Banks report small appetite for borrowing July 25, 2011 LENDING to companies, consumers and house-buyers remained muted in June despite a pick-up in the number of mortgage approvals, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) announced yesterday. Net unsecured lending to consumers continued its steady decline, down by £100m in the month – matching the six month average and the fall recorded in May. Lending to [...]
Public sector borrowing at £14bn in June July 21, 2011 RISING government spending saw public borrowing hit £14bn last month, official figures unveiled yesterday showed. Public sector net borrowing (PSNB) was up £300m from the same time last year, and “about £1.5bn above market expectations”, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Central government spending was £51.96bn in June – up from £49.54bn in [...]
Rents in London now average more than £1,000 per month July 14, 2011 RENTAL costs have soared past £1,000 per month in London, a survey of letting agents revealed this morning. London’s rents were up an average of 6.9 per cent per property in June compared to the same time the previous year, the Buy-to-Let Index from LSL Property Services said. While rent inflation is particularly intense in [...]
EU guilty of credit rating hypocrisy July 7, 2011 SOME people simply can’t win. The largest credit rating agencies – Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch – were rightly pilloried for providing ridiculously optimistic advice in the run-up to the financial crisis, deeming bundles of sub-prime mortgages to be as safe as the debt of very cautious and successful companies or governments. It was [...]
EU guilty of credit rating hypocrisy July 6, 2011 SOME people simply can’t win. The largest credit rating agencies – Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch – were rightly pilloried for providing ridiculously optimistic advice in the run-up to the financial crisis, deeming bundles of sub-prime mortgages to be as safe as the debt of very cautious and successful companies or governments. It was [...]
BofA investors plot challenge over pay out July 5, 2011 A GROUP of bondholders in Bank of America plan to challenge the lender’s $8.5bn (£5.2bn) settlement with holders in soured mortgage-backed securities. Eleven companies, known together as Walnut Place, filed papers in the New York Supreme Court in a bid to overturn the payment. They say they have “serious concerns about the secret, non-adversarial, and [...]
Persimmon sees volumes dip July 5, 2011 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon said completions and turnover dipped in the first half year-on-year against a backdrop of a stabilising market, while it expects an increase in volumes for the remainder of the year. The York-based builder said it completed 4,439 homes in the six months to end June, against 4,657 in the same period last year. [...]
Mutuals increase their lending June 30, 2011 Lending by mutuals jumped by 20 per cent in May, compared to the same time the previous year, research from the Building Societies Association (BSA) found this week. Gross lending totalled £1.8bn, while mortgage approvals also hit £1.8bn – a 15 per cent increase on May 2010.
UK consumer confidence slumps again June 29, 2011 SQUEEZED household incomes prompted a sharp drop in consumer confidence in June, while appetite to take on debt remains weak according to separate data released by the Bank of England yesterday. After an uptick in morale from extra bank holidays in April and May, the GfK NOP consumer confidence index slipped back to -25, with [...]
Bank of America to pay $20bn in charges June 29, 2011 Bank of America Corp said it expected to take more than $20bn (£12bn) in charges after settling with mortgage bond investors, resulting in a second-quarter loss. The $8.5 billion settlement removed a question mark that had been hovering over the bank since October, and its shares rallied. The deal, combined with other settlement-related charges, was [...]