The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) recently revealed that the number of rented properties arranged as long-distance tenancy agreements have continued to grow in the last few months.

According to recent research published by ARLA, the fluctuating state of the British housing market has acted to boost the rental market, as well as increasing the number of long-distance landlords in the UK.

ARLA forecasted that this trend is set to rise in the coming months and gave a number of tips to make a long-distance tenancy agreement work smoothly.

Search and compare the market As a landlord, do your research and ask for advice when you need to set the price of your rental agreement. Try to set a reasonable price, neither too high nor too low, and compare it with other prices in the area to ensure you are offering and obtaining a good deal.

Inventory Inspecting the property won’t be easy for a long-distance landlord; this is why writing down a detailed inventory is a ‘must-do’. Take

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Thanks to the Internet revolution, saving money shopping online has never been simpler.  If you know where to look you’ll be bagging a bargain and conserving your cash in no time.

Price comparison sites
Everyone loves a good deal but Internet shopping can be a minefield if you don’t know where to begin.  Visit a top price comparison site such moneysupermarket or uswitch and they’ll do the hard work for you. If you haven’t reviewed your mobile phone tariff since 1997 perhaps it’s time to treat yourself to an upgrade – visit uSwitch and search for iphone 4 deals – just one click and you can choose from the best deals on the market.  Review what you’re spending on energy, broadband, insurance and credit cards and kick back at any rip-off merchants by switching suppliers.

Shopbots
Why shop in one store when you can shop in 20?  Shopbots, or shopping robots, are special websites that zip around a host of retailers to find the cheapest price for you in 30 seconds.  Visit a site such as megashopbot to be sure of snapping up the best deal on everything from flowers to computers. Use a shopbot for al

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A new app is launching in the UK which will allow customers to transfer money using their mobile.

The ‘Pingit’, which is a brainchild of the bank Barclays will be free to download to your phone and is designed to allow customers to easily be able to send and receive money almost instantly. Available on iPhone, Android and Blackberry phones, customers will be able to manage their finances on the go.

Initially the app will only be available if you are a Barclays customer, but they are planning to create another version which will be open to all current account customers (over the age of 18).

The idea behind this is for situations like going out for dinner with friends and needing to split the bill or paying back £5 or £10 to someone and not having the cash on you. A spokesman from the bank has said that the app is secure and there are safety procedures in place such as  a five digit code set by the user.

Although this app does sound like a good idea, I think that as a customer I would definitely need to be cautious when transferring the money. Firstl

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The 1^st of October 2012 is the official start date of the auto-enrolment pension scheme in the UK. However, many Brits are still unaware of what the main benefits of the scheme are and or whether or not they should opt into it.

What is the auto-enrolment scheme?

Currently most workers don’t make an application to join their employers scheme and therefore miss valuable pension benefits. To redress this situation, the auto-enrolment scheme aims to allow employees to be automatically enrolled into their employers qualifying pension scheme. 

How will the auto-enrolment scheme work?

From October, British employers will be able to choose the qualifying scheme they use. Ea

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