Luncthime news April 23

Papers including the Daily Mail cover research from the Halifax showing average house prices are now more than £100,000 even in the cheapest towns in England.

The Mail also reports a forecast from the respected Ernst & Young Item Club that interest rates will stay ‘painfully high’ until at least 2011.

Young people leaving care are being placed in unsuitable accommodation where they are harrassed and bullied by other tenants, according to research by the charity Rainer reported in The Guardian.

Former home secretary David Blunkett says council homes should be given first to Britons on the waiting list to help tackle angle about immigrants jumping the queue, reports The Observer.

The Observer also reports on cold-calling canvassers persuading tenants to take on huge right-to-buy loans.

The Financial Services Authority has warned banks they are taking on ‘substantial risks’ with sub-prime mortgages, reports Saturday’s Financial Times.