The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has reported that mortgage lending in January was “relatively weak”, as adverse weather conditions and an inflated December market impacted on house sales. Last month, BBA members approved 35,000 loans to home buyers, down from 46,000 in December but up 37.8% on a year earlier. Remortgaging approvals stood at 20,252, [...]
Gross mortgage lending plummeted in January, adversely affected by the end of the stamp duty holiday. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) puts the gross figure at £9.1 billion, down 32% from £13.4 billion in December and 21% year-on-year. While a decline is typically experienced between December and January, advances were at their lowest since [...]
Mortgage lending by Britain’s High Street banks strengthened slightly in December, although the end of the stamp duty holiday is likely to have prompted a surge in completions before the New Year. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) reported net lending of £3.5 billion during the month, up from £3.4 billion in November and showing an [...]
In its latest Credit Conditions Survey, the Bank of England has reported that mortgage lending improved in the three months to early December 2009. According to the Bank, the upturn was “driven in part by improvements in the economic outlook and in prospects for house prices”. Encouragingly for first-time buyers, the rise in mortgage availability [...]
Britain’s High Street banks approved more new mortgages and loans for house purchases in October, with the figure nudging up from 42,073 in September, to 42,238 According to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), the improvement reflects continued growth from the low levels seen at the end of last year. BBA statistics director, David Dooks, says [...]
September’s mortgage approvals for house purchases were at their highest level since March 2008, the Bank of England has reported. During the month, lenders endorsed 56,215 loans for home buyers, a 3,000 plus improvement on August. However, remortgaging volumes continued to decline. Commenting on the data, Council of Mortgage Lenders’ economist, Paul Samter, observes: “There [...]
Reports that mortgage lending increased during September are a “very positive sign” for the UK housing market, an industry expert has claimed. Stuart Law, chief executive of property investment firm Assetz, made the remarks after the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported a 2% rise in mortgage lending during September. Law said he is optimistic [...]
The number of mortgages approved for house purchases by the UK’s leading banks rose again in September. Figures from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) show 42,100 home loans sanctioned for house purchases, up from 40,100 in August and a 77% improvement on a year ago. Other mortgage approvals “remained subdued” last month and the Association [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that gross mortgage lending increased 26% in July, compared with June, hitting an estimated £16 billion. The lenders’ body describes the surge as further evidence of a “modest improvement” in the UK housing market over the summer months and suggests house purchase activity will have been behind [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed a rise in UK retail sales for the month of July. According to the ONS, retail sales rose 0.4% in July when compared with the previous month, while on an annual basis, the gain was 3.3% – the best performance since May 2008. Many analysts had [...]
Clydesdale Bank has approved more mortgages in the past two months than it did this time last year. The bank approved 30% more home loans in May and June compared to the same period in 2008. This rise in approvals follows Clydesdale’s pledge last week to release a further £1 billion of new lending to [...]
Gross mortgage lending declined to an estimated £10.4 billion in April, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported. The total fell 9%, from £11.4 billion, in March and is 60% below the £26.1 billion figure for April 2008. The body points out that seasonal factors have to be taken into account as Easter fell [...]
Latest figures from the Bank of England show mortgage lending volumes for house purchases in January falling in line with a six month average of 31,000. However, net mortgage lending (gross lending with repayments and redemptions stripped out) rose by £690 million during the month, compared with £1.794 billion in December. The data suggests that [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which represents 98% of the UK’s residential mortgage providers, has reported that gross mortgage lending declined in January, to an estimated £12.4 billion. The total is down 8% on December and 52% year-on-year. Traditionally a slight fall is recorded between December and January, however, last month’s figure is at [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has responded to yesterday’s cut in the base rate to 1% by saying that “it is unlikely to have a material effect on the overall state of the mortgage market”. The Council’s director general, Michael Coogan, agrees that borrowers on tracker rates will welcome the reduction but says it is [...]
The desperate need for increased mortgage lending has been highlighted by a report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), which is predicting that UK house prices could fall by a further 25% in 2009. Taking into account last year’s 16% decline, the forecast gives a peak-to-trough fall of 40%. The independent consultancy [...]
The Bank of England has been cutting the base rate aggressively since the autumn of last year and homeowners on tracker rates are becoming used to an almost monthly drop in the cost of their mortgage repayments. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meets again this week amid speculation that the base rate could fall to [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that in November, new mortgage lending continued to fall. The number of new home loans approved fell 17% on October to 33,000 and was 59% below the level recorded in November 2007. The outlook for the next few months is bleak, with the CML predicting that lending [...]
Figures released today from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have revealed a slight improvement in mortgage lending for October. Mortgage lending rose £18.7 billion, almost 7%, however, the CML has cautioned that continued weakness is expected in the market. Despite the slight increase, October’s lending is still 44% lower when compared with October 2007. [...]
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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