Both the number of homes sold in England and Wales and the prices achieved fell during May, according to Acadametrics. The number of properties changing hands declined by an estimated 18% from April, while the value of the average home dipped by 0.2%. On an annual basis, prices in England and Wales were 9.7% higher [...]
Gross mortgage lending fell to an estimated £10.2 billion in April, down 12% from £11.6 billion in March and 1% from £10.3 billion in April 2009. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), a slight seasonal decline had been expected as Easter fell in April this year and gross lending remains broadly in line [...]
Mortgage arrears and repossessions both fell in the first quarter of 2010, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). However, the body warns against complacency, “as a large number of households, who are just coping, still remain vulnerable to shocks that may arise from the economic uncertainty ahead”. During the first three months of [...]
Residential mortgage approvals declined in February, new figures from the Bank of England show. The number of loans sanctioned for house purchases fell by over 1,000, compared to a month earlier, to 47,094. The total was also well below the previous six months average of 55,130 and 21% below the peak seen in November, as [...]
The average cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to a six-and-a-half-year low during February, according to new figures from the Bank of England. The average rate stood to 3.88%, down from 3.97% a month earlier to a level last seen in July 2003. Five-year fixed-rates also eased last month, declining to an average 5.49%, [...]
UK house prices fell by 1.5% in February when compared to January, according to Halifax. The lender’s monthly index registered its first decline since June 2009, following seven consecutive monthly increases. However, at £166,587, the average price of a UK home came in 8% above the market trough of April 2009, and up 4.5% on [...]
Rightmove has reported that the average asking price of homes in England and Wales fell 0.4% in the five weeks to 13th June. The decline follows a 2.4% rise in the same period to 9th May, equating to a jump of £5,000 in a typical vendor’s ambitions. According to the property website, the average asking [...]
Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP), the body that represents 90% of UK equity release providers, has reported that lending fell by 9% in value and 4% in volume in 2008. New equity release plans for the year totalled almost £1.096 billion, in terms of value. SHIP points out that the decrease is far less than [...]
Nationwide recorded a 2.5% fall in UK house prices in May, the biggest monthly decline since the building society began keeping records, in 1991. According to the lender, house prices have now fallen for the seventh consecutive month (the longest consecutive period of decline since 1992) taking property values 4.4% below May 2007 levels. Earlier [...]
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, [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
