The UK’s High Street banks approved 74,590 mortgages in July, with the figure up from 71,521 in June and ahead of the previous six-month average (69,803). According to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) house purchase approvals came in at 33,417, activity having gathered pace since June (32,123) and exceeded the previous six-month average (30,695). At [...]
Annual growth in banks’ gross mortgage lending stood at £7.6 billion in June, with the figure 11% lower than a year earlier, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA). Early signs of growth in the buy-to-let market were evident but both house purchase and remortgaging approvals continued to be weak, and with repayments still at [...]
Demand for house purchase mortgages fell “markedly” in the three months to December, lenders have reported, with the trend expected to continue over the current quarter. According to the Bank of England’s latest Credit Conditions Survey, the decline reflected “a recent fall in house prices, a general weakening of sentiment towards the housing market and [...]
In its latest Credit Conditions Survey, the Bank of England has reported that demand for house purchase mortgages fell slightly in the three months to early September. In addition, lending criteria tightened slightly for the second consecutive quarter, with the trend expected to continue over the coming quarter. Some lenders commented that the changes reflected [...]
Demand for house purchase mortgages continued to be weak in July, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported. In what is traditionally a strong month, there were only 56,000 house purchase loans (worth £8.4 billion), although volumes had increased from 53,000 a year earlier. Remortgaging activity remained flat when compared with June (28,000 loans) [...]
New figures from the Bank of England show total net lending secured on UK dwellings increasing by £0.1 billion in July, although the rise is well below June’s increase of £0.5 billion and the previous six-month average of £0.8 billion. Approvals for house purchase stood at 48,722 with the total broadly in line with a [...]
In its latest Trends in Lending report, the Bank of England has revealed that approvals for house purchase lending decreased slightly in June, compared to a month earlier. At the same time, the total amount loaned for house purchases remained unchanged and a little higher than at the start of the year. Looking forward, most [...]
The number of mortgages approved for house purchases remained all but static in May, compared with April, at 49,815, according to Bank of England data. The figure was down on the previous six month average and well behind the November 2009 peak of 59,338. The result has disappointed analysts who were hoping to see a [...]
In May, net mortgage lending by Britain’s High Street banks grew to £2.6 billion, compared with £1.9 billion in April. Annual growth in net lending (gross lending with repayments and redemptions stripped out) stood at 4.3%, unchanged from April, according to the British Bankers’ Association, while May’s gross mortgage lending of £9 billion was in [...]
First-time buyers accounted for only 35% of all house purchase loans in April 2010, the lowest proportion since September 2007. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the low market share is linked to the need for substantial deposits. The lenders’ body comments: “Although there has been some increase this year in the number [...]
Net mortgage lending increased by £0.5 billion in April, according to Bank of England figures. The growth rate for the month proved stronger than in March (£0.2 billion) but was below the previous six-month average of £1.3 billion. The number of loan approvals for house purchase also showed some improvement at 49,871, compared with the [...]
House purchase lending increased by 45% in March, marking the ninth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Loans for house purchase were up 25% in volume (45,000) and 24% in value from February but for the first quarter of the year as a whole, there were 112,000 loans [...]
The number of loans advanced for house purchases increased by 12% in February, showing a modest recovery on January when the figures were weak due to the end of the stamp-duty holiday and the severe winter weather. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) 35,000 house purchase loans were advanced worth £5 billion, up [...]
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 [...]
New figures from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) show February’s gross mortgage lending at £8.6 billion, having staged a recovery from January’s low of £8 billion. The number of house purchase loans approved by the UK’s banks leapt 16% year-on-year, to 35,276, having managed a slight increase on January’s figure of 35,154. Furthermore, the value [...]
There were 49% fewer house purchase loans approved in January than in December, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported. According to the body, the steep decline “emphatically demonstrates” the impact of the end of the stamp duty holiday, in December. First-time buyers recorded the largest drop among house purchasers: in January, approvals were [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Mortgage lending by Britain’s High Street banks strengthened slightly in December, although the end of the stamp duty holiday is likely to have prompted a surge in completions before the New Year. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) reported net lending of £3.5 billion during the month, up from £3.4 billion in November and showing an [...]
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 [...]
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
