The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has today revealed a further fall in the number of new mortgages approved by the major banks in January. According to the BBA, the number of new mortgages approved in the month stood at 28,932 – marginally better than December’s levels but 29% lower compared with January 2010. The figures [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported mortgage lending remained weak in January. Mortgage lending fell by 13% in January compared with December to £9.2 billion – the lowest level for a year, according to the CML. However, it was a 5% rise on January 2010 levels – the first year-on-year increase since [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported mortgage lending remained weak in December. However, the month is traditionally a quiet one as prospective buyers opt to wait until the New Year to purchase a home. The number of loans approved for those buying a new home stood at 39,000 during the month – [...]
The Bank of England has today revealed mortgage approvals slumped in December – to the lowest level since March 2009 – when the economy was in the midst of recession. According to the Bank, there were 42,563 loans approved in the month, down from November’s 47,287 approvals. December’s figure was also way below analysts forecast [...]
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has today revealed a further fall in the number of new mortgages approved by the major banks in December. According to the BBA, the number of new mortgages approved in the month fell to 28,726, down from 29,696 in November – representing the lowest figure since January 2009. Net mortgage [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported mortgage lending remained weak in December. Mortgage lending fell by 6% in December compared with November, said the Council. According to the CML, mortgage lending totalled £11 billion – this was 18% lower compared with December 2009 – when buyers were rushing to beat the end [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported mortgage lending remained weak in November. However, the month is traditionally a quiet one as prospective buyers opt to wait until the New Year to purchase a home. The number of loans approved for those buying a new home remained flat at 44,000 during the month [...]
Housebuilder Bovis Homes has today issued a positive trading statement after saying it expects profits to be ahead of expectations for the 2010 year. The company, which is one of the smaller listed housebuilders, said it will also start paying dividends again to shareholders. Many housebuilders took a battering during the housing market slump and [...]
A survey of 5,287 homeowners by online property website Zoopla.co.uk has revealed housing market confidence is at a two-year low. More than half (54%) of those questioned said they expect house prices to rise over the first six months of 2011 – this is down from the 81% reported this time last year. The website’s [...]
A report from the homeless charity, Shelter, has revealed that in the last year, 2.6 million Britons have paid their mortgage or rent on their credit card. The figure represents a rise of 50% on the previous year and reveals the extraordinary lengths some are going to in order to keep a roof over their [...]
The Bank of England has today revealed mortgage approvals picked up in November – surprising analysts. According to the Bank, there were 48,019 loans approved in the month, up from October’s 47,315 approvals. Not only did this represent the highest level since July, it confounded expectations of a level of 47,000. Meanwhile, approvals for remortgaging [...]
Research from the Halifax has revealed first-time buyers are still struggling to get onto the property ladder unless they have a hefty deposit. The mortgage lender said a first-time buyer has to find at least £29,000 in order to secure a mortgage, while those in London require almost double that (£50,000). Since the credit crunch [...]
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has today revealed a further fall in the number of new mortgages approved by the major banks in November. According to the BBA, the number of new mortgages approved in the month fell to 29,991, down from 30,689 in October – representing a 20-month low. Net mortgage lending fell to [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today reported mortgage lending remained weak in November. Mortgage lending last month fell by 5% when compared with October, said the Council. According to the CML, mortgage lending totalled £11.1 billion – lower than October’s £11.6 billion and the weakest monthly amount since April. CML chief economist Bob [...]
First-time buyers (FTBs) are still struggling to get a foot on the ladder, despite a steep rise in the number of mortgage products available. Mortgage deals for those with a small deposit has doubled, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk, with more than 1,000 mortgages on the market for those with a 20% deposit or less. However, while [...]
The Bank of England has today revealed mortgage approvals fell again in October – to an eight-month low. According to the Bank, there were 47,185 loans approved in the month – the lowest level since February, albeit in line with expectations of 47,000. The figure is less than half the level reached at the height [...]
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has today revealed a further fall in the number of new mortgages approved by the major banks in October. According to the BBA, the number of new mortgages approved in the month fell to 30,766, down from 31,058 in September – representing the lowest level since March 2009 – when [...]
Barratt Developments is the latest housebuilder to report a slowdown in the housing market as buyer demand continues to fall. The group’s chief executive, Mark Clare, said the traditional autumn period has been “weaker than anticipated”. Government spending cuts, and the uncertainty surrounding the economy, have also had a major impact as buyers adopt a [...]
Official data from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) today revealed UK house prices fell by 0.8% in September compared with August, with the average UK home costing £211,815. The quarter-on-quarter growth rate, which is a more reliable indicator or near-term price trend, also fell by 0.7%, compared with a rise of 1.6% [...]
Housebuilder Persimmon today added to the gloom surrounding the housing market after suggesting the lack of mortgage availability continues to prevent a recovery. The housebuilder, which is the UK’s second largest by market value, said that while it experienced a slight improvement in sales in during September – it was not the traditional pick-up noted [...]
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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