The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that the number of mortgages for house purchases fell 49% in 2008. Just 516,000 such loans were agreed during the year, representing the lowest level of activity since 1974. In December, house purchase loans slid to 32,000 down 5% on November to the lowest level since monthly [...]
A growing number of young adults are living with their parents to save money during the credit crunch. A survey by Abbey Mortgages found that one in five 18-24 year olds either moved back in with their parents or put off plans to leave home last year. These ‘baby boomerangers’ – totalling more than a [...]
Eight major lenders yesterday confirmed plans to pass on the full 0.5% base rate cut to mortgage holders. Abbey, Barclays, Cheltenham & Gloucester, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide Building Society and Skipton Building Society have all announced interest rate cuts. Abbey said the full rate cut will be passed on to tracker mortgage holders, whilst [...]
Nationwide is reducing interest rates for its offshore savings accounts. The building society’s offshore subsidiary announced that the interest rate paid to customers with over £25,000 in a Sterling Base Rate Tracker account will drop from 4.15% to 3.25%. Customers with a balance less than £25,000 will see their interest rate drop from 3.6% to [...]
Potential first time buyers are being put off the housing market by uncompetitive mortgage deals, according to price comparison site Moneyfacts.co.uk. Research by Moneyfacts.co.uk found that the average standard variable rate (SVR) for mortgage-holders with less than 25% deposit is 4.9%. Moneyfacts.co.uk analyst Michelle Slade said there is ‘simply no incentive’ for first time buyers [...]
The Nottingham has launched a new savings account designed to help first time buyers onto the property ladder. The First Home Saver account is aimed at anyone wanting to buy their first house, but who has yet to save a deposit. The current average deposit needed by a first time buyer is £13,000. It is [...]
The Co-operative Bank is lowering interest-paid on savings accounts whilst maintaining interest charged on mortgages. Following the Bank of England’s January base rate cut, the bank said it is reducing interest on savings accounts by 0.25%. It reassured customers that interest rates on main savings accounts would not drop below 1%. However, despite the cut [...]
The RBS Group has announced that it will only pass on last week’s Bank of England base rate cut to some customers. The banking group, which includes NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland, said those on tracker mortgages and small business with variable rate overdrafts would benefit from the full 0.5% cut. However, individual [...]
Financial data provider, Moneyfacts.co.uk, has published new figures showing that 25% of mortgages available in the UK to new borrowers require a deposit of at least 40%. Those who can only manage a deposit of 5% or less have a mere 21 home loans to choose from, compared with over 1,200 in February of last [...]
In a move that could be seen as a snub to the Government, state-owned Northern Rock has increased rates on some of its most attractive mortgage deals. For new borrowers, the bank’s one-year fixed mortgage rate has increased from 3.99% to 4.19%. Meanwhile, rates on the lender’s two and five-year fixed-rate home loans have risen [...]
The rescue of Bradford & Bingley (B&B) has prompted a mass withdrawal of mortgage products from the already depleted UK market. According to financial website, Moneyfacts, around 500 home loans have been withdrawn since the beginning of this week. The number of mortgages available for residential and buy-to-let borrowers fell 11% in 24 hours to [...]
Latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show a continued decline in lending, as house sales hit record low levels. In August, the value of new home loans advanced totalled £21.8 billion, down 12% on July and 36% on August 2007. CML director general, Michael Coogan, expects the downward spiral to continue in the [...]
Members of the New Local Government Network (NLGN) are calling on the Government to provide local authorities with new powers that would allow them to make a competitive entry into the home loan market. NLGN is an independent think tank that seeks to transform public services. It comprises a number of senior local government figures [...]
For the second time in a fortnight, Nationwide is cutting mortgage rates. The lender says that new borrowers will benefit from a reduction of up to 0.46% on some of its two, three and five-year fixed-rate deals and its two-year lifetime tracker mortgages. The building society is cutting the rate on a two-year fixed-rate deal [...]
Latest research from financial website Moneyfacts.co.uk shows that the cost of a fixed-rate mortgage is continuing to rise despite a fall in money market swap rates. Swap rates determine fixed mortgage interest rates and reflect traders’ views on the direction that interest rates will take during the period of the fix. While swap rates peaked [...]
HSBC subsidiary, First Direct, has re-opened to new business after closing its doors to new customers on the 1st April because it could not keep up with demand for its mortgages. At the time, the lender reported that business volumes had increased 500% and that it would be focusing on the needs of its existing [...]
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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