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February 26, 2008
by Gill Montia
The Post Office is gaining notoriety for its mortgage products and has just made a further cut in the interest rate on its three-year fixed-rate mortgage, down to 5.34%.
The loan is part of a range of mortgages that has been trialled by the Post Office at selected branches across the North of England. That trial is now being extended to branches ...
by Gill Montia
One of the UK's largest housebuilders, Persimmon, has reported a sharp fall in demand for new homes.
The company's forward order book has fallen 19% on this time last year, to £1.05 billion compared with £1.3 billion.
The number of people visiting its development sites has fallen 13% on last year, while cancellations have risen 20% on 2007.
However, the figures are ...
by Gill Montia
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has reported a rise in the number of mortgage approvals in January.
The value of approved mortgage loans rose 4.6% on January 2007, to £19.6 billion; by monthly comparison, the December figure stood at £17.3 billion.
However, the value of approved house purchase loans fell 27% year-on-year in January, leaving remortgaging approvals for the month accounting for ...
by Gill Montia
Shepherds Friendly, the Manchester-based friendly society, is launching a new Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI) policy that can provide cover for the term of an individual mortgage product.
The policy can be extended to a maximum of five years, compared with the more usual 12 months, so that policyholders are covered for the full-term of their mortgage. For example, a three-year fixed-rate, or ...
by Kay Murchie
According to the latest Car Insurance Index by Sainsbury’s Bank, car insurance premiums have risen by 5.24% in the last 12 months.
Currently, the average motor insurance premium is £497.26, compared with £474.52 twelve months ago.
Drivers aged between 40 and 50 experienced the largest increase with an average of 7% while motorists aged 65 and over had the lowest rise in premiums ...
by Kay Murchie
French insurer, Groupama, has announced 3.6% growth in its personal lines business to £221.7 million in its 2007 results, boosted by continuing growth in the company’s home and car insurance portfolios.
However, profits for the year were £23.1 million, a decline of more than £10 million compared to 2007, it is believed the summer floods and storms of ...
by Kay Murchie
A survey conducted by MoneyExtra, the financial services comparison service, has revealed that many people are worried about their growing levels of debt.
MoneyExtra established that 27% of consumers have increased the amount of money they have borrowed in the last 3 months. In addition, one in three adults with debt said they were concerned about their ability to deal with ...
February 25, 2008
by Elaine Frei
Tokyo’s equities markets were higher on Monday. The Nikkei 225 added 3.07 percent to 13,914.57 while the Topix index was up 2.59 percent to 1,355.54 and the Mothers market was 0.5 percent higher to 687.25.
Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on the session. The FTSE Straits Times Index was up 0.53 percent to 3,064.95. In Australia the Sydney ...
by Gill Montia
Property analyst, Hometrack, has published figures for February that show UK house prices falling for the fifth successive month.
The average price of a home decreased 0.2% over the month putting the annual rate of growth at 1.4%, the lowest level since April 2006.
However, there have also been signs of a slight improvement in buyer demand during February, with ...
by Gill Montia
Nationwide has today increased the minimum deposit required to secure its best mortgage interest rates, from 10% of the value of the property, to 25%.
The move means that first-time buyers in London, where the average price of a home exceeds £300,000, will have to raise at least £75,000 to benefit from lower interest rates.
For those with less than a ...
by Gill Montia
The Financial Services Consumer Panel (FSCP) has expressed concern that some County Court judges are not ensuring that lenders follow certain procedures before attempting to repossess the homes of people in mortgage arrears.
The panel, which acts as an independent voice for consumers of financial services in the UK, is insisting that lenders should follow rules laid down ...
by Gill Montia
The demise of the 100%-plus mortgage could leave thousands of Northern Rock borrowers trapped in mortgages charging high rates of interest.
Northern Rock withdrew its range of 100%-plus loans for new borrowers last week, as did Alliance & Leicester, Coventry, BM Solutions, Bradford & Bingley and Cheltenham & Gloucester.
Around 175,000 borrowers are thought to have taken out Northern Rock's controversial ...
by Gill Montia
Research from the UK's largest mortgage lender, Halifax, shows that the average homebuyer is now paying 60% more stamp duty than in 2002.
Over the past five years, the average liability has risen to £1,971, compared to £1,211.
As a result, homebuyers in nearly one in three UK local authorities now need to save the equivalent of over 20% of ...
by Gill Montia
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has reported a 5% rise in the number of people buying property at auction over the past year, and a leading auction finance firm is warning of a major pitfall for those new to the property auction market.
Auction Finance is aware that some people, who are buying unusual buildings in the hope of converting or ...
February 24, 2008
by Kay Murchie
Lloyds TSB has announced that is on the lookout for possible takeovers. The UK’s fifth largest bank said valuations in the banking sector had fallen, making targets more attractive.
Sir Victor Blank, Lloyds TSB’s Chairman said we look around all the time to see if there are opportunities and there are likely to be more, going forward if you ...
by Kay Murchie
Nationalisation has now taken effect at Northern Rock and over the weekend, changes to the board have been revealed.
Several board members have resigned while Ron Sandler has been appointed executive chairman. Mr Sandler said he aims to ‘build a company operating on sound commercial principles that can be returned to the private sector, standing on its own two feet.’
Bryan Sanderson, Ian Gibson, ...
by Kay Murchie
Support charities Citizens Advice and YouthNet have teamed up for a project to help young people avoid getting into financial difficulty.
Through new technology, the 2 charities hope to reach half a million youngsters by using via the internet, podcasts and mobile phones.
Moira Haynes of the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) said young adults, such as students, are particularly vulnerable ...
by Kay Murchie
Credit card customers with unblemished repayment records are seeing their spending limits cut.
Those affected have said that they were unaware they were having their spending limits slashed.
The move has angered many people with one individual saying he was 'furious' after being left red faced when trying to purchase a rail ticket. Another was 'embarrassed ...
February 22, 2008
by Gill Montia
A property expert at investment bank, Dresdner Kleinwort, has warned that the UK housing market is a "house of cards" on the verge of collapse.
In a report issued to clients at the start of the results season for UK housebuilders, Alastair Stewart implies that the UK housing market is set to implode as a result of years of ...
by Gill Montia
A financial analyst is predicting that bridging finance is set to play an "ever more important role" in the housing market.
According to Lee Tillcock, editor of Business Moneyfacts, this type of finance could be of particular benefit to buyers seeking to take advantage of the anticipated rise in repossessed homes sold at auction.
Mr Tillcock explains: "Investors buying at auction ...
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The Post Office is gaining notoriety for its mortgage products and has just made a further cut in the interest rate on its three-year fixed-rate mortgage, down to 5.34%.
The loan is part of a range of mortgages that has been trialled by the Post Office at selected branches across the North of England. That trial is now being extended to branches ...
Tokyo’s equities markets were higher on Monday. The Nikkei 225 added 3.07 percent to 13,914.57 while the Topix index was up 2.59 percent to 1,355.54 and the Mothers market was 0.5 percent higher to 687.25.
Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on the session. The FTSE Straits Times Index was up 0.53 percent to 3,064.95. In Australia the Sydney ...
