in london with the freeholder living downstairs now harry had agreed a price with his buyer everything was going smoothly but then quite the bombshell paul Harry's freeholder wanted £24,000 before they'd signed the LPE-1 form. There was no way Harry could afford that, so the sale fell through. So not only did Harry lose the chance to sell the property last summer...

But he's recently married, so has moved out to live with his now wife and has got renters in. But because his fixed rate mortgage ended in February, he's now losing around £400 a month because the rent doesn't cover his new mortgage. course he's no nearer being able to sell the property because he still doesn't have that form. And to be honest I feel that I'm completely stuck in my current situation with no clear end in sight.

Lawyers say there is nothing I can do and that the freeholders have found a sort of loophole in the law and are well aware of it. I want to move on with my life. I'm now married and we want to combine a mortgage. together and buy somewhere had i got the money out of that property and put it in a bank with the current interest rates favoring a saver i would have had some good returns over the year there is also i can't speak for them but

The stress for the buyer too. We'd sorted everything bar the LPE-1. They paid for surveys and had made arrangements to move in. I was completely unaware the LPE-1 could cause this much for an issue. It's making life. pretty hard but what makes it even harder is that without this LPE1 issue it could have been completely avoidable

Now, we must be clear, Harry's case is an extreme example. Freeholders usually charge anything from a couple of hundred to £700 for the form. But as well as the cost, there's the time it can take freeholders or indeed managing agents. on their behalf to get the document completed. Worst case scenario, that can take months. Well, an awful situation for Harry and no doubt many others, even if the charges aren't quite so extreme as that. Where does responsibility lie for this mess?

Well, there are lots of stakeholders in this, Paul. So for one, the Residential Freeholders Association says this type of delay isn't reflective of wider industry and that its members routinely provide leasehold information packs within a short period for what it calls, quote,

an appropriate fee. The Law Society for England and Wales has told me it's been an important step to standardise the process, but that it has, quote, long been calling for changes to limit the time taken and the fees charged. Thanks, Dan, very much. Well, with me in the studio is Liam Spender from the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, which campaigns for the rights of leaseholders. Liam Spender, this form isn't a legal requirement. Why is it so important? Hello Paul, thank you for having me.

You're right, it's not a legal requirement, but the issue when you buy a property is you have to inform yourself as best you can of the risks that go with it. So that's why a standardised form is important. Yes, and presumably lenders wouldn't be terribly happy if you didn't. have all this information either. Exactly, they want the full picture.

Yeah. Now, Harris is an extreme case. I think we've established that. I can't say it without laughing. It's so awful. £24,000 for a 12-page form. What are the more common issues, though, leaseholders face when it comes to these forms? Well, as Dan just touched on in the report, the cost, there can be delays to the process because you can't exchange contracts until you've got all the surveys and searches coming back.

uh and and the fact that it's a matter outside of your control so it adds stress into what's already a stressful process yes now harry of course says that this is leaseholder freeholders finding a new loophole to take money off leaseholders and

I have to say, we've had a tweet from Roger, said, have freeholders found a loophole? Does the Pope pray, as he puts it? We've had others in the same vein. Is it really just taking advantage of people or is there some reality to the fact it has to be right? they have to charge something. There is work involved in completing it, but whether the fees that are charged reflect that, given its standard information for each building.

is an open question. I think they are probably taking a liberty, certainly in Harry's case. Yes and what can people like Harry do? I mean if you think it's taking months or it's costing you know over a thousand pounds what can you do? Well, very little short of legal action and you're obviously not going to take legal action whilst you're trying to get your sale through because then you'd have to disclose it. And another.

Delay, of course. And expense. Now, the Department for Housing, et cetera, told Moneybox that unreasonable fees or excessive delays in filling in this form were unacceptable. And it said... That's why we are changing the law to cap costs and turnaround time in our leasehold and freehold reform bill. Now, that bill is going through Parliament. It's 250-odd pages. I looked at it last night.

Does it go far enough generally? Because you want more than this, don't you? You want a big change in these, so does it go far enough? No, it doesn't. I mean, it makes some valuable reforms, particularly on extending leases and buying out freeholders, but it doesn't abolish the leasehold system. It doesn't strengthen leaseholders' rights to help themselves, particularly if they live on multi-block sites. The promised reforms to right to manage have not come in.

And last but not least, it doesn't strengthen the service charge dispute system. There's no regulation for managing agents. There's no toughening up of the property tribunal system.

