No shortage of literature for banking bookworms this month October 23, 2012 RECENT City A.M. award winner and property giant Westfield welcomed the Prime Minister’s wife to their Shepherd’s Bush store yesterday. Samantha Cameron, ambassador of Save the Children, gave a special reading of The Snail and the Whale at Foyles Bookstore to a group of children from Larmenier & Sacred Heart primary school. But for grown-up [...]
Business lending continues to slump as firms reduce debts October 23, 2012 BUSINESS borrowing slid further in September, data revealed yesterday, but mortgage lending increased slightly. Net business lending contracted £1bn between September and August, the British Bankers’ Association said, after falling £1.7bn on average in the previous six months. This continued fall in the stock of loans came from the demand side, the industry body said, with [...]
It might be prime time to refinance October 14, 2012 HISTORICALLY low interest rates and government schemes mean that it may make sense, for some borrowers at least, to remortgage their homes. But data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders serves as a stark reminder as to how tight conditions still are. In 2011, £46.6bn worth of remortgages were taken out by borrowers in 375,000 [...]
HSBC pledges to lend £1bn to boost UK home improvements September 10, 2012 HSBC has pledged to make £17bn available for UK mortgage lending this year, including £1bn for home improvement loans. The figure is a £2bn increase on the amount the bank promised in January, reflecting the coalition’s recent proposals to relax planning laws for homeowners. The government last week announced plans to soften planning rules for [...]
Hollande is forced to nationalise mortgage lender on default fear September 2, 2012 FRENCH president Francois Hollande was forced to nationalise France’s second biggest specialist mortgage lender on Saturday night after a cash drought left it unable to pay its debts, meaning the government could be on the hook for up to €20bn in guarantees. Credit Immobilier de France (CIF), which has around four per cent of the [...]
House prices show biggest monthly rise since 2010 August 31, 2012 British house prices showed their strongest monthly rise in more than two-and-a-half years this month, mortgage lender Nationwide said today, in contrast to a generally weak picture for the country’s property market and broader economy. Nationwide said house prices rose by 1.3 per cent in August after falling a downwardly revised 0.8 per cent in [...]
Mortgages up ahead of new funding plans August 30, 2012 MORTGAGE lending rose firmly in July, Bank of England data showed yesterday, as banks geared up for the start of the funding for lending scheme (FLS). The number of home purchases approved rose from 6,725 in June to 7,101 in July, with the overall value holding steady at £5.5bn. Meanwhile remortgagings were almost unchanged at [...]
Citigroup settles lawsuit for £372m August 30, 2012 Citigroup agreed to pay $590m (£372m) to settle a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of hiding tens of billions of dollars of toxic mortgage assets, one of the largest settlements stemming from the global financial crisis. The agreement resolves claims that shareholders ended up with massive losses after the bank failed to take timely write-downs on [...]
London report August 27, 2012 MARKET watchers will be looking to tomorrow’s Nationwide house prices report and mortgage approvals on Thursday to gauge whether the UK’s economy is pulling out of its double dip. Recent data put the number of mortgage approvals at a 15-year low and last month house prices had fallen by 0.7 per cent and 2.6 per [...]
Building your house on government support does not provide the firmest of foundations August 20, 2012 BETWEEN a government practically falling over itself to offer support and the supply constraints that continue to dog the UK property sector, there are worse things to be, even in today’s difficult marketplace, than a housebuilder. As Bovis Homes proved yesterday, with a doubling of pre-tax profit in the first half of the year compared [...]