A new £120 million shared equity scheme designed to help home buyers shows that the Scottish Government steps in to help people in tough times, according to Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The Government will provide the cash over the next two years to help both first-time buyers and existing homeowners looking to buy new-build property.

The Jockey Club's new retail bond romped to its £15 million target as savers flocked to invest in horse racing.

Some 1,500 applicants have invested in the new Racecourse Bond, which was launched three weeks ago to raise funds for a new £45 million grandstand development at the group's flagship Cheltenham Racecourse.

A fresh clampdown on claims management firms has been launched by Ofcom after it found evidence of people being plagued with "annoying" and "distressing" nuisance phone calls.

Research carried out by the regulator over a month found that four out of five consumers received nuisance calls, averaging two a week.

Supermarket Morrisons is to start its online groceries business by the end of this year after unveiling a tie-up with delivery firm Ocado.

The launch will see the chain use Ocado's recently opened distribution centre in Warwickshire for deliveries through a Morrisons-liveried fleet.

Tenants are facing further pressure on their finances as rents have increased in every region across England and Wales for the first time in 18 months, a lettings network has reported.

Private rents rose by 0.2% month-on-month in April to reach £736 on average - and for first time since November 2011 rents were up year-on-year across the whole country - according to LSL Property Services, which owns chains Your Move and Reeds Rains.

Average petrol and diesel prices have fallen but the situation remains fragile, according to the AA.

The average price of petrol on UK forecourts has fallen from 136.89p a litre in mid April to 133.35p in mid May. It had hit a year high of just over 140p on March 4, having started the year at around 132p.

National Lottery sales hit an all-time high of £6.9 billion over the last year with a record return to good causes, operator Camelot has announced.

The group gave £1.9 billion to good causes in 2012/13, up by 6.9% from last year, bringing the total amount donated over 19 years to £30 billion.

Further signs of growing housing market confidence have been reported as a property search website revealed the lowest level of asking price reductions in at least three years.

Three in 10 (30.7%) sellers who have their home on the market have dropped their original prices, marking the lowest proportion on zoopla.co.uk's records, which began in summer 2010. Of the sellers who have had to slash their prices, the typical reduction is 6.1% or £19,595, showing the lowest average discount recorded since autumn 2010.

Royal Bank of Scotland has announced it is cutting 1,400 jobs in the latest round of redundancies since it was bailed out by the taxpayer.

Edinburgh-based RBS said the positions would be axed over the next two years as part of plans to restructure its retail head office functions in the UK. It said "customer-facing" staff would not be affected.

People who live in high flood-risk areas will be insured against flooding for an extra month under the current deal between the Government and the insurance industry, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has said.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) wrote to the Government to agree a one-month extension to talks to ensure flood insurance is both available and affordable for at-risk homes and businesses.