HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has revealed a slump in the number of homes sold in November in the UK. According to HMRC, 77,000 homes worth at least £40,000 or more were sold in the month – down from the 80,000 sold in October and 6,000 less than in November last year. The figures are [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) is predicting that the housing market will remain subdued in 2011, due to uncertainty surrounding the economy and the ongoing mortgage rationing by lenders. Over recent times, demand has been weak as many buyers have adopted a “wait and see” approach as uncertainty continues to surround the economy and [...]
Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a further fall in asking prices in December. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales fell 3% – or £7,000 in the last month – the biggest drop since December 2007. The property website, which claims to advertise 90% of the properties on the [...]
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 [...]
According to housing intelligence group, Hometrack, house prices in England and Wales fell for the fifth consecutive month in November. According to Hometrack, house prices fell by 0.8% on the month in November to £155,000. The ongoing fall in values continues to be the result of a higher level of instructions on the market and [...]
Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a major fall in asking prices in November – as vendors cut their prices amid desperation to sell their property before the Christmas slowdown. According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales fell 3.2% in the month – the biggest drop since December 2007. The [...]
Australia has today revised its annual growth forecast from 3.25% to 3% due to uncertainty surrounding the global economic recovery. Australia is one of the few developed economies not to have fallen into recession like its counterparts throughout the world as it has benefited from an increase in commodity prices, while exports have received a [...]
The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a further fall in UK consumer confidence for the month of June. The building society’s consumer confidence index plunged from 66 in May to 63 in June – the lowest level for a year, due to ongoing economic uncertainty. However, the Nationwide highlights that the [...]
The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a sharp fall in UK consumer confidence for the month of May. The building society’s consumer confidence index plunged to 65 last month – the lowest level since June 2009, down from a revised reading of 75 in April. According to the Nationwide, its survey [...]
Activity in the UK’s closely-watched service sector slowed in April, hit by the volcanic ash cloud which disrupted businesses. Furthermore, activity was hit by concerns about the outcome of the general election, according to analysts. The latest activity index from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)/Markit PMI showed a reading of 55.3 in [...]
A survey by GfK NOP for the European Commission revealed a fall in consumer confidence for April. It was the second consecutive month that morale was low – as uncertainty surrounds the economy ahead of next week’s general election. The consumer confidence index gave an overall score of -16, a fall of one point from [...]
The Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) has today reported that the Scottish economy suffered in the early part of the year due to severe wintry weather, which hit both confidence and activity. The report, which reviewed the first three months of 2010, was carried out by the SCC in conjunction with Strathclyde University’s Fraser of [...]
The latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society has revealed a sharp fall in UK consumer confidence for the month of March. The building society’s consumer confidence index plunged to 72 last month – the lowest level since December and down from a two-year high of 81 reported in February. According to the Nationwide, its [...]
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
