Chancellor George Osborne is today expected to hand over more responsibility to the Bank of England. The move comes just a few days after the BBC reported that City Watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), will be retained – as a subsidiary of the Bank of England. It was expected that the watchdog would be [...]
Credit rating agency Fitch today warned that the UK needs a more ambitious deficit reduction plan, in view of the events in the euro zone. The pound fell against the dollar after Fitch’s comments, by 1% to $1.437. According to Fitch, the pace of the deficit reduction needs to be quicker than that announced by [...]
Accord Mortgages has launched a new ten-year fixed rate deal with loan-to-value ratios of between 75% and 85%, and a starting rate of 5.24%. The Yorkshire Building Society subsidiary has also made a number of rate reductions across its range, cutting five-year fixed rates by up to 0.5%, and two and three-year fixes by 0.35% [...]
Chancellor George Osborne has today unveiled details of the new coalition Government’s plans to shave £6.2 billion off public spending this financial year. The new Con/Lib coalition Government has said trimming the budget deficit is one of its priorities. However, Mr Osborne’s predecessor, Alistair Darling, warned that cutting the deficit too quickly could pose a [...]
Britain’s ongoing deficit worries continue to weigh heavily on the economy and this was evident after the pound fell to a 13-month low against the dollar today. Sterling fell as low as $1.4249 – its lowest level since March 2009, before recovering to $1.4435 – down 0.7% on the day. Today, at his first press [...]
As the new Coalition Government gets underway, it has been revealed that Child Trust Funds (CTFs) will be reviewed and while full details are not yet clear, it is believed that payments will only be made to families with household incomes of less than £16,000 a year. CTFs were introduced in 2005 and have been [...]
Leading economists have said VAT will rise to 20% by the end of 2011 under the new coalition Government. According to a BBC survey, 24 out of 29 economists used by the Treasury expect the sales tax to rise, in order to try to pay back the UK’s fiscal deficit. Prior to the election, all [...]
The Post Office has launched new mortgage deals with first-time buyers in mind. The lender is not only happy with a minimum deposit of 10% but is also allowing borrowers to choose between an interest only and capital plus interest repayment option. For a two-year fix the rate is 5.45%, for a five-year 5.99%, and [...]
Conservative leader David Cameron, 43, has become Britain’s youngest Prime Minister in almost 200 years following Gordon Brown’s resignation after 13 years of Labour rule. Mr Cameron will now form a coalition Government with the Liberal Democrats, which represents the first such Government in the UK for 70 years. Announcing his resignation, Prime Minister, Gordon [...]
Supermarket giant Morrisons has today reported same store sales rose by 0.8% in the 13 weeks to 2 May, much lower than the 6% growth reported in the year to January 31. Despite the slower sales growth, the Bradford-based retailer said it is outperforming its competitors and industry data shows it remains the fastest-growing of [...]
Residential mortgage approvals declined in February, new figures from the Bank of England show. The number of loans sanctioned for house purchases fell by over 1,000, compared to a month earlier, to 47,094. The total was also well below the previous six months average of 55,130 and 21% below the peak seen in November, as [...]
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association has today revealed registrations of new cars in Europe grew an annual 3.2% in February to 1,000,754 vehicles. However, a severe fall of 30% was noted in Germany as the country’s scrappage scheme expired, but the fall was offset by growth in Italy and the UK, which still have incentive [...]
The Government-led crackdown on credit card companies is expected to save consumers around £300 million a year. The crackdown comes after the Government warned credit and store card firms to “clean up their act” after it launched a review of the industry in a consumer White Paper in July 2009. According to Prime Minister, Gordon [...]
City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has today announced banks will face stricter stress testing to ensure they can survive a further 4 years of falling economic growth and a 13.3% unemployment rate. Stress tests were introduced following the financial crisis to ensure that banks had sufficient capital to allow them to continue operating [...]
The Greek Government has today unveiled a new series of measures aimed at tackling the country’s debt problems, which has resulted in the euro recovering 0.3% to $1.3637. Growing fears over the debt crisis in Greece have weakened the value of the euro in recent weeks as Greece takes action to reduce its public deficit [...]
In a round-up of January mortgage lending, Bank of England figures show approvals for house purchases falling 17%, compared to a month earlier. However, the month-on-month decline takes into account the end of the stamp duty holiday, which resulted in transactions being pushed through in time for December completions, and winter weather conditions that would [...]
Enquiries from new home buyers dipped in January, for the first time in 14 months. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the winter freeze may have been responsible for the downturn with house sellers also affected and the number of homes being put up for sale falling for the first time in [...]
Northern Rock, which was recently split into two divisions, is to continue its sponsorship of Newcastle United Football Club after signing a new four-year deal valued at between £1.5 million and £10 million. Rock has been the football club’s shirt sponsor since 2004 and the new deal will run from season 2010/11 to 2014. However, [...]
Those wishing to consolidate their dates after the expensive Christmas period may be interested to learn about the Nationwide’s new loan deals, which were launched earlier this week. Nationwide has introduced a new personal loan rate of 7.6% APR typical for loans of between £7,500 and £14,999 for up to five years for its main [...]
Budget hotel group, Travelodge, continues to defy the recession as it embarks on a £115 million expansion programme which will see it open 26 new hotels. In October 2008, the group, which is owned by Dubai International Capital, the private equity group owned by the Arab Emirate’s ruling sheikh, said it would open almost two [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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