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, […]
Obtaining a mortgage has become increasingly difficult since the credit crunch and the situation is worsening according to recent reports. Several lenders have recently increased mortgage rates for new borrowers, including Abbey, HSBC, Halifax, Lloyds TSB, Santander, Britannia, and Cheltenham & Gloucester. Customers taking out new fixed, tracker or discounted home loans will have to […]
Rents on private accommodation fell by 0.6 per cent last month, to an average of £707, according to the latest Buy-to-Let Index from LSL, a provider of residential property services. The agency suggests that the fall is likely to be temporary as it is related to an increase in the number of tenants deciding to […]
Marks & Spencer Money is offering borrowers a personal loan at a rate of just 6 per cent. This represents the lowest rate since 2008 when Moneyback Bank was offering 5.8 per cent, while just one year ago Tesco Bank offered the lowest loan rate, of 8.4 per cent. Marks & Spencer Money’s 6% deal […]
The FSA’s report into lending, due to be published next week, is expected to include proposals to help home owners in negative equity. The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that one in 12 homeowners are in negative equity, with their home now worth less than the price they paid for it, making it impossible for […]
The government has announced a review of its Support for Mortgage Interest scheme (SMI), which helps people receiving certain benefits if they are finding it difficult to pay their mortgage interest. SMI, which is available to people on benefits such as Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and Pension Credits, costs the Government around £400 million […]
Lenders and financial experts have highlighted a number of potential problems with the Government’s mortgage indemnity scheme, which was announced yesterday. Banks and building societies have commented that the scheme was rushed through with insufficient thought, while financial commentators warned that first time buyers taking advantage of the scheme could end up owning a house […]
Although the mortgage market is currently stable, the outlook remains uncertain in the face of the eurozone crisis. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that 48,200 mortgages were taken out to buy homes in September, two per cent less than in the previous month. However there was a 3 per cent improvement in […]
The Bank of England has today revealed mortgage approvals fell in September for the first time in six months. According to the Bank, there were 50,967 loans approved in the month – down 3% on August’s figure. However, September’s figure was broadly in line with forecasts and suggests the UK mortgage market will remain subdued […]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported the number of loans for house purchase rose in August. According to the Council, there were 52,000 loans advanced for house purchase (worth £7.9 billion) in the month – up from 48,700 (£7.2 billion) in July. The Council described today’s figures as “welcome signs of life” […]
The Bank of England has today revealed mortgage approvals picked up significantly in August to a 20-month high. According to the Bank, there were 52,410 loans approved in the month – almost 3,000 more than the level seen in July and the highest figure since December 2009. The figure was also higher than the 49,500 […]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which represents lenders who offer around 94% of all residential mortgage lending in the UK, has today reported UK mortgage lending grew in August. According to the Council, lending was 6% higher in August on a monthly basis, attributed to seasonal factors. The figures come after July saw a […]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported the number of loans for house purchase rose in July. According to the Council, there were 48,400 loans advanced for house purchase in the month – up by 1,000 from June’s figure but almost 7,000 lower when compared with July 2010. Commenting on today’s figures, Paul Smee, […]
Housebuilder Bovis has today reported profits more than doubled in the six months to the end of June as a result of cost-cutting and rising house prices. The company said pre-tax profits surged to £8.1 million in the six month period compared with £3.5 million in the same period a year earlier, while revenue rose […]
The Bank of England has today revealed mortgage approvals picked up significantly in July to a 14-month high. According to the central Bank, there were 49,239 loans approved in the month – higher than the upwardly revised 48,500 for June and a significant improvement on April’s 45,855 which represented a four-month low. The figure was […]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported a fall in home repossessions. According to the Council, lenders seized 9,000 properties in the April to June period – 100 less when compared with the first three months of the year. Meanwhile, there were 18,100 repossessions in the first half of 2011, compared with compared […]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported the number of loans for house purchase rose in June. According to the Council, there were 46,700 loans advanced for house purchase in the month – a rise of 22% compared with the previous month but 11% lower on an annual basis. However, despite the annual […]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported a pick up in mortgage lending for the month of June. According to the Council, gross mortgage lending last month totalled £12.9 billion – this represented a 16% rise on a monthly basis but was 3% lower compared with June 2010. Meanwhile, the CML said mortgage […]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that the number of loans for house purchase rose in May. According to the Council, there were 41,500 loans worth £5.9 billion advanced for house purchase in the month, up from 40,800 in April. However, the figure remains lower than the 43,800 loans advanced in May 2010. […]
Figures from Moneyfacts have revealed in the number of mortgage products. The credit crunch resulted in a tightening of lending criteria and mortgages have been hard to secure without a substantial deposit. However, the number of different mortgage products has risen to its highest level since November 2008, according to Moneyfacts, due to increased competition. […]
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 […]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
