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May 19, 2008
by Kay Murchie
Transact, a national debt advice organisation, has said that the credit squeeze is leaving many professional people and homeowners struggling to cope with their debts.
The organisation, which represents over 1,200 debt advice centres, said its branches in some of the most wealthy regions of the UK are now being inundated by demands for help.
Demand for advice was ...
May 16, 2008
by Gill Montia
Mortgage brokers are seeing more first-time buyers, as a shrinking mortgage market draws those still brave enough to attempt to get a foot on the property ladder to seek independent advice.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the proportion of first-time buyer mortgages taken out through a mortgage intermediary rose to 82.5% in the first quarter of the year, compared with ...
by Brian Turner
Nationwide have just announced more competitive pricing for their home insurance, offering a 20% discount on home insurance.
The new discount includes both new policies as well as renewals.
In addition, when Nationwide home insurance is bought online, an additional 10% discount is applied.
The result is that someone buying Nationwide home insurance online could now save well over 20% on ...
by Kay Murchie
According to Marks & Spencer (M&S) Money, a growing number of Britons are putting their travel insurance at risk by booking different parts of their holiday separately.
Research from M&S Money discovered that an increase in the usage of the internet has meant that half of British holidaymakers book their travels independently rather than using a travel agent. ...
May 15, 2008
by Gill Montia
The Department for Communities and Local Government has released statistics for housebuilding in England during the first quarter of 2008.
New housing starts were down 21% on the final quarter of last year (to 32,100) and 24% below the level recorded in the first quarter of 2007.
Meanwhile, housing completions for all dwellings in England fell to around 39,500 in the ...
by Gill Montia
HSBC has extended its Rate Matcher mortgage offer, which will match interest rates on existing and new borrowers' fixed-rate home loans.
Existing HSBC mortgage customers can fix their mortgage for two, three or five years at their current rate, while for newcomers a two year period has been set.
The deal has been available to existing HSBC borrowers since February and was extended to ...
by Kay Murchie
Barclays, the UK’s third largest bank, has announced it has taken a further £1 billion write-down in credit crunch related debt but added that the business was profitable in spite of challenging trading conditions.
However, unlike some of its rivals, it has not asked its investors for additional cash through a rights issue.
Rights issues from other UK banks include Bradford & Bingley, ...
by Kay Murchie
Mervyn King, the Bank of England’s Governor, has warned that the British economy faces recession.
According to Mr King, households are facing a protracted spending crunch as food and fuel bills continued to increase.
He added that financial strains would intensify the sharp economic downturn already taking hold and ruin chances for steep interest rate cuts to improve growth.
The ...
by Gill Montia
The Government has announced plans to purchase newly built properties from housing developers whose sales are plummeting.
The £200 million scheme could provide 1,000 homes that can either be rented out by social landlords or offered to first-time buyers who can purchase the properties through the existing Homebuy scheme.
The plans forms part of the Government's "Preparing Britain for the ...
May 14, 2008
by Gill Montia
Housing minister, Caroline Flint, has unwittingly publicised the Government's fears for the UK housing market by allowing onlookers sight of a confidential cabinet document.
The paper was being carried by Ms Flint in such a way that it could be photographed and the text revealed.
The document suggests that the Government is expecting house prices to fall but that it ...
by Gill Montia
Nationwide is cutting the cost of some of its fixed-rate mortgages from Friday of this week.
The building society, which is the UK's third-largest mortgage lender, will be reducing rates on some of its two and five-year fixed-rate deals by up to 0.30%.
In the case of two-year fixes, rates will fall to between 5.95% and 6.55%. This will be dependent on whether the ...
by Kay Murchie
Buy-to-let specialist, Bradford & Bingley, has today raised £300 million in an emergency rights issue to shore up its balance sheet.
It is the latest UK bank to ask its shareholders for additional funding and confirmed it would raise the £300 million in a rights issue, which offers existing investors the opportunity to purchase additional shares.
Shareholders will be given the ...
by Gill Montia
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has published mortgage lending figures for the first quarter of the year, showing that the number of loans approved for house purchases fell to 142,000.
The figure is slightly above the lowest on record, which was in 1975, when 140,000 home loans were approved in the first three months of the year.
Gross mortgage lending stood ...
by Kay Murchie
Alliance & Leicester (A&L), has announced it will write-down £391 million on treasury investments as well as on its exposures to structured investment vehicles and collateralised debt obligations, of £192 million.
Furthermore, treasury investment fair-values declined £199 million in the first 4 months, against a fall of £147 million in the same period last year. This fair-value impact is taken against ...
May 13, 2008
by Gill Montia
The Government is introducing a £10 million package of measures to support homeowners who may be experiencing difficulties with their mortgage repayments.
Debt advice services provided by organisations such as the Citizens Advice Bureau will receive £9 million in extra funding and the money will also be used to expanded access to free legal representation at County Courts across England.
Next week, ...
by Gill Montia
The latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows a marked increase in the number of number estate agents reporting a fall, rather than a rise, in house prices.
In April, 95.1% more surveyors saw house prices fall than rise. This compares with 79.4% reporting a fall in March and represents the highest level of RICS members reporting a fall ...
by Kay Murchie
1.15 million people confess to having driven a car in the last year without any insurance, according to a survey by Sainsbury's Car Insurance.
The survey revealed that 19% said it was because they couldn't afford it, 19% said they didn't think it was necessary, 13% said they forgot to purchase it, while 13% said they didn't have time to ...
by Kay Murchie
HSBC, the UK’s largest bank, has announced it is to write-down a further $2.6 billion (£1.3 billion) in addition to the $12.2 billion of write-downs last year.
However, profit in the first three months of 2008 exceeded that of a year ago, as growth in Asia helped counter some $5 billion in hits from bad debts on the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Michael Geoghegan, ...
by Kay Murchie
Ron Sandler, who was appointed by the Government to revive Northern Rock, said solid progress has been made against the business plan.
The Bank of England loan facilities are reducing and the balance sheet is contracting as a result of planned mortgage redemptions, added Mr Sandler.
Mr Sandler's strategy is to reduce the mortgage book. He has set up a panel within the ...
May 12, 2008
by Gill Montia
A recent survey conducted for the BBC's "Truth About Property" programme has found that more Britons want house prices to fall than to rise.
The survey was undertaken by ICM and involved 1,005 respondents. Its findings challenge the widely held assumption that house price falls are overwhelmingly unpopular.
Of those questioned, 28% were happy to see property prices decline, compared ...
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Transact, a national debt advice organisation, has said that the credit squeeze is leaving many professional people and homeowners struggling to cope with their debts.
The organisation, which represents over 1,200 debt advice centres, said its branches in some of the most wealthy regions of the UK are now being inundated by demands for help.
Demand for advice was ...
Mortgage brokers are seeing more first-time buyers, as a shrinking mortgage market draws those still brave enough to attempt to get a foot on the property ladder to seek independent advice.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the proportion of first-time buyer mortgages taken out through a mortgage intermediary rose to 82.5% in the first quarter of the year, compared with ...
The Department for Communities and Local Government has released statistics for housebuilding in England during the first quarter of 2008.
New housing starts were down 21% on the final quarter of last year (to 32,100) and 24% below the level recorded in the first quarter of 2007.
Meanwhile, housing completions for all dwellings in England fell to around 39,500 in the ...
A recent survey conducted for the BBC's "Truth About Property" programme has found that more Britons want house prices to fall than to rise.
The survey was undertaken by ICM and involved 1,005 respondents. Its findings challenge the widely held assumption that house price falls are overwhelmingly unpopular.
Of those questioned, 28% were happy to see property prices decline, compared ...