Santander has launched new two year tracker and fixed rate mortgage products, and has reduced the rate on its five year fixed rate mortgage. The two year mortgages are available to both first time buyers and home-owners at up to 70% loan-to-value (LTV) Interest on the fixed-rate mortgage is 3.44%, while interest on the tracker [...]
Leeds Building Society unveiled two new mortgage products this week. The new products include a two-year base rate tracker (BRT) mortgage, and a two-year fixed-rate mortgage. The BRT mortgage is available to homeowners borrowing up to 75% of the value of their property, with interest charged at 2.7% above the Bank of England’s base rate. [...]
Mortgage borrowers are becoming less fearful of interest rate rises and opting for variable rate loans in larger numbers. July figures from John Charcol show that while fixed-rate deals retained their popularity, variable-rate mortgages, such as tracker or discounted loans, made up 35% of all mortgages arranged through the broker, compared to 17% of the [...]
M&S Money has reduced the interest rate on its variable Cash ISA following the Bank of England’s 0.5% base rate cut. Cash ISA account holders will now be paid 2% interest, down from 2.5%. In December, M&S Money reduced the variable cash ISA rate by only 0.5% rather than matching the Bank of England’s 1.0% [...]
The RBS Group has announced that it will only pass on last week’s Bank of England base rate cut to some customers. The banking group, which includes NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland, said those on tracker mortgages and small business with variable rate overdrafts would benefit from the full 0.5% cut. However, individual [...]
Abbey’s latest cut in mortgage rates offers a glimmer of hope to potential first-time buyers because the lender is reducing interest on some deals that require only a 15% deposit. In recent weeks leading lenders have been trimming rates regularly, with Co-operative Bank, HSBC and Nationwide all taking action this week. However, the best rates [...]
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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