All the same, it is something of an embarrassment to the Bank to be having to tighten policy with such aggression when only a little while ago members of the Monetary Policy Committee were briefing on the importance of a "gradualist" approach to rising interest rates. This envisaged rates rising by just a quarter point at a time every three months, to coincide roughly with the quarterly Inflation Report. We've known for ages that interest rates were heading higher, but few would have predicted even a few months back that the Bank of England would raise them twice within the space of a month. The last time this happened was four and a half years ago at the height of the dot boom. In place of the technology bubble, we now have a fully blown housing boom. The home credit sector gives customers access to small-sum credit in a way that suits them."We lend money to a wide range of people who want to borrow small amounts that they can pay back conveniently from their homes in regular affordable repayments."In the midst of a credit boom, our business has been growing by less than 3 per cent a year, and most of our new business comes from customer recommendation."A spokesman for Cattles said that doorstep lending now accounted for only 15 per cent of its business.. Under the Enterprise Act 2002, NCC is empowered to make a "super complaint" about a whole market.If the OFT accepts such a complaint it can either launch an investigation of its own or pass it on to the Competition Commission.Robin Ashton, Provident's chief executive, said: "I think the share price has fallen more because of the increase in Bank of England base rate. Small, short-term, unsecured cash loans, for as little as £100, are a lifeline to people on long-term low incomes who are excluded from the mainstream credit market.

When they need extra cash for household bills, their child's school uniform, or to cope with the financial demands of relationship breakdown, a new baby or sickness in the family, they turn to the friendly agent who calls every week."The deal is done quickly, informally and face-to-face with local collectors who may have been known to the family for generations."Despite this, these lenders, acting for large public companies such as Provident and Cattles, charge up to 200 per cent to people who usually do not shop around and are deterred from switching to another lender. The shares of the second biggest operator, Cattles, fell 17.5p to 321p.The NCC is due to issue a report on doorstep lending, known formally as home credit, on Monday. That report is expected to highlight a range of damaging effects on millions of vulnerable and low-income families who have little choice but to use this form of credit to help make ends meet.Deirdre Hutton, who chairs the NCC, said: "Home credit offers a unique service. Shares in the two leading lending companies focused on low-income groups fell heavily yesterday after it emerged that the National Consumer Council is likely to make a "super complaint" about the £2bn industry to the Office of Fair Trading. Provident Financial, which has nearly half the market, saw its shares fall by 19.5p to 633p. Up to 975 new homes will be built with residential development expected to begin in summer 2005. The project is worth in excess of £110m.Persimmon has also pur-chased a 40-acre site with planning consent for 750 units in Braiswick, Colchester The site is currently occupied by the Flakt Wood factory This £150m project is to start this autumn.. He said trends in the housebuilding sector suited bigger players, as a result of the increasing emphasis on brownfield sites, which are more complex and costly to develop, as did the trend towards building more homes per acre.Persimmon announced the acquisition of a 78-acre site at Cape Hill, Birmingham, previously occupied by the former Coors Brewery.

He pointed out that Persimmon's last reported gearing figure was 28 per cent, compared with the 100 per cent gearing that it was willing to take on to pull off the Beazer deal."We're in a strong position to buy land or acquire businesses under the right terms," he said.Mr White added that size mattered in competing for scarce suitable land - having the balance sheet to buy larger sites readily. The schemes should yield sales worth £260m and are both on "brownfield" land - sites that had previous industrial uses.There have been rumours that Persimmon, which bought Beazer in 2001, was looking to acquire one of the mid-sized builders that are still independent. Some analysts suggested the size of the land purchase yesterday made this less likely.However, John White, Persimmon's chief executive, said the move "makes no difference whatsoever" to the group's capacity to buy other companies. Persimmon, the housebuilder, said it was demonstrating the benefits of its size after acquiring two major sites for redevelopment. The company, one of the three big housebuilders in this country, bought 118 acres in total, on which it plans to put 1,700 homes.

Saga also has a radio station and claims around 2 million customers in total.What is certain is that Saga will not change hands before the end of July, leaving Peter's anti-embarrassment clause valueless. However, whether that is an end to this saga about Saga remains to be seen.. Financial services now account for more than 80 per cent of Saga's business although it also has a booming media division.Saga magazine, which has featured such well-known over-50s as Mick Jagger on its front cover, is now one of the country's biggest selling magazines with more than 1 million subscribers. From these humble beginnings, Saga has branched out into home insurance for the over-50s ­ a highly profitable line of business as many older people spend a lot of time at home and represent a low-risk group to cover.Saga offers motor insurance as well and is also moving into savings products.