But am I right that these costs will all have to be disclosed, and so will the one about filling in the form? Does that not help? I think the transparency will help, and it will help... introduce competition into the market so if your fee is the way above average everybody will find out about it but it won't stop the practice from happening

No, I mean, I suppose the point is if you're about to buy some and you're very excited and you like it, will a schedule of fees actually influence your decision? I mean, possibly not. Well, by then it's too late. You've already picked it out and made an offer on it. And just briefly, Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Housing and so on, who's responsible for this, did say that leasehold was a feudal system and he wanted to scrap it. Has he taken any steps?

towards that in this bill? Well I suppose that he's adopted death by a thousand cuts but we haven't got time to wait for a thousand cuts and nor should we have to. So not far enough and I have to say I've been... almost flooded with tweets about this particular subject by people complaining about leasehold. Liam Spender from Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, thanks very much. Thank you.

Coventry Building Society is paying £780 million to buy the co-operative bank. That's a rare example of re-mutualisation. But some Moneybox listeners have been in touch asking what the change might mean if they have significant... savings in both of those firms? Will their money still be protected? Moneybox listener Paul asked. When the institutions merge, are their respective clientele covered if holdings exceed the current limit of £85,000 and if so, for what time period?

Well, we've also heard from Elizabeth, who asked a similar question about the takeover. She said, what might this mean for the deposit guarantee? Well, Sandra Hardiel has been looking into this. If your money is held by any UK authorised bank, building society or credit union that fails, your money is protected by the FSCS, that's the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. So whatever you have in, you'll get... back up to £85,000 per person per institution.

If it's a joint account, then you're protected for up to £170,000. But what if you have multiple accounts with the same bank or even in the same banking group? Yes, that does make a difference, as the FSCS would treat those as one. meaning you'd only be protected for up to £85,000 for the total in all of those accounts. So, Sandra, are Paul and Elizabeth right to be worried about what happens to savings providers like Coventry and the Co-operative Bank when they do become one?

In this case, no, at least not at the moment. The Co-op Bank and Coventry told us they will retain their separate banking licences, so that means customers will have the same protection as they do now. They told us, we expect this to be the case for several years. They didn't tell us how long that might be, but if the new, bigger Coventry Building Society decides to operate under a single banking license in the future...

Only that £85,000 will be protected across your accounts with both firms. Thanks very much, Sandra. So no need to move your money yet, but keep an eye on it. That is if you're lucky enough to have more than £85,000 per person. Yeah.

From Sunday, working parents in England can apply for 15 hours of government-funded childcare for children aged from nine months to two years, starting from September. Parents have been encouraged by the Department for Education to act as soon as possible. to secure their place. However, applying now will mean more admin in August as parents need to reconfirm their eligibility

Every three months. The new entitlement comes after the extension of funded childcare for two-year-olds, which began in April. But many parents said they experienced IT glitches or, indeed, that it was difficult, even impossible, to find a place. for their two-year-old. Our reporter, Joe Krasner, went to a report in Warrington to speak to parents hoping to secure new places for their under-twos.

Where are you up to with childcare? Do your children go to nursery? No. Yes, mine does. She goes to nursery, yeah. And are you aware from the 12th of May you can apply for free childcare up to 15 hours if your child is nine months? I am, yeah. Oh, I wasn't. I wasn't aware of that. No, I wasn't aware of that. It'll save us a lot of money in childcare. Yeah, my torso's already done it.

She found it difficult, but eventually she found a place, but it's not for September when she needs it. She couldn't get a place till October. We've had feedback from our nursery that we're in. I think it's dropped by about 100%. So not a lot, but still saving. We're four days a week, isn't it?

Four days a week. So the extra day obviously helps us out, but then any savings that you can get on top of that obviously does help as well. It means we can get a little bit more. I think they are topping it up with us paying for supplies like food, nappies and bottles. and stuff like that.

Joe Krasner talking to people in a park in Warrington, and at least one will now be applying, thanks to Moneybox. With me in the studio is Megan Meeker-Connor, policy lead at the charity Save the Children. And Megan Meeker-Connor, the Department for Education, told Moneybox this is the... largest ever expansion of childcare in England's history. What do parents need to do to get it? Well, what they need to do is they need to log on to childcarechoices.gov.uk and apply for their code.

And you are right that you might need to reconfirm your details later on because the code only lasts for three months. But it is worth doing that sooner rather than later because you can do it now. Tell your nursery that you've done it. Let them know what the code is.

