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 [...]
Before the credit crunch it took first-time buyers two to four years to save up a deposit for a property but a quarter of first-time buyers now say it will take them at least ten years. In its latest Property Tracker report, the Building Societies Association (BSA) suggests that since September 2010 raising a deposit [...]
52,854 mortgage loans were agreed in principle in November according to the latest figures from the Bank of England, just 68 higher than the previous month. Although mortgage lending in November 2011 was 12% higher than in November 2010, there has been no significant improvement for four months. Mortgage approvals remain at half their 2007 [...]
New data from the Bank of England suggests that house owners are focusing on repaying their mortgages as part of their efforts to reduce debt. Consumers are concerned about the state of the economy and their incomes are under pressure from pay freezes, rising unemployment and high levels of inflation. These pressures, together with falling [...]
Figures from the Bank of England today revealed that British consumers borrowed £500 million in January through credit cards, loans and overdrafts, once repayments were taken into account - the highest level since November 2008. According to the Bank, the increase was almost double the £265 million rise seen in the previous month December, and [...]
Figures published today show that people in the UK continue to repay debt as the incentive to save remains low in the current historically low interest rate environment. According to the Building Societies Association (BSA), its members withdrew more money than they saved for the ninth consecutive month in November. The BSA said there was [...]
Figures from the Bank of England show the value of mortgages approved for house purchases rising for the 11th consecutive month in October, to £8 billion. The total is up from £7.6 billion a month earlier and compares with a previous six month average of £6.7 billion. Volumes increased to 57,345, up from 56,205 in [...]
Figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA) have revealed that consumers are opting to repay debt rather than save amid the historically low interest rate environment. According to the BSA, savings balances held by building societies fell by £-929 million in October compared to an increase of £545 million a year ago, when interest rates [...]
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 [...]
Research from the Building Societies Association (BSA) claims that over the last two years, the majority of borrowers who have fallen into arrears with their mortgage repayments have either caught up, or are in the process of catching up. According to the BSA, 97% of borrowers in financial difficulties have avoided repossession with thirty-three per [...]
The Building Societies Association (BSA) has expressed its concern over new regulations, proposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), saying they will disadvantage the industry. Proposals from the City watchdog include plans to restrict riskier types of lending by building societies, which according to the BSA, would have a “discriminatory and anti-competitive effect in the [...]
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 [...]
The latest Property Tracker Index from the Building Societies Association demonstrates that Britons have become cautiously optimistic about the UK property market. In a survey of 2,242 adults conducted between 4th and 8th June 2009, the average prediction for house price changes in the coming year was for a rise of 1.4%. The result compares [...]
Following the collapse of the Dunfermline building society and the rescue of other societies last year, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is proposing to stop building societies expanding into risky types of lending and borrowing. The move comes after a senior FSA official accused some societies of taking far too many risks with their lending [...]
Figures published by the Building Societies Association (BSA) revealed a record in net receipts for February after savers sought a safe haven for their cash. The BSA said net receipts into building societies were £1.6 billion in February 2009 - which represents an increase of 18% compared with February 2008. Brian Morris, Head of Savings [...]
Scotland’s largest building society is set to be on the brink of collapse as the UK government has announced that it is preparing a £60 million bail-out. Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy said that the Government will do all that it can to protect people’s money in what has been nicknamed as the Scottish Northern Rock. [...]
According to the Building Societies Association (BSA), over one million people opened a new building society savings account last year. Building societies have benefited since the collapse of Icelandic banks, Icesave and Kaupthing Edge, and the near collapse of Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingley, RBS, HBOS/Lloyds. The BSA said an additional 1.2 million accounts (net [...]
The Bank of England has been cutting the base rate aggressively since the autumn of last year and homeowners on tracker rates are becoming used to an almost monthly drop in the cost of their mortgage repayments. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meets again this week amid speculation that the base rate could fall to [...]
An online tool that enables savers to locate forgotten or lost bank accounts is proving popular with Brits, according to National Savings and Investments (NS&I). Launched in January 2008 by the NS&I in conjunction with the Building Societies Association (BSA) and the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), mylostaccount.org.uk has received 180,000 applications to search for lost [...]
The Building Societies Association (BSA) has published the results of its latest Property Tracker survey, which indicate that more people believe that now is a good time to buy a home. Forty-six per cent of those surveyed were, to some extent, positive about making a purchase, compared with 34% in September and 27% in July. [...]
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 [...]
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