House prices rose by 0.9% in June, according to figures published today from the Nationwide Building Society, fuelling hopes the property market is beginning to stabilise.

This represents the third rise in the past four months, shrinking the annual rate of decline from 11.3% in May to just 9.3% in June. The average house rose to £156,442 in June, compared with £154,016 in the previous month.

The Nationwide described the figures as a “welcome surprise”.

However, while small “green shoots” of stability are beginning to emerge, the UK housing market is still very fragile. Yesterday the Bank of England announced that there had been a small rise in mortgage approvals, from 42,191 in April to 43,414 in May. Analysts had expected a figure closer to 46,000.

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Customers who bank with Lloyds TSB will be able to check their balance on their mobile phone from today.

The bank’s “balance on demand” service, which it claims is the first such in the UK, is available to all Lloyds TSB banking customers. However, those who do not have a packaged account - which includes extras such as insurance for a monthly charge - will have to pay £2.50 for the service, which forms part of a “mobile banking pack”.

To use the service, customers must text BAL plus the last four digits of their current account to a special phone number. They are then sent a text stating their current balance and last six transactions. The texts are charged at the mobile operator’s normal rates.

The mobile banking service also allows customers to transfer money between accounts and set up text alerts to alert them when their balance has fallen below a certain level.

The cost of the service - £30 a year - has been met with criticism by some in the industry. However, Lloyds insists the service gives customers complete control of their money and helps them keep on top of their finances.

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Airlines are ignoring EU laws by automatically adding travel insurance when customers book flights, a watchdog has found.

According to a new report by the consumer magazine Which? Holiday, four airlines are ignoring an EU directive issued last November which forbids them from automatically adding extras such as insurance at the time of booking.

Of 11 sites checked by researchers, over a third had flouted the rules. Easyjet, Jet2 and Monarch all automatically add travel insurance policies at the time of booking, costing between £7 and £10.49 per passenger, while Air Berlin automatically adds cancellation insurance for flights that return the same day that they fly out, costing £10.63. To opt out of the insurance consumers must tick a box.

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More than a third of UK adults have admitted they are unable to convert different currencies into sterling when they go abroad and are overspending by a staggering £288 million a year on holiday as a result, a recent Post Office survey has revealed.

According to the report, 44% of holidaymakers don’t actually work out how much they are spending in sterling when they are abroad and 27% of people go over their budget on holiday.

One in five people prefer to go on holiday to places where they understand the currency, while 1.5 million holidaymakers actually avoid travelling to countries with unfamiliar currency, because they believe that working out how much everything costs will be difficult and stressful.

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Wimbledon season is here, and many of us will be getting out our own rackets for a spot of tennis. But easy does it… According to Halifax Home Insurance, claims for broken windows and other accidental glass breakages typically increase during the Wimbledon season. Last year the provider recorded a 34% rise in such claims between January and June.

David Rochester, head of underwriting for Halifax Home Insurance, said: “During the summer months we often notice an increase in claims for broken windows and other accidental breakages. We’d advise any budding Murrays and Sharapovas to take care when playing ball sports close to home, and check they are insured for accidental damage should a mishap occur.”

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The number of homes sold in the UK is continuing to rise, according to HM Revenue and Customs.

Around 62,000 residential properties priced at £40,000 or more were sold in May - an increase of 7% on the previous month. This represented the largest number of house sales since October, although the figure is still significantly lower than the level of transactions seen during the height of the housing boom.

Earlier this week the British Bankers’ Association reported a steady rise in mortgage approvals over the last six months.

31,162 house purchases by BBA members were approved in May, an increase of 15.8% on the same month a year ago. However, the BBA added that the mortgage market as a whole still looked subdued.

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An increasing number of people looking for houses to rent are losing thousands of pounds in online scams, according to a BBC report.

Using online listing sites such as Craigslist and Gumtree, fraudsters pose as landlords and work hard to gain the trust of those interested in renting a property from them. In one of the newer scams, fake landlords claim they are out of the country and need to see proof that a deposit can be paid before showing the flat. They ask potential tenants to transfer a block of money via a company such as Moneygram or Western Union to a friend and send a scanned copy of the transfer to them as proof that the tenant can afford the rent. The ‘landlord’ then poses as the friend and makes off with the cash.

When 23-year-old Sophie moved from Birmingham to London, she thought she had landed a bargain when she spotted a 2 bedroom flat for £85 a week. The ‘landlady’ said she didn’t have time to arrange a viewing, but after exchanging a few emails, Sophie decided she trusted her enough to send her the requested £400. However, once the money had left Sophie’s account, the fraudster broke off all contact, and the flat was nowhere to be seen on the website.

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The vast majority of UK businesses believe that their final salary pension schemes are “unsustainable”, according to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

In a major survey of 1,000 blue-chip companies, 96% admitted they could no longer sustain their current defined benefit schemes, which are based on salary plus years of service. 16% of companies taking part in the survey had already closed their final-salary schemes to new members, and a further 6% said they planned to close schemes for existing members within the next five years.

The cost of providing defined benefit pension schemes is rising as people live longer, yet the same funds have decreased in value during the credit crunch.

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Banks are set to lose £2.5 billion a year in overdraft fees if an appeal is rejected in the House of Lords today.

Five law lords will hear an appeal by the UK’s main banks against an earlier ruling by the Appeal Court which deemed many overdraft charges unfair to customers. Under the ruling, the Office of Fair Trading has the power to decide if bank charges are fair or not.

Around one million bank customers are waiting for the results of the appeal to find out whether they can reclaim charges levied against them.

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Buy one main meal and get a second free at Pizza Express, any day of the week including weekends, at any time of day.

The pizza and pasta restaurant chain is offering two main meals for the price of one as part of its new voucher promotion.

Click here to download your 2 for 1 voucher. Simply print it off and hand it in next time you order a meal at Pizza Express. You will need to fill in the voucher and hand it in when you order to benefit from the offer.

This offer is valid until Sunday 19th July, 2009. One voucher is required for each free course, but there is no limit to the number of vouchers that can be used per party. Vouchers cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. The lower priced main course will be free.