Equities markets in Asia and the Pacific region were lower on Wednesday. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries were 0.54 percent lower to 6,363.2, while the Indian Sensex fell 0.66 percent to 14,910.62. The Straits Times index in Singapore dropped 1.11 percent to 3,600.75 and the Hang Seng was down 1.22 percent to 22,607.02. In Tokyo, [...]
According to research undertaken by Tesco Savings, only a third of people were confident that the interest rate rise earlier this month would have an affect on their savings accounts. Many questioned in the Tesco survey said they were doubtful that the latest increase to 5.75% would be passed on. In addition, almost 50% of [...]
The owner of Norwich Union, Aviva, is thought to be against the free £4 billion of surplus assets held in Norwich Union’s with profits business. Rumours about the planned reattribution have been extensive since policyholders did not receive an update on developments. An update should be provided every 6 months according to Financial Services Authority [...]
Batt O’Keeffe, minister of state for housing is urging banks not to over lend to young people who could be affected by mortgage increases. Mr O’Keeffe was speaking after the publication of the Department of the Environment’s Annual Housing Statistics Bulletin 2006. The publication illustrates that nearly 50% of all new mortgages taken out in [...]
Datamonitor, the independent market analyst, has published research showing that the sub-prime mortgage sector in the UK is likely to expand faster than the mainstream sector. Sub-prime mortgages are taken out by people who have poor credit histories and are therefore at greater risk of defaulting. Datamonitor believes that by 2011, the UK market for [...]
The new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has pledged to improve prospects for homebuyers by taking steps to ensure an increase in the number of fixed-rate mortgages available on a 25 year term. Currently lenders are maximising profits by offering fixed-rate loans on a short-term basis. This means that borrowers are liable for arrangement [...]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than [...]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. [...]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees [...]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on [...]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages [...]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit [...]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE [...]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings [...]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though [...]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A [...]
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