Budget airline easyJet is to close its base at East Midlands airport and cut services at Luton Airport by a fifth with a view to transferring them to profitable bases in continental Europe. Luton is one of easyJet’s biggest bases and operates 16 aircraft and carries almost 5 million passengers each year. Meanwhile, the low-cost [...]
Nationwide Building Society has announced that it will no longer pass on cuts in the Bank of England’s base rate to the majority of its tracker mortgage customers. Despite Government pressure to keep the cost of borrowing in line with reductions in the base rate, the lender is invoking a clause that allows it not [...]
During the past 12 months, lenders have steadily increased their margins on fixed and tracker rate mortgages, according to research by financial website, Moneyfacts. Over the past year, the Bank of England’s base rate has fallen from 5.5% to 2%. In addition the cost of borrowing on the money markets has decreased: three month sterling [...]
Last week’s 1.5% cut in the Bank of England’s base rate was accompanied by several leading mortgage lenders withdrawing their tracker products for repricing. This week, research has shown that interest on tracker loans is at levels last seen in January 2001. According to Bank of England figures, the average cost of a tracker mortgage [...]
After today’s 1.5% cut in the Bank of England’s base rate, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has warned that lenders may not respond with a reduction in mortgage interest rates. The CML points out that the UK’s mortgage providers do not automatically benefit from any cut in the base rate because the cost of [...]
Moneyfacts.co.uk has revealed that average tracker rates are at the same level as this time last year, despite a 1.25% cut in the base rate in the interim. According to Moneyfacts’ research, the average rate on a tracker mortgage is 6.27% today, compared to 6.23% in October 2007. The price comparison website’s analyst, Michelle Slade, [...]
Yesterday’s decision by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to keep the base rate on hold at 5%, will have disappointed homeowners struggling with increased mortgage repayments, rising living costs and falling house prices. News that the rate would remain unchanged in July followed a report earlier this week from financial website Moneyfacts.co.uk asserting [...]
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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