The Markit Household Finance Index has revealed that households are at their most pessimistic about their finances since March 2009 – when the country was in the midst of recession. The gloomy report comes ahead of Wednesday’s Budget – when Chancellor George Osborne will unveil the Government’s 2011/12 tax and spending plans. Meanwhile, Markit’s household [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices fell by 0.9% last month compared with January, when prices rose 0.8%. The latest house price rise takes the average cost of a UK home to £162,657, the Halifax said. Meanwhile, in the three months to February, prices dropped 2.8% on an annual basis – the fastest [...]
The latest house price index from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a 0.3% rise for the month of February compared with January. The latest rise, which was unexpected, means house prices are now 0.1% lower than this time last year with the average UK home costing £161,183. However, despite the latest rise, the majority [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices rose by 0.8% last month compared with December, when prices fell 1.3%. The latest house price rise takes the average cost of a UK home to £164,173, the Halifax said. According to the lender, which is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, house prices are now 2.4% [...]
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 latest house price index from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a 0.1% fall for the month of January compared with December. The latest fall means house prices are now 1.1% lower than this time last year with the average UK home costing £161,600. According to Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner, the outlook remains [...]
The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed an improvement in UK consumer confidence for the month of December after three months of falls. The building society’s consumer confidence index rose to 53 in December, up from 45 in November – which represented the lowest reading since March 2009 – when the economy [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices fell by 1.3% last month compared with November. The latest house price fall takes the average cost of a UK home to £162,435, the Halifax said. According to the lender, which is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, house prices are now 1.6% lower than a year [...]
The latest house price index from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a 0.4% rise for the month of December compared with November. The latest rise means house prices are now just 0.4% higher than this time last year with the average UK home costing £162,763. Commenting on the figures, Nationwide’s chief economist Martin Gahbauer, [...]
National Statistician Jil Matheson is recommending a single headline measure of house prices be introduced. Ms Matheson, the Government’s chief adviser on official statistics, conducted a review into official housing data following concerns from people who monitor house prices from various indices. Currently, there are two official house price indexes, one published by the Land [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices fell by 0.1% last month compared with October. The latest house price fall takes the average cost of a UK home to £164,708, the Halifax said. According to the lender, which is now part of the Lloyds Banking Group, buyer demand continues to be weak amid economic [...]
The latest house price index from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a 0.3% fall for the month of November compared with October – the fourth time in five months that prices registered a fall. The latest fall means house prices are now just 0.4% higher than this time last year with the average UK [...]
Britain’s largest building society, Nationwide, has today posted a surge in first half profits. Nationwide said pre-tax profits for the six months to September 30 were £147 million, up from £117 million in the same period a year ago. The company, which is the country’s second-biggest mortgage lender, added that bad debts dropped by 44% [...]
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) today reported the lack of buyers continue to weaken house prices. In its latest survey, it found that new buyer enquiries declined for the fifth month in a row as the housing market continued to slow amid the uncertain economic climate. Many potential buyers have said they remain [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices rose by 1.8% last month, following a 3.6% fall in September. The latest house price rise takes the average cost of a UK home to £164,919, the Halifax said. According to the lender, the monthly increase was three times faster than expected and means house prices are [...]
The latest house price index from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a 0.7% fall for the month of October compared with September. The latest house price gain means the annual rate of house price inflation fell to 1.4%, down from 3.1% in September, with the average UK home costing £164,381. Meanwhile, the three-month-on-three-month rate [...]
The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a fall in UK consumer confidence for the month of September. The building society’s consumer confidence index plunged 9 points to 53 in September – its lowest level in over a year. Commenting on the survey, Nationwide chief economist Martin Gahbauer, said the forthcoming spending [...]
The Halifax has today revealed UK house prices fell by a record 3.6% in September compared with August. The latest house price fall takes the average cost of a UK home to £162,096, the Halifax said. According to the lender, the monthly decline was the biggest since records began in 1983. However, it is still [...]
Nationwide has reported a 0.1% rise in the average UK house price in September (compared to August), taking the value of the typical home to £166,757. The movement left the annual rate of gain at 3.1%, down from 3.9% in August and 6.6% in July. Meanwhile, the three-month-on-three-month rate of change, which is a more [...]
UK house prices saw their second consecutive monthly fall in August, according to Nationwide. The lender recorded a 0.9% decline in the average value of a home, following a 0.5% month-on-month fall in July. The annual rate of inflation remained in positive territory at 3.9% but was down sharply, from 6.6% in July and 8.7% [...]
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 [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
