Gross mortgage lending fell to an estimated £10.2 billion in April, down 12% from £11.6 billion in March and 1% from £10.3 billion in April 2009. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), a slight seasonal decline had been expected as Easter fell in April this year and gross lending remains broadly in line [...]
Lloyds Banking Group has reviewed its interest-only mortgage offering and withdrawn the non-repayment option on loans of over £500,000. The lender, which operates the Halifax and Cheltenham & Gloucester brands, has also upped rates on interest-only loans, which are now loaded with a 0.2% premium. The end of the house price boom has left banks [...]
Consumer Focus has warned that cash ISAs are depriving savers of £3 billion in interest each year. The consumer group has made a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and is calling for an investigation into Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs). ISAs, which were launched a decade ago by then Chancellor, Gordon Brown, and [...]
Dr Ros Altmann, a former Downing Street pensions adviser, believes there should be an inquiry into the profit margins of credit card companies. Dr Altmann, who is a former academic and independent expert on pensions policy and retirement, believes there might be a case for a regulator to oversee the rates they charge. Last week, [...]
Both Northern Rock and the Post Office have launched new mortgage deals with lower rates. The Post Office has cut the cost of its Bank of Ireland lifetime tracker loans from 3.29% to 2.99%, or from 3.59% to 3.49%, dependent upon the loan-to-value ratio. Bank of Ireland has also reduced the price of its five-year [...]
Nationwide Building Society has increased the rates on a number of its Fixed Rate Bonds and e-Bonds. These include: Three year Fixed Rate Bond and e-Bond paying up to 4.70% gross p.a./AER for balances over £25,000. Two year Fixed Rate Bond and e-Bond paying up to 4.10% gross p.a./AER for balances over £25,000. 18 month [...]
The UK credit card industry has agreed to Government proposals to help credit card holders manage their debt. As part of a crackdown on credit card companies, the Government recently warned credit and store card firms to “clean up their act.” One of the main issues was for credit card companies to stop increasing interest [...]
Despite the fact that interest rates have been on hold at the historically low rate of 0.5% since March 2009, the average credit card interest rate rose from 15.89% to 16.28% in December, according to figures from the Bank of England. The bank also revealed that the average credit card interest rate is now at [...]
Abbey and Alliance & Leicester are offering preferential mortgage rates to some existing customers. The lenders, both part of the Santander group, are enticing current account holders who have been with the banks for six months or more with new deals available in branch or on the telephone. The range includes fee-free tracker and fixed-rate [...]
Government-backed National Savings & Investments (NS&I), which runs Premium Bonds and a variety of savings products, has unveiled a rise in the interest rates on some of its policies. The news will be welcomed by savers who have been suffering amid the historically low interest rate environment. NS&I said rates on its guaranteed growth bonds [...]
Woolwich has announced its second round of mortgage rate cuts this month. From today, the lender is introducing a one-year tracker mortgage at 1.98% for a 60% loan-to-value (LTV) deal, which comes with a £999 fee. The Barclays-owned firm is also cutting rates on its two-year 70% LTV fixed-rate deals with a £999 fee, to [...]
Nationwide has cut rates by up to 0.5% on some of its fixed-rate and tracker mortgages, from today. Reductions have been applied to its two-year and three-year fixed-rate loans and two-year tracker deal, both for new customers and remortgagers. However, also from 4th August the building society will be retaining £99 of its existing reservation [...]
Nationwide Building Society yesterday increased the interest it pays on fixed-rate bonds and e-Bonds, with a headline interest rate of 5%. The fixed-rate bonds are available to anyone, while the e-Bonds are available online to any Nationwide customer with a Nationwide FlexAccount. Both accounts are available for one year, 18 months, two years, three years [...]
The tracker versus fixed-rate dilemma that currently faces homeowners has been investigated by moneysupermarket.com, with the odds laid out as follows: Mortgage borrowers on tracker rates saw their monthly repayments fall substantially, as the base rate plummeted to 0.5%. However, further falls in the base rate are unlikely whereas a rise is inevitable, probably by [...]
Woolwich is cutting rates across its range of mortgages, by up to 0.7%. A two-year fix at 80% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is available at 4.99%, representing a reduction of 0.4%, while a three year fixed-rate deal at 70% LTV comes 0.5% cheaper at 3.99%. In addition, the Barclays-owned lender’s offset tracker mortgage is down 0.5% [...]
Nationwide Building Society is increasing rates on some of its mortgage deals by up to 0.3%. From 18th March, remortgagers with a 40% deposit will pay interest at 3.93% for a two-year tracker, up from 3.63% previously. Homeowners with only 25% of equity in their properties will be charged at 5.08% for a similar deal, [...]
Woolwich has reduced rates on several of its “fix and track” loans for remortgagers. The lender, which forms part of the Barclays group, has cut the rate on its two-year fix and track by 0.5%, to 3.89% while the rate on a three-year fix and track is down by 0.7%, to 3.99%. Both types of [...]
The UK’s third-largest mortgage lender, Nationwide, is cutting the cost on its fixed-rate home loans by up to 1%. The building society will be reducing rates on its two, three and five year fixed-rate deals from 21st January. A two-year fix will be available at 4.39% (down from 4.88%) for up to 60% loan-to-value (LTV) [...]
Latest figures from the Bank of England show that rates on new tracker and standard variable rate loans have fallen in recent weeks, however those with less than a 25% deposit remain locked out of the best deals. Tracker loans are linked to the base rate and at the end of December, the cost of [...]
Abbey has cut the cost of its fixed-rate mortgages for the second time in a fortnight. From 19th December, the lender’s two, three and five-year fixed-rate deals include: A two-year fix at 4.64% with a maximum 75% loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. Up to £150,000 can be borrowed and a £549 fee applies. A three-year fix at [...]
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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