The Bank of England has warned that the ongoing Eurozone crisis is pushing up the cost of borrowing on wholesale financial markets. This is making it more expensive for lenders to fund mortgages and they are passing the costs on to customers by increasing their mortgage rates. “In the absence of falls in funding costs, [...]
In the last year around seven million UK house buyers have been forced to use payday loans or unauthorised overdrafts to meet their mortgage repayments, according to housing charity Shelter. With both of these sources of finance potentially carrying extremely high interest rates, this represents one in seven Britons who could be at risk of [...]
New data from the Bank of England suggests that house owners are focusing on repaying their mortgages as part of their efforts to reduce debt. Consumers are concerned about the state of the economy and their incomes are under pressure from pay freezes, rising unemployment and high levels of inflation. These pressures, together with falling [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported a further fall in repossessions – the fourth consecutive quarter in which they have fallen. According to the Council, lenders seized 8,900 properties in the July to September period – representing a fall of 5% compared with the second quarter. Experts argued, though, that many homeowners [...]
Britain’s homeowners are typically finding their mortgage repayments twice as affordable as when house prices peaked, in 2007. Research from Halifax has revealed that in June, the average monthly mortgage repayment accounted for 28% of disposable income, compared to 50% three years ago. However, first-time buyer numbers fell to 94,600 in the first six months [...]
The cost of running a home in the UK has plummeted to a three year low, according to new research from Halifax. A study by the bank found that the cost of owning and running a household has fallen by nearly a fifth during the past twelve months to the lowest level since 2006. Household [...]
In its latest First Time Buyer Affordability Review, Halifax has reported a significant improvement in the mortgage payments to earnings ratio. For the average first-time buyer, mortgage repayments account for 31% of average income, down from a peak of 48% in 2007 and below the long-term average of 37% recorded over the past 25 years. [...]
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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