Consumer group Which? has warned homeowners with SVR mortgages that they will be financially squeezed once interest rates are lifted. A Standard Variable Rate (SVR) is a mortgage in which the rate of interest is varied from time to time by the lender but it is usually set at about 2% above the Bank of [...]
Shares in troubled music, books and games retailer HMV have risen today after it emerged that it has secured a new refinancing deal with its lenders. The deal, worth £220 million, will see the taxpayer taking a stake in the company. The group’s main lenders are taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published new rules aimed at protecting vulnerable customers in arrears on their mortgages. From 30th June, homeowners in arrears must be treated fairly by lenders and the following key areas have been confirmed: Firms must not apply a monthly arrears charge where an agreement is already in place to [...]
Jarvis, the railway maintenance company, has entered administration after being refused further support by its lenders. The company, which has is based in York, said the future of the firm depended on the ongoing support of its lenders but said after negotiations, it was evident “that sufficient support will not be extended to the company [...]
The full extent of UK mortgage fraud in the lead up to the credit crisis is probably as yet unknown and signs of economic recovery have prompted the National Fraud Authority (NFA) to remind lenders that they must continue to combat the crime. According to the NFA, almost £144 billion was loaned in mortgages in [...]
New research from Moneyfacts.co.uk claims there has been a 70% rise in the number of mortgage products available in just under a year. According to the financial website, borrowers now have 2,053 deals to choose from, compared with 1,209 in April 2009, when the figure bottomed out. Furthermore, a significant boost has occurred since the [...]
Mortgage borrowers in arrears stand to get a better deal from lenders under new proposals published today by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The package is aimed at ensuring home owners in financial difficulties are treated fairly, by strengthen existing rules on arrears handling and promoting the regulator’s “tough stance” on mortgage fraud. Under the [...]
Alliance & Leicester (A&L) replaced HSBC as the UK’s most consistently competitive mortgage lender during the final quarter of 2009. According to research by mortgage search software firm, Evaluate Technologies, A&L surged ahead despite having failed to register any of its home loans in best buy tables during the previous quarter. The lender, which is [...]
Lenders are cautiously expanding their mortgage offerings, with the number of home loans available rising steadily since August’s low of 2,182. According to moneysupermarket.com homebuyers and remortgagers can now choose from 2,430 products, although the figure is still well below the 3,384 available at the beginning of the year. Encouragingly for first-time buyers, the most [...]
Barratt Developments is to focus on building houses rather than apartments, in response to lenders’ preferences. The group’s chief executive, Mark Clare, says the company will build what it knows it can sell and in the case of apartments, lenders are making life difficult for mortgage borrowers by asking for deposits of 25%. The oversupply [...]
With the prospect of new entrants into the UK mortgage market following the break up of RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, moneysupermarket.com has conducted a study that indicates Britons prefer to deal with established lenders when it comes to buying a property. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has already made it clear that the [...]
Evidence that the UK mortgage market is stabilising has emerged from Moneyfacts.co.uk, which has noted that lenders have been extending the shelf lives of their various offerings in recent weeks. According to the financial website, the average mortgage product was available for 24 working days in September, up from 18 working days in August, and [...]
Homeowners are gradually being offered a larger choice of mortgage products, although lenders remain cagey about attracting too much business, MoneyFacts.co.uk claimed this week The number of mortgage products available dropped to a record low of 1,209 at the beginning of April, down from a peak of 11,951 products that were available in July 2007. [...]
Consumers taking out a personal loan are “paying through the nose” due to soaring interest rates. Banks are now charging an average APR of 10.32% on personal loans even though the Bank of England’s base rate has been held at a record low of 0.5%. This compares to an average personal loan APR of 8.71% [...]
Homeowners struggling with mortgage repayments can be shy in talking about their difficulties, despite pleas from lenders and debt charities to seek help and advice early. According to research from the Financial Services Consumer Panel (FSCP), 41% of those having difficulty paying their home loans struggle on unaided, even though seven out of eight borrowers [...]
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) claims that lenders are increasingly threatening customers in England and Wales with charging orders, in attempts to intimidate debtors into making unaffordable repayments. A charging order is a means of securing an unsecured loan against equity in the debtor’s property. In a new report entitled “Out of order” the charity [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has reported on its recent review of sub-prime lenders who are closed to new business, and on the third parties they instruct to handle mortgage arrears and repossessions. The study found that both were operating “an approach focused too strongly on recovering arrears without reference to the borrower’s individual circumstances”. [...]
The Bank of England’s sixth consecutive interest rate cut is finally having an impact on the housing market as interest rates on the nation’s five most popular mortgage deals are at their lowest for the last year and a half. The Bank of England’s latest figures released yesterday shows that the average two-year fixed-rate deal [...]
A BBC Scotland investigation has suggested that Scottish homeowners struggling with mortgage arrears are more likely to be repossessed than their English and Welsh counterparts. A programme screened on BBC One Scotland yesterday compared the legal measures available to prevent repossession in Scotland with those covering the rest of the UK. The programme makers claimed [...]
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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