Nationwide to lend first-time buyers five times their income on long-term mortgage April 20, 2021 First-time buyers with deposits as low as 10 per cent will be able to borrow five and a half times their income when taking out a longer-term mortgage, the UK’s biggest building society said this morning. Nationwide Building Society said that under its “helping hand” initiative, first-time buyers across the UK will have the option [...]
BA looks set to recover from pandemic, so why are its 40-something pilots giving up their gold-plated pensions? April 20, 2021 In turbulent times, when the future of a company is being called into question, it is not uncommon for staff to transfer out of their employer’s defined benefit (DB) pension scheme, if they have one. Although seen as “gold-plated”, some DB scheme members worry about their scheme falling to the pension lifeboat fund, and that [...]
Barclaycard defends decision to cut customers’ credit limits by 95 per cent April 20, 2021 Barclaycard has defended cutting some customers’ credit limits after a backlash from people complaining they had been reduced by over 95 per cent. Some customers complained that their limits had been significantly reduced despite having never missed a payment. It was pointed out that Barclaycard had made the reductions at a time when some people [...]
UK banks launch new low-deposit mortgage scheme April 19, 2021 High street banks will today begin offering mortgages with a deposit of just five per cent under a new government-backed scheme. The scheme, first announced in the Budget, is designed to make home ownership more affordable for first-time buyers. Borrowers will be able to secure a mortgage with just a five per cent deposit on [...]
Home buyers face highest-ever price tags as house prices jump by £7,000 in just four weeks April 19, 2021 Spring home buyers are facing the highest ever prices demanded by sellers, with the average price tag on a home having jumped by nearly £7,000 in the space of just a month. Across Britain, the increase of £6,733 or 2.1 per cent month-on-month pushed average seller asking prices to a new record high of £327,797 [...]
Inside Sheikh Mohammed’s British property empire April 17, 2021 Sheikh Mohammed, the controversial ruler of Dubai, has become one of the UK’s largest landowners, exceeding that of the Queen’s personal property portfolio. Spanning 40,000 hectares, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum’s properties can be found on the most exclusive streets in London and in the most elusive locations in the Scottish Highlands, according to the [...]
Before the Open: Late US tech selloff set to act as a drag on European open April 15, 2021 US markets saw another mixed close yesterday, only this time it was the S&P500 and Nasdaq that finished the day lower, while the Dow and Russell 2000 finished higher on the day. Despite the mixed close the S&P500 and Dow still managed to post new record highs. Coinbase finished its first day of trading, closing [...]
Halifax: UK house prices near ‘pre-financial crash levels’ April 14, 2021 UK house prices have hit a record high despite rising at a slower rate than a year ago, according to the Halifax house price index this morning. The lender said that the affordability of houses was “close to pre-financial crisis levels”, as house prices remained historically high at an average of £252,765. The difference between [...]
London’s most famous plumber Charlie Mullins: Bring on vaccine passport or pay 100 quid for a burger April 14, 2021 During a recent press conference, the Prime Minister endorsed the idea of a vaccine passport as “a sensible one” before government documents later supported Boris Johnson’s assertion that they “could play a role in reducing social-distancing requirements”. But the announcement has created a fiery political debate, with Labour fiercely opposing the introduction of a vaccine [...]
The pros, cons and incentives behind the SPAC-craze sweeping markets April 14, 2021 There have been 378 initial public offerings (IPOs) in the US in the first three months of 2021. That’s more than in any full calendar year between 2003 and 2019. The $139 billion raised so far this year is more than two and a half times the yearly average over this period. They already have [...]