Crisis-torn Northern Rock is to be split into two, after receiving the necessary approval from the European Union (EU). Northern Rock collapsed at the onset of the credit crunch in autumn 2007 after savers staged a nationwide run on the bank. It was then nationalised in February 2008. The plan is for bank to be [...]
Nationalised Bradford & Bingley (B&B) is reportedly considering splitting itself into two in order to raise money to repay its £18.4 billion loan from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The troubled buy-to-let lender was nationalised over a year ago to prevent it from collapse which led to Spanish bank, Santander, acquiring B&B’s £20 billion [...]
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Money has applied to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for a banking licence, which would enable the consumer credit arm of the Virgin Group to offer deposit accounts. The move comes at a time when consumers have lost confidence in existing High Street banks following the financial crisis and Sir Richard [...]
The Building Societies Association (BSA) is urging the Government to return Northern Rock to the mutual sector, arguing that mutuals take less risk than banks owned by shareholders. Mutual building societies are owned by their members, not by shareholders, and are run for the benefit of those members. The BSA said a new report points [...]
The Government announced earlier this year it was planning to split nationalised Northern Rock into two divisions – a deposit bank and a mortgage platform. However, the proposals have met with criticism from the Building Societies Association (BSA) saying that the split would put building societies at a big disadvantage. Northern Rock collapsed at the [...]
Blighted by its “Together” 125% loan-to-value mortgages, Northern Rock has revealed that residential mortgage accounts over three months in arrears rose to 3.92% in the six months to the end of June. The proportion compares with a national average of 2.39% and is up from 3.67% at 31st March 2009 and 2.92% at 31st December [...]
Nationalised lender Northern Rock has today reported a pre-tax loss of £724.2 million for the first half of the year, compared with a loss of £585.4 million in the same period a year ago. Northern Rock collapsed at the onset of the credit crunch in autumn 2007 after savers staged a nationwide run on the [...]
Northern Rock is once again offering mortgages to existing customers. The move follows a gap of well over a year during which period borrowers coming off fixed deals either reverted to the Rock’s standard variable rate or were forced to go elsewhere. The nationalised lender is strictly interested in retaining its best customers and only [...]
Nationalised Northern Rock is to be split into two divisions – a deposit bank and a mortgage platform. The crisis-torn bank collapsed at the onset of the credit crunch in autumn 2007 after savers staged a nationwide run on the bank. It was then nationalised in February 2008. However, following European Union (EU) approval, it [...]
It has been reported by The Sunday Times that the Government is planning to sell crisis-torn Northern Rock by the end of the year. Under a plan to retrieve some the hundreds of billions of pounds injected into the banking sector, the Government is preparing to divide the nationalised lender into two: one good and [...]
The nationalised mortgage lender, Northern Rock, has announced plans today to increase lending over the next two years to £14 billion to Britain’s homebuyers. Having sought out a £25 billion bailout from the Bank of England in February last year, it is now in a position to help the stumbling property industry with up to [...]
Northern Rock has reported that its home repossessions rose by 63% last year to 3,620. Arrears also soared with 17,264 borrowers three months or more behind with their repayments at the end of 2008, up from 3,492 at the close of 2007. The rise takes the percentage of the bank’s total mortgage book in arrears [...]
Northern Rock is reversing its post-nationalisation strategy of running down its mortgage book and will begin offering new loans of up to 90% of a property’s value. The move offers hope to the UK’s beleaguered housing market, which despite the recent rise in new buyer enquiries reported by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and [...]
Former shareholders of Northern Rock have failed in their legal challenge to the Government’s plan to compensate them. Rock’s biggest former investor SRM Global brought the case against the Government, with RAB Capital and 150,000 private investors. The case entered the High Court in January and shareholders were contesting the way in which the bank’s [...]
Northern Rock, which was nationalised in February of last year, has paid almost all of its 4,500 employees a 10% bonus – an average of £2,000 each. The bonus fund, which amounts to £8.8 million, has sparked outrage among politicians with Lib-Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable, describing the action as extraordinary since millions of people [...]
The bank bail-out package announced today by the Government could contain good news for Northern Rock borrowers and the UK mortgage market generally because the bank is being reinstated as a lender. Since its nationalisation in February 2008, Northern Rock has focused on paying back its debt to the Government. During last year, it was [...]
Northern Rock shareholders are to enter the High Court this week demanding compensation to contest the way in which the stricken bank was nationalised in February 2007. The firm’s biggest former investor SRM Global has brought the case, with RAB Capital and 150,000 private investors. However, it is not the nationalisation itself that shareholders are [...]
Northern Rock is to follow the lead established earlier this week by Royal Bank of Scotland and not begin repossession proceedings until mortgage borrowers are six months or more in arrears with repayments. The nationalised lender has come in for criticism over its repossession policy. In October, debt charity Credit Action claimed that the bank’s [...]
In a move that could be seen as a snub to the Government, state-owned Northern Rock has increased rates on some of its most attractive mortgage deals. For new borrowers, the bank’s one-year fixed mortgage rate has increased from 3.99% to 4.19%. Meanwhile, rates on the lender’s two and five-year fixed-rate home loans have risen [...]
Nationalised Northern Rock recently came under scrutiny after claims that it was being ‘aggressive’ in its repossessions policy. The lender is expecting to be responsible for 10% of all repossessions this year as its 125% mortgages are driving its repossession rate. The 125% mortgage from Northern Rock, known as ‘Together’ loans, represent around 30% of [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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