The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that the number of loans approved for house purchases rose 4% in May compared to April, to 37,400. However, volumes were 28% down on a year earlier and well below the 96,000 May average of the past seven years. May remortgaging volumes tumbled 9% on a month [...]
Taylor Wimpey claims to have the “perfect solution” for would-be homemovers who are excluded from the best mortgage deals because of they have too small a deposit. According to the developer, 49% of homeowners are in need of more space and many are being forced to put their next move on hold. Taylor Wimpey has [...]
A member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has taken up the cause of would-be homeowners who need to borrow 100% of the value of a home. Kate Barker, who is also a Government adviser on the UK housing market, has publicly opposed Prime Minister Gordon Brown in his suggestion that such loans [...]
UK house prices are becoming increasingly affordable, especially for those who can stump up a substantial deposit. Research from Halifax shows an improving trend over the past 18 months, in terms of the proportion of earnings spent on mortgage payments. For new borrowers with 30% to put down, the proportion has fallen from a peak [...]
Birmingham Midshires has reported a rise in the number of people saving for a deposit for their first home. The lender, now part of Lloyds Banking Group, also reported a drop in the number of Britons saving for no particular purpose. According to a recent survey, 25% of 25 to 34-year-olds savers are piling up [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that in November, new mortgage lending continued to fall. The number of new home loans approved fell 17% on October to 33,000 and was 59% below the level recorded in November 2007. The outlook for the next few months is bleak, with the CML predicting that lending [...]
Financial data provider, Moneyfacts.co.uk, has published new figures showing that 25% of mortgages available in the UK to new borrowers require a deposit of at least 40%. Those who can only manage a deposit of 5% or less have a mere 21 home loans to choose from, compared with over 1,200 in February of last [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that almost 50% first-time buyers under the age of 30 look for family help to secure their first mortgage. Financial help from relatives has always played a part in a fortunate minority getting a foot on the property ladder but the need has been increasing; in 2006, [...]
Abbey has launched a new type of account aimed at helping those saving for a deposit for their first home. The First Home Saver account is available to potential first-time buyers aged between 16 and 35. It pays a variable rate of 8% in return for the commitment to save for a deposit but does [...]
Persimmon has reported that its cancellation rates have risen to 35%. In an interim statement, the housing developer said that the number of potential buyers who put down deposits of up to £700 on new homes and later withdraw, is now around 20% higher than its pre credit crisis average. Describing trading conditions as having [...]
The Co-operative Bank and Places for People, the property management and development group, have been researching potential first-time buyers and have discovered that on average, those hoping to get a foot on the property ladder think they need to save £19,100 before they can buy their first home. The research involved 1,500 potential first-time buyers, [...]
Abbey’s latest cut in mortgage rates offers a glimmer of hope to potential first-time buyers because the lender is reducing interest on some deals that require only a 15% deposit. In recent weeks leading lenders have been trimming rates regularly, with Co-operative Bank, HSBC and Nationwide all taking action this week. However, the best rates [...]
Persimmon has joined forces with Halifax to help first-time buyers enter the property market. The housebuilder’s “double your deposit” scheme does exactly what it says as long the funds are used to buy a new Persimmon home. To participate in the offer, a would-be homeowner needs to make regular deposits of up to £5,000 into [...]
Woolwich has become the latest mortgage company to reduce its loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for new customers. The lender, which forms part of the Barclays group, is withdrawing all products with LTVs exceeding 90% from Thursday 8 May. These include a 5% LTV lifetime tracker plus five-year fixed-rate and standard variable rate loans. The move, which [...]
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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