Homeowners in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham are most at risk of having their home repossessed, according to housing charity Shelter. There were around eight possession claims per 1,000 homes in Barking and Dagenham in 2011/12, twice as high as the average for the UK as a whole. Shelter’s latest “Repossession Risk Hotspots” [...]
The number of first-time homeowners in their twenties seeking help from the Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) fell to 3,008 in 2011, from 4,489 in 2009. The charity, which assists people in financial difficulty by providing free debt advice, suggests this is due to low interest rates. The Bank of England’s base rate has been at [...]
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, [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported an increase in repossessions. According to the Council, lenders seized 9,100 properties in the January to March period – a rise of 15% on the previous quarter. However, it was 10% lower when compared with the same period last year. Experts have previously argued that many [...]
A leading credit rating agency has warned that government cuts and tax increases could result in a rise in repossessions across the UK housing market. According to Standard & Poor’s (S&P), the house price crash did not bring the average cost of a home in line with household incomes, and measures yet to be implemented [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined David Jones, Northern Rock’s former finance director, for the misreporting of mortgage arrears at the bank. The Watchdog has fined Mr Jones £320,000 and banned him from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity. The fine comes after former deputy chief executive, David Baker, and former [...]
The Government is to reduce funding for the Mortgage Rescue Scheme, the BBC has reported. The scheme was set up in 2009 to help vulnerable homeowners in England facing repossession, by offering the following options. Government Mortgage to Rent is available to households on low incomes, with little chance of sustaining a mortgage, and involves [...]
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 [...]
The number of homeowners who saw their properties repossessed by lenders fell to a two-year low in the first three months of 2010. New data from the Financial Services Authority put the total the number of repossessions at 10,500, down 11% on the final quarter of 2009. In addition, new mortgage arrears declined by 2%, [...]
New research from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) puts the number of homes in repossession in the three months to the end of June at 13,610, representing a 9% fall on the previous quarter. However, the figure is 23% up on the same period of 2008, although the regulator says the sharp rise in repossessions [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that repossessions by first-charge mortgage lenders stood at 12,800 during the first quarter of 2009. The total includes buy-to-let loans but excludes instances where a “receiver of rent” has been appointed as an alternative to repossession. The figure compares with 10,400 repossessions in the final quarter of [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has reported a sharp rise in home repossessions and mortgage arrears. During 2008, lenders repossessed a total of 46,750 properties, up from 27,900 in 2007. Cases of mortgage arrears of three months and more rose 31% over the year, to 377,000. The increase accelerated during the final quarter with around [...]
The managing director of economic forecasting agency, Capital Economics, has predicted that mortgage repossessions could rise to 90,000 during 2009. Roger Bootle, a former chief economist of HSBC, made the gloomy forecast earlier this week, when delivering a speech at the Chartered Institute of Housing South East’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, in Brighton. He also [...]
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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