First-time buyer mortgage approvals hit a two-year high in December as those buying properties costing up to £175,000 rushed their purchases through before the end of the stamp duty holiday. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), 24,900 first-time buyer loans were sanctioned worth £2.9 billion, leaving both figures up 26% on November. In [...]
The UK’s official rate of inflation increased to 2.9% in December 2009, up from just 1.1% three months earlier. The rise was driven by higher petrol costs and the effects of the reduction in the standard rate of VAT a year earlier dropping out of the twelve-month comparison. In it quarterly inflation report, the Bank [...]
UK lenders sanctioned an additional £1.2 billion in mortgages in December 2009, according to Bank of England statistics. The figure fell below the revised November total of £1.6 billion, but remained above the previous six-month average of £0.9 billion. The annual rate of growth slipped to 0.9% (1% in November) but the three-month-on-three month measure [...]
The average loan-to-value (LTV) ratio on house purchase loans increased to 70% in December 2009, leaving the typical homebuyer requiring a 30% deposit. According to research from the Mortgage Advice Bureau, the tendency for lenders to require large deposits in exchange for reasonable rates is softening, having improved from an average LTV of 67% in [...]
A leading UK house builder has announced that its selling prices have risen by 4% to an average £167,000. The trading update from Barratt Developments also revealed that net private reservations increased 8.9% over the past six months. The group’s forward sales surged 43% to £651.2 million, while first-half completions were in-line with expectations, at [...]
In its latest Credit Conditions Survey, the Bank of England has reported that mortgage lending improved in the three months to early December 2009. According to the Bank, the upturn was “driven in part by improvements in the economic outlook and in prospects for house prices”. Encouragingly for first-time buyers, the rise in mortgage availability [...]
In its latest housing market survey, Nationwide reports that the average price of a UK home rose by 0.4% in December, compared to a month earlier, to £162,103. The increase takes the annual rate of gain to 5.9%, up from 2.7% in November. However, the three-month-on-three-month rate of change, which is regarded as a smoother [...]
Rightmove has reported that the average asking price for a home in England and Wales fell for the second consecutive month during December. The property website recorded a typical 2.2% drop in vendors’ ambitions over the four weeks to 5th December (to £221,463) following a 1.6% decline during the previous four week period. Meanwhile, the [...]
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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