According to housing intelligence group, Hometrack, house prices in England and Wales fell for the fifth consecutive month in November. According to Hometrack, house prices fell by 0.8% on the month in November to £155,000. The ongoing fall in values continues to be the result of a higher level of instructions on the market and [...]
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has revealed a slump in the number of homes sold in October in the UK. According to HMRC, 79,000 homes worth at least £40,000 or more were sold in the month, a fall of 11% on an annual basis. While it was 1,000 higher from September’s figure, it is evident [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has suggested the UK property market could experience a double dip. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF highlighted that despite Government efforts to boost the housing market and encourage first-time buyers, UK house prices could still be in line for “further correction”. The IMF was referring to the [...]
New figures from the Bank of England show the number of mortgages approved for house purchases rising in March, to 48,901, after falls in the previous three months. The total was up 17% on a year earlier, but somewhat short of the previous six-month average of 54,201. Remortgaging activity also increased, with March’s 27,880 approvals [...]
UK house prices rose by 0.7% in March, compared with a month earlier, according to Nationwide. The increase almost reverses the 0.8% month-on-month fall recorded in February and takes the average cost of a home to £164,519, or 9% more than a year ago. However, the three-month-on-three-month rate of inflation edged down to 1.6% in [...]
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 [...]
In a round-up of January mortgage lending, Bank of England figures show approvals for house purchases falling 17%, compared to a month earlier. However, the month-on-month decline takes into account the end of the stamp duty holiday, which resulted in transactions being pushed through in time for December completions, and winter weather conditions that would [...]
Figures from the Bank of England today revealed that British consumers borrowed £500 million in January through credit cards, loans and overdrafts, once repayments were taken into account – the highest level since November 2008. According to the Bank, the increase was almost double the £265 million rise seen in the previous month December, and [...]
Figures from the Bank of England today revealed that new borrowing on credit cards, loans and overdrafts rose for the first time since June 2009. Consumer credit rose £52 million in December, which surprised analysts who had expected a £400 million fall. For the first time since June, borrowing outstripped the amount being paid back [...]
Figures from the Building Societies Association (BSA) have revealed that consumers are opting to repay debt rather than save amid the historically low interest rate environment. According to the BSA, savings balances held by building societies fell by £-929 million in October compared to an increase of £545 million a year ago, when interest rates [...]
Figures from the Bank of England show mortgage approvals rising by a 5% in July, compared with June, to 50,123. The increase marks the sixth consecutive month of improvement, with approval levels for July 50% up on a year earlier. The trend bodes well for the UK housing market, suggesting that the green shoots so [...]
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has produced July mortgage approval figures for the UK’s High Street lenders, showing approvals for house purchases up 7.4% on a month earlier, to 38,181. The figure has now risen for the seventh consecutive month. However, while both the number of mortgage approvals and the amount of new lending increased, [...]
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research is predicting that the UK housing market will only return to growth in 2012. The forecast, from Britain’s oldest independent economic research body, assumes that recent reports of “green shoots” are purely down to a lack of properties for sale, and will be short-lived. With mortgage approvals [...]
Figures from the Office for National Statistics have revealed that the UK economy contracted faster between the third quarter of the year than originally thought. Previous estimates showed that there had been a contraction of 0.5%, however the figure was actually 0.6% during the July and September period. The previous quarter was left unrevised at [...]
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has reported that UK mortgage lending fell sharply in November. Approvals for house purchases were down 14% on October and 60% year-on-year, to a record low of 17,773. The average amount borrowed was £117,000, down nearly 24% on November 2007. Meanwhile, remortgaging approvals fell in volume to 29,798, compared with [...]
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has released data on lending for July, showing that 22,448 mortgages were approved during the month. The figure is slightly ahead of June’s when 22,369 home loan applications were successful but represents a 65% decline on July 2007. It is also well below the average for the six months to [...]
Figures released by the Bank of England today revealed that 42,000 home loans were approved in May, which is a 27% decline compared with April and represents a 64% fall compared with 12 months ago. The Bank said the figures were the lowest since it began recording the data in 1993. The figures were also [...]
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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