Despite more mortgages being available, mortgage lending dropped to £11.6 billion in September, a fall of 10 per cent from August and 15 per cent lower than September 2011’s figure. The availability of mortgages was boosted by the new Funding for Lending Scheme, but there was little demand from either first time buyers or people [...]
Building Society lending is increasing as mutuals attract customers from high street banks. Lending from building societies increased to £3.1 billion last month, a 14 per cent increase from June, according to the Building Societies Association. Building Societies gained a 24 per cent market share of gross lending in July, an increase of 17 per [...]
The state of the housing market is causing many couples to put off having children according to housing charity Shelter. A YouGov survey commissioned by the charity found that 20 per cent of childless couples between the ages of 31 and 44 are putting off starting a family because of high housing costs. Many couples [...]
Information services company Experian has reported a 23 per cent increase in the number of people giving false information in order to obtain a mortgage. In the second quarter of this year, 39 out of every 10,000 mortgage applications were found to be fraudulent, compared with 32 in the 2011 second quarter. Lenders have tightened [...]
The Treasury and the Bank of England have revealed details of their multi-billion pound ‘funding for lending’ scheme which will begin in August and run for 18 months. The initiative is designed to make it easier and cheaper for businesses and individuals to secure loans and mortgages. It is hoped that it will help to [...]
Mortgage lending showed a “healthy improvement” in May despite continuing economic uncertainty and problems in the eurozone. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported a 33 per cent increase in the number of new loans granted to home buyers, compared with the previous month. 48,300 new home loans were granted in May 2012, an increase [...]
Borrowers were more cautious in May according to figures from the British Bankers Association (BBA) which showed an increased focus on reducing debt. Mortgage repayments were higher than lending for the first time, according to the BBA’s figures. Net mortgage lending fell by £73 million in May, the first time it has gone into reverse [...]
Mortgage lending increased by 24 per cent to £12.2 billion in May, after a fall in April, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The figure was 13 per cent higher than a year ago. However, when the effect of the end of the stamp duty holiday on first-time buyer properties is excluded, the [...]
Mortgage lending fell by 30 per cent in April, with just 36,000 home loans approved, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The fall followed the end of the stamp duty concession for first-time buyers, and loans to this group fell by nearly a half, to 12,600 in April. Many first-time buyers rushed to [...]
Mortgage lending to first-time buyers soared in March, as house-buyers rushed to buy their first home before the end of the stamp duty holiday. Properties below the value of £250,000, purchased before 24 March, were exempt from the 1 per cent tax. Twenty-four thousand mortgages were approved for first-time buyers in March, a 74 per [...]
Mortgages are more expensive for one million homeowners after the Halifax, the Co-operative Bank, Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank all increased their standard variable rate (SVR) yesterday. Many mortgages revert to the SVR when a fixed-rate deal comes to the end of its term. Lenders are increasing their SVRs due to the higher cost of [...]
Mortgage lending increased by 4 per cent in February, compared with the previous month, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The number of loans made for house purchase increased to 36,600, representing a year-on-year rise of 17 per cent. There was also growth in the number of first-time buyer [...]
Gross mortgage lending fell to £10.5bn in January, 12 per cent lower than the total for December. However the figures represent a year-on-year increase of 10 per cent, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said. January was the sixth consecutive month of higher lending compared with the previous year. Home loan approvals also increased in [...]
Norwich & Peterborough Building Society (N&P) has launched a low rate, low fee mortgage to attract buyers who plan to stay in their property for a longer period of time. The ten-year fixed rate mortgage offers an interest rate of just 3.99 per cent APR, making it one of the cheapest deals on the market. [...]
December marked the fifth consecutive month of year-on-year growth in mortgage lending, with a 12 per increase, according to the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML). Gross mortgage lending in December was an estimated £11.7 billion, while for the whole year it totalled £140 billion, £2 billion higher than the CML’s expectations. December’s figures represent a [...]
HSBC has announced plans to lend more than £15 billion in mortgages this year, with £3m of this ring-fenced for first-time buyers. This should provide mortgages for up to 150,000 home buyers during 2012, including 27,000 people buying their first home. The sum amounts to 11 per cent of all the mortgage borrowing predicted for [...]
52,854 mortgage loans were agreed in principle in November according to the latest figures from the Bank of England, just 68 higher than the previous month. Although mortgage lending in November 2011 was 12% higher than in November 2010, there has been no significant improvement for four months. Mortgage approvals remain at half their 2007 [...]
Despite the slump in the housing market, Nationwide Building Society’s gross mortgage lending increased by 48% to £8.9 billion in the six months to September. Although the number of first-time buyers in the market continued to fall, Nationwide lent more than £1.2 billion to this group in the first half of the year, 3 per [...]
Mortgage lending fell by 4 per cent to £13.1 billion last month, compared with £13.7 billion in September when it was at its highest level for two years. Lending was up by 13% year-on-year in October 2011, from £11.6 billion in October 2010. However, the figures include a strong year-on-year increase in remortgage activity rather [...]
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 [...]
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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