And then you do need to do a bit more admin in August, but you won't need to talk to your nursery again. You won't need to sort of go over the whole process. So it's worth starting sooner rather than later. Yes, absolutely. And you can start on Sunday, start tomorrow, can't you? And of course, August. holiday time so if you're away don't forget to take your mobile and do it there now

If you get that code, you get the code now, that confirms your place. But there have been problems getting places, haven't there? I mean, Tracey's emailed us to say... The nursery is full until September for babies and a few spaces for children aged two and three years old. Families have moved to the area, can't go back to work because they can't find childcare. Is that an issue, the actual providing the places?

Yeah, that's exactly the kind of thing we're hearing from parents that we work with. Quorum Childcare have done a survey and they found that only 35% of local authorities think they have enough provision for under twos. And so parents are on waiting lists for a really long time. Parents are finding that there's just no childcare available where they live. And it is a real worry. But I don't want this to sound scary to parents. And I don't want this to sound like...

It can never be fixed. What we're really urging the government to do is to properly invest in childcare. That's what we think needs to see happen. The current funding for the three and four year old rate is just not high enough. There needs to be a proper workforce strategy that focuses on recruitment, but also retention. You know, we've got all these great childcare providers across the country.

and with some more investment there is a way that it can work for families for children for parents and we're optimistic about it but it does need investment Yes, and one aspect to the funding, of course, is that I've been told when we talked about the April changes a few months ago on the programme that the money the government gives, the subsidy, isn't really enough to pay for the whole thing. And we heard from those people in Warrington...

but they add on extras. So that's the fee. Maybe the government's paying all of that, but you've got to pay for nappies, you've got to pay for food, you've got to pay for this, that and the other. Is that right, that people are having to pay for extra things? Yeah. Parents do have to pay for a lot of extras. Something that we're hearing a lot is a big problem is the extra charges for...

early drop-offs, late pick-ups, things like that, which make it very hard for parents to work their usual hours while accessing childcare. So that's why the funding rate really needs to be boosted, because the way that childcare providers used to do this... is they'd cross-subsidise. So they had the sort of funded three and four-year-old offer and then they'd cross-subsidise by charging more for younger children or outside of that 30-hour offer. Now that there's so much...

of childcare provision is funded by the government, it's even more crucial that they get that rate right. So you say get that rate right. Are you saying...

The government should pay more for each place. That's exactly what I'm saying. I think the three and four year old rate at the moment, it's £5.88 per hour. And that's just not enough. It's 12% less than it was 10 years ago. Nurseries are... us you know it's more like eight pounds per hour it's just not it's not enough but it can be fixed and that's

That's what the government should do urgently. And be fixed by spending money. And very briefly, in a word, really, it's going to be extended further in another year in September 25, doubling the hours. Very, in a word, 40,000 extra staff, I'm told, will be needed. Can that happen?

I hope so, with investment. We all hope so. I must just say the Department for Education told Moneybox more than 210,000 two-year-olds are already benefiting from government-funded places and it says it's taken decisive steps. to prepare the sector for the next phase. Well, the Moneybox podcast lasts less than half an hour, but it is totally free, no contribution required, and you can book now for it to be sent every week to your devices or, of course, put a note in your diary to listen.

Listen live midday every Saturday on BBC Radio 4 for our free advice about your money. You can send us your baby, toddler or indeed really grown up money questions. Email moneybox at bbc.co.uk. We do read them all and you might get on the podcast. In the Moneybox creche today were Dan Whitworth, Sandra Hardiel and Joe Krasner. The studio managers were fortunately grown-ups, Simon Kelsey and Michael Kodeski. In charge of us all, our editor, Sarah Rogers. I'm Paul Lewis and this was the BBC.

News, money and work production for BBC Sounds. And now, can they find the scorpion without getting stung? I found a secret room and it's behind a trap door. We're looking for someone who controls one of the largest gangs of people smugglers. He calls himself Scorpion. The top one? Impossible you can't find them. His gang has made millions from people coming to the UK in small boats. Finding him won't be easy and it will be dangerous. Oh, we need to get out of here. So get in the car.

I'm Sue Mitchell and this is Intrigue to Catch a Scorpion from BBC Radio 4. Listen on BBC Sounds. Ordering parts for your truck has never been easier. Rush Truck Center's new e-commerce site lets you shop parts for all makes and models of heavy and medium-duty trucks. Search parts, view local inventory, or check availability nationwide. with secure payment options all from a fast mobile friendly website

Whether you're on the road or in the shop, visit iHeartRush.com and click on Shop Parts to get started today. Rush Truck Centers, when you need parts, no one offers you more. When Vivint Smart Security gives you a smarter way to protect... and its smart thermostats give you a smarter way to save, well, that's a smarter way to live. Get the smarter home system that just gets you at Vivint.com.