Average mortgage hits £235k as cost of living crunch threatens home ownership plans for many March 29, 2022 The total value of mortgages lent rocketed last month as buyers face more affordability roadblocks to home ownership. Some 70,933 mortgages were given the green light in February, compared to 73,841 in January, according to the Bank of England’s monthly money and credit figures. However, the total value lent rose (from £16.6bn to £16.7bn), meaning [...]
Price pinch: Most Brits financially struggling or worried as inflation rises and Ukraine war rages March 14, 2022 Almost 60 per cent of Brits either struggling financially, or concerned about money in the near future, due to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis. The economic effect of the conflict has exacerbated the rise in energy and food, against the backdrop of increasing inflation, which is set to exceed the [...]
Nearly half of all Brits fear inflation may rise more than Bank of England prediction March 9, 2022 About two-fifths of people polled recently have a more pessimistic view about rising inflation than the Bank of England, it has been revealed. Despite the Bank’s prediction of a seven per cent spike in Spring, 39 per cent of respondents to a survey by HR software provider CIPHR thought it would be eight percent or [...]
Top economist says Bank of England’s failure to tackle inflation quickly will worsen cost-of-living crisis February 6, 2022 One of Britain’s top economists has accused the Bank of England’s of failing to act quickly enough to stop inflation from worsening the cost-of-living crisis. Gerard Lyons, a former economic advisor to both Gordon Brown and Boris Johnson, accused Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey of failing to “nip inflation in the bud” and taking [...]
Boris Johnson lashes out at Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey: Do not show pay restraint February 5, 2022 Downing Street stressed this afternoon Boris Johnson fiercely disagreed with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey over his call for workers to show “restraint” over pay rises amid high inflation. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It’s not something that the Prime Minister is calling for. We obviously want a high-growth economy and we want [...]
Mortgage approvals flatline in wake of stamp duty holiday January 4, 2022 The number of mortgages approved in November last year exceeded expectations, despite dropping slightly compared to the previous month. Some 66,964 mortgages were approved in November 2021, according to fresh data published by the Bank of England this morning. Although November was down on October’s figure of 67,103 the number of approvals exceeded real estate [...]
City fine: Bank of England tells Metro Bank to pay millions for reporting and governance failures that went on for years December 22, 2021 Metro Bank was told this morning by the Bank of England to pay close to £5.4m for failures with regards to the quality of its reporting and governance. The central bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) watchdog confirmed it imposed the penalty on the challenger bank over failings between May 2016 and January 2019. On January [...]
Millions of homeowners will see mortgage rate rises as ‘softer’ house price growth forecast December 16, 2021 Major banks have hiked mortgage interest rates in response to the Bank of England hiking rates 0.15 percentage points to 0.25 per cent. Banks raised rates following the decision on Thursday, meaning millions of households will pay heftier monthly mortgage repayments. Barclays, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Nationwide and Santander will pass on the increase to [...]
Warnings housing market may ‘enter bubble territory’ if lending checks eased December 6, 2021 The Bank of England is readying itself to relax mortgage lending rules despite fears it will trigger a housing bubble, it has been reported. The Telegraph reported that policymakers are looking at relaxing affordability checks for borrowers. The rule changes are being mulled amid a review of market restrictions this will finish shortly. Officials are [...]
Mortgage approvals drop dramatically as market hits ‘tipping point’ after stamp duty holiday November 29, 2021 Mortgage approvals for house purchase dropped sharply after the end of the stamp duty holiday, the Bank of England said. Mortgage approvals for house purchase dropped down to 67,200 in October from 71,900 in September, close to the 12-month average up to February 2020 of 66,700. However, approvals in October remained above the pre-Covid averages [...]