US mortgage applications hit 11-year high, homebuilding misses expectations June 17, 2020 Mortgage applications by Americans have hit their highest level since 2009 as people rush to take advantage of record low mortgage rates, but homebuilding in the US increased less than expected in May. Applications for a home loan in the US have surged over the past nine weeks after cratering in early April, according to [...]
FCA fines Lloyds Banking Group £64m after mistreating mortgage customers in difficulty June 11, 2020 Lloyds Banking Group must pay a £64m fine for failing to treat over a quarter of a million mortgage customers in arrears fairly. Lloyds Bank, the Bank of Scotland and the latter’s subsidiary The Mortgage Business all failed to take struggling customers’ financial circumstances into account when arranging repayments. The banks’ systems and procedures meant [...]
UK mortgage approvals plunge to record low during lockdown June 2, 2020 UK household borrowing dried up at a record rate in April and mortgage approvals plunged to their lowest since 1993 as consumers drew in their horns while the economy was ravaged by coronavirus. Instead of borrowing, households repaid their debts at a record pace. They returned £7.4bn to banks in the largest net repayment since [...]
Credit card lending fell for the first time in March May 1, 2020 UK consumers’ credit card debt fell for the first time since records began in March, as lockdown measures froze spending. The annual growth rate of credit card lending fell to minus 0.3 per cent, the first negative annual growth since the Bank of England (BoE) started tracking the data. The annual growth rate of other [...]
UK house prices: Experts predict sharp recovery after coronavirus lockdown May 1, 2020 UK house prices could rebound after the coronavirus lockdown eases, after they grew at the fastest pace since 2017 before the crisis, Nationwide said today. The value of British homes grew at their fastest rate since February 2017 before the coronavirus lockdown brought the market crashing to a halt, Nationwide data released today showed. UK [...]
Barclays’ first quarter profit falls by £600m amid coronavirus disruption April 29, 2020 Barclays’ profit has tumbled to £923m in the first quarter, down from £1.54bn in the same period last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. it revealed today. The bank also booked an impairment charge of £2.1bn, which it said reflected its “initial estimates of the impact of the pandemic”. However, Barclays’ shares jumped five per [...]
Lenders grant 1.6m mortgage payment holidays to homeowners April 28, 2020 Lenders have granted 1.6m mortgage payment holidays to homeowners facing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in March that households with mortgages would be entitled to three-month payment holidays. Over a third of payment holidays approved so far were done in the first week of the UK’s lockdown. One in [...]
Coronavirus: Government must be more imaginative to save small businesses April 27, 2020 The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILs) was launched to much fanfare, with people lining up to praise the far-sighted, generous nature of the programme and proclaim how much it would do for small business. A staggering £330 billion was set aside for interest-free loans, with the Government willing to sit behind 80 per cent [...]
UK banks slammed by Tory backbencher for not acting in national interest April 22, 2020 The UK’s banking sector has been criticised for not working in the national interest as some banks move to rapidly raise overdraft interest fees. Tory backbencher Peter Bone slammed the nation’s banks at today’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) for hiking interest rates on overdrafts while many struggle during the coronavirus crisis. Some banks have increased [...]
It’s official: Coronavirus killed UK house prices’ Brexit recovery April 22, 2020 Signs of recovery in UK house prices at the start of the year have been brought to an abrupt halt by the coronavirus crisis. Figures from the Land Registry and the ONS show inflation fell back to 1.1 per cent in February after climbing to an eight-month high of 1.5 per cent in January. The [...]