Labour look to break down barriers for self employed
18/11/2014
Labour shadow ministers have met with business leaders to discuss the current problem of self employed people having little access to mortgages and pensions.
Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the rate of self employed people has risen by 13% in the last four years, rising to 4.2 million people in January. Out of these 4.2 million people, only 22% contributed to a pension. In comparison, in 1996/1997 62% of self employed people contributed to a pension.
The Pensions Policy Institute has warned that auto enrolment is not attractive enough to young self employed people, and may not be good enough to boost take up.
One in five self employed people have struggled to get a mortgage, particularly after the tough new income verification questions brought in after the Mortgage Market Review. Some lenders demand up to 12 months of accounts, verified by an accountant, for a self employed person to even be considered for a mortgage.
Labour MP Rachel Reeves, who is the shadow work and pensions secretary, has advised that she wants to “break down barriers” of financial services products for people who are self-employed. She said:
“Labour wants to break down the barriers which millions of self-employed people face when they are try to apply for a mortgage or save for a pension. We’re holding this summit to ensure the next Labour government does everything it can to help self-employed people to succeed.”
Shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna says:
“All too often self-employed people are being held back and ignored by government and we’ve seen entire programmes put in place by ministers which fail to take their needs into account.”
Need financial advice?
If you are self employed and worried about getting a pension or mortgage, struggling with money, or if you have any personal finance questions, then please contact our financial advisers. You can get in touch by asking a question online, calling us on 0800 092 1245, or by arranging a visit.
Share this..
Related stories
Fears arise over pension mis-selling
12/02/2015 The pension reforms being introduced in the UK in April will lead to an abundance of mis-selling claims, according to an announcement from Scottish Friendly. Scottish Friendly, a savings and ISA provider, believe large numbers of pensioners will be targeted by salespeople with the only aim to separate them from their life savings. They believe more needs to be done to ensure pens...
Read MoreRegular job movers can keep pension plans
24/10/2014 People who change jobs regularly will now no longer have to cash in or move their workplace pension, under new government plans. Some 20,000 employees a year, who move jobs after being in a company for less than 2 years, are usually given a “short service refund” of their pension contributions. This can be optional, but companies have the power to insist this option is taken. Th...
Read MorePensions Regulator given new reform role
The Pensions Regulator is set to monitor a new system of pension saving from 2012, the minister for pensions reform, Mike O'Brien, has announced.Under the new scheme, people earning more than £5,000 a year would be automatically enrolled into a qualifying work-based pension scheme or personal accounts, subject to parliamentary approval of the reforms that come as part of the forthcoming Pensions...
Read MoreUK pension increase not enough
The National Pensioners Convention has today come out in support of pensioners across the UK , many of whom are up in arms about the meagre 5% increase in the state pension. As we covered in one of our earlier post, the full basic state pension has risen to £95.25 although for those without a full National Insurance record the figure is a much lower £57.06. However, when you take into account th...
Read More