The Bank of England’s Quarterly Bulletin has revealed that High Street banks have not been passing on base rate cuts in full. Interest rates have been held at the record low of 0.5% since March 2009 (when the country was in the midst of its worst recession in decades), but despite this, banks are not [...]
New research has revealed that millions of credit card holders could face severe debts after card providers have put interest rates up to a 12-year high. The Bank of England’s base rate has been at the historically low rate of 0.5% for almost a year but despite this, average credit card interest rates have risen [...]
Three in ten people who seek debt advice are so far in the red that they will never find a way out of debt unless they earn more money, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) said this week. Frances Walker, CCCS spokesperson, said that although it’s “good news” many people are starting to pay off [...]
The Bank of England has today reported that the total amount of personal debt in the UK has declined for the first time since records began – more than 16 years ago. The economic downturn and fears over rising unemployment has meant consumers are reducing their debt with personal borrowing falling by £600 million in [...]
Homeowners struggling with mortgage repayments can be shy in talking about their difficulties, despite pleas from lenders and debt charities to seek help and advice early. According to research from the Financial Services Consumer Panel (FSCP), 41% of those having difficulty paying their home loans struggle on unaided, even though seven out of eight borrowers [...]
Northern Rock is leading the field in “prime” mortgages that have fallen into negative equity. A new report from ratings agency, Fitch, reveals that almost one in six households at the upper end of the UK property market have home loans that exceed the value of their properties. In the case of the state-owned Northern [...]
As of this week, Halifax is plying homemovers and first-time buyers with a new offer that provides help towards the cost of running a home. Borrowers can have 50% of their council tax bill paid by the lender during the first year in their new residence, with all payments being made direct to local councils. [...]
As widely expected, the Bank of England has lowered interest rates to a new historic low of 0.5% as it continues its attempts at stimulating the economy. Since October, interest rates have been cut six times in a bid to fight off the recession but the latest cut has been widely criticised since they have [...]
Further cuts to the Bank of England’s base rate (BBR) would be an ‘assault’ on both savers and borrowers, the Building Societies Association (BSA) said this week. The BBR is already at an all time low of 1%, and analysts widely expect the central bank to announce additional cuts later this week. However, the BSA [...]
An influential think tank believes that a cut in interest rates this week would not benefit the economy but said other moves such as the Bank of England purchasing corporate bonds would be better. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee begins its two-day rate setting meeting today and has aggressively cut rates since October [...]
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 [...]
The director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders has described today’s cut in the Bank of England’s base rate to 1.5% as a double-edged sword for lenders who rely on savings deposits to fund their mortgage businesses. Michael Coogan comments that while lower mortgage rates can provide borrowers with the opportunity to repay their [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is threatening to fine banks and building societies that are heavy handed with homeowners who fall into arrears with mortgage repayments. The regulator has written to the chief executives of mortgage lenders, giving them until 31st January to review their policies. The FSA’s managing director of retail, Jon Pain, explains [...]
Last month, in a co-ordinated move with other banks, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) slashed UK interest rates from 5% to 4.5%. Central banks in the US, Japan and China have all cut interest rates in the last week in a bid to fight off a recession. Many analysts believe that the [...]
As the housing market downturn continues, Northern Rock customers are more likely to be facing negative equity than borrowers with other UK lenders. While the number of people in arrears with their mortgage repayments is rising across the banking sector, Northern Rock is more exposed than most of its competitors because prior to the credit [...]
Mortgage customers of Northern Rock who are seeing their fixed-rate mortgages run out are facing huge increases because they are trapped on expensive rates with the crisis-torn lender. The business plan for the nationalised bank saw attractive rates scrapped in an attempt to put-off new customers and encourage existing ones to re-mortgage with another lender. [...]
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, is meeting with mortgage lenders later today in efforts to extract the maximum benefit for homeowners of the Bank of England’s bold move to ease credit conditions with a £50 billion injection of cash. Mr Darling’s agenda will include help for borrowers whose fixed-rate mortgages are coming to an [...]
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 [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
