Homeowners increasingly prefer to stick with a standard variable rate (SVR) mortgage rather than taking out a fixed-rate deal. Research by Unbiased.co.uk found 27% of homeowners are now on an SVR mortgage, compared with 23% earlier this year. A quarter of those on an SVR mortgage said they have no immediate plans to switch to [...]
A new bond from Leeds Building Society paying 4% interest can be opened with as little as £100. The four-year fixed-rate bond was launched alongside a two-year bond paying 3.5% interest. Both bonds can be opened with a minimum investment of £100 and a maximum of £1,000,000. Furthermore, both allow savers to withdraw up to [...]
Norwich & Peterborough Building Society (N&P) this week announced plans to increase the interest rates on its ISAs and fixed rate bonds. Rates on its two and five year fixed rate ISAs increased to 3.05% and 4.55% respectively. Three and five year fixed rate bonds at the building society now pay up to 4.3% and [...]
Leeds Building Society has launched a five-year fixed-rate cash ISA paying a market-leading interest rate of 4.6%. Customers can withdraw up to 25% of the amount invested at any time, without notice or penalty. The account can be opened with a minimum of £1, and allows savers to transfer in their ISA balance from previous [...]
Abbey Business this week launched two new bonds paying up to 3.2% interest and aimed at SMEs. The bonds, available to businesses with a turnover of up to £1 million, are available for business savings between £50,000 and £2 million. The 12 month Fixed Rate Business Bond pays 3.2% gross pa/AER, maturing on 1 September [...]
Nationwide has launched a new range of fixed-rate ISA bonds paying interest at up to 4.5%. The bonds are available for one year, three years, or five years, paying interest at 3%, 3.75% and 4.5% respectively. The ISAs can be opened with a minimum of £1, and savers can opt to transfer the balance from [...]
Last month saw homebuyers and remortgagers opt for fixed-rate loans as never before. According to mortgage broker, John Charcol (JC), the proportion of customers choosing fixed-rate deals rose to a record 83.1% in June and the firm’s mortgage activity monitor also showed the average take-up at 81.2% over the past four months. However, the broker [...]
In a further reshaping of the UK mortgage market, the maximum length of a fixed-rate deal is down to 15 years, following Manchester Building Society’s withdrawal its 30-year fix. Prior to the credit crisis, the Government was proposing to help lenders offer more affordable long-term fixed-rate products, which at the time were common in the [...]
Abbey is offering a new four-year fixed-rate mortgage with a maximum 85% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio at a rate of 5.99%. The deal is available at Abbey branches or by telephone, for both house purchasers and remortagers. A £995 fee applies and the Homebuyer Solution comes with a free valuation and £250 cashback on completion, whereas [...]
Mortgage experts have been urging homeowners to opt for fixed-rate mortgages for weeks, to hedge against an inevitable rise in the base rate. However, new research from Moneyfacts shows that lenders are launching and withdrawing fixed-rate deals with almost indecent speed. Last month the average time scale for borrowers to secure a fixed-rate mortgage fell [...]
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has launched new issues of its two year fixed-rate bonds. The Guaranteed Growth Bond pays interest at the end of the two-year term at a rate of 3.75% per annum. The Guaranteed Income Bond pays interest monthly at a rate of 3.65% per annum. Both bonds offer a 100% capital [...]
The Cheshire and Derbyshire Building Societies this week unveiled three new fixed-rate bonds aimed at savers willing to lock away their money in exchange for a strong interest rate. Available for one, two or three years, the fixed-rate bonds pay interest at 3.75%, 4.15%, and 4.5% respectively. At Derbyshire consumers can invest between £100 and [...]
Savers looking to lock their money away in exchange for higher interest rates are being urged to consider a new online bond from Barnsley Building Society. The UK’s third largest building society this week launched the five-year fixed-rate online bond paying interest at 5.1% gross (4.08% net). Customers can only open the account online, depositing [...]
Nationwide Building Society yesterday increased the interest it pays on fixed-rate bonds and e-Bonds, with a headline interest rate of 5%. The fixed-rate bonds are available to anyone, while the e-Bonds are available online to any Nationwide customer with a Nationwide FlexAccount. Both accounts are available for one year, 18 months, two years, three years [...]
The Coventry Building Society this week relaunched is 50 Plus eSave account. Available exclusively to savers over 50, the account pays interest at 3.25%, fixed for 12 months. Savers can open the account with a minimum of £1, and can make unlimited, penalty-free withdrawals and deposits. The maximum balance is £250,000, and account holders can [...]
Internet bank Egg this week unveiled an instant access savings account and a fixed-rate bond. The Egg Bonus Savings Account pays 2.8% gross pa/AER, including a fixed-rate bonus of 1.55% for the first 12 months. The account can be opened with a minimum investment of £1, and offers the flexibility of unlimited penalty-free deposits and [...]
Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) this week launched a new range of fixed-rate eBonds aimed at customers “looking to maximise the returns they receive on their savings.” Available for two, three, or four years, the bonds pay a fixed rate of up to 4.5% gross/AER and require a minimum investment of £100. The two-year eBond pays [...]
Leeds Building Society (LBS) has launched a new five-year fixed-rate mortgage at 5.1%. Available at a loan-to-value (LTV) of up to 75%, the mortgage deal has no higher lending charge. Borrowers can repay up to 10% of capital each year without penalty, and free in-house legal services are provided for customers re-mortgaging. An LTV of [...]
Latest figures from Moneyfacts.co.uk show a sharp rise in the cost of a two-year fixed-rate mortgage during the past week. According to the financial website, the average cost of a two-year fixed-rate deal increased by 0.16% between Monday and Friday, to 4.90%. Meanwhile, five-year fixes increased by an average 0.21% over the same period, to [...]
Abbey is offering business customers a fixed interest rate of 3.2% on its 12 month Fixed Rate Business Bond, maturing 1 July 2010. The Santander-owned bank has also extended the offer period for its 9 month Fixed Rate Business Bond, paying 2.8% interest and maturing 1 April 2010. Both bonds are available to businesses with [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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