The mortgage market continues to be volatile, with lending falling by 5 per cent in June, after a sharp rise in May. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders a total of £11.9 billion was lent to first-time buyers and those moving house, last month. In May, gross mortgage lending totalled £12.5 billion. Lending for [...]
The number of properties bought with buy-to-let mortgages increased by 84,000 in 2011 according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ latest figures. In the final quarter, 34,800 buy-to-let mortgages totalling £4 billion were approved, compared with 26,300 worth a total of £2.9 billion, in the 2010 final quarter. Demand for rented accommodation has increased significantly [...]
Only a quarter of landlords outside London are planning to increase their property portfolios over the next year, research has discovered. A study by Young’s Group found that just 26% of non-London landlords are in the market to purchase extra properties. Tom Entwistle, editor of landlord information site LandlordZONE, said the results of the poll [...]
The lack of mortgages available to first time buyers is bumping up rents as would-be homeowners struggle to get a foot on the housing ladder, an industry expert claimed. Nicholas Leeming, director of propertyfinder.com, said the credit crunch is good news for landlords because it will inflate their income. “Rent levels have been recovering in [...]
The price of renting a home increased 2.2% over the past six months, according to new figures released this week. Buy-to-let advice site Property Hawk said the rise is “good news” for landlords. However, a recent poll by Direct Line found 20% of landlords are worried about their cash flow. A further 29% fear that [...]
Creditors of struggling DIY and gardening chain, Focus DIY, are expected to back a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) in a bid to prevent the company from collapse and protect 4,572 jobs. Under the proposed deal, Focus will pay its creditors (the majority of which are landlords) a proportion of what it owes them, while leases [...]
The average yields earned by landlords increased to 6.4% in the second quarter, up from 6.2% in the first quarter, according to figures released by Paragon. This is the second consecutive quarter that yields have increased, after a prolonged period of stagnation. Yields – a property’s rental income as a percentage of its capital value [...]
As the recession has kicked in, small retailers to well established chains have struggled with cashflow problems, which has caused many to go bust, and as a result has caused huge difficulties for retail landlords. However a positive step has now been made by some landlords to be more accommodating, as the British Property Federation [...]
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has announced fears that yesterday was the toughest quarterly rents payments day for over 18 years. This is because the start of the year is usually the period where consumer spending is lowest and, coupled with the increased uncertainty caused by the credit crunch, the BRC has lead a campaign [...]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than [...]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. [...]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees [...]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on [...]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages [...]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit [...]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE [...]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings [...]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though [...]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A [...]
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