Specialist lenders One Savings Bank and Charter Court both boost loan books ahead of merger May 15, 2019 Challenger banks One Savings Bank and Charter Court have both reported loan book growth ahead of their proposed merger. One Savings Bank reported five per cent loan book growth to £9.4bn in the first quarter of the year, due to strong commercial and residential lending. Read more: One Savings Bank and Charter Court confirm £1.6bn [...]
The big fixer-upper: How to solve the problems in the mortgage market May 15, 2019 We've sent people into space, built driverless cars, and engineered robots that can think like us. And yet, fixing the mortgage approval process still seems out of humanity’s reach. The market is riddled with inefficiencies. Consumers are forced to fill out documents detailing every corner of their lives, while clunky underwriting processes mean that it [...]
UK house prices: Experts warn of ‘volatile’ UK housing market after sharp April growth May 8, 2019 Experts today warned that volatility is affecting the UK housing market as Halifax recorded a sharp annual jump in house prices in April. Read more: UK house prices suffer fifth month of Brexit-hit growth UK homes are now worth an average £236,619 following the stark five per cent rise for the three months to April, [...]
Lloyds Banking Group: Q1 results analysis May 7, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. After a stunning share price performance, do these 'hit and miss' results justify optimism? Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY) investors, in need of a silver lining after an underwhelming earnings season from UK lenders, only have to look back 24 hours earlier to the surprise gift handed to the bank [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland undone by Brexit May 6, 2019 By Graeme Evans from interactive investor. These were a 'noisy' set of Q1 results from RBS, but probably look 'worse than the reality'. Back in the dividend-paying ranks and with shares up by as much as 25 per cent in 2019, The Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE:RBS) provided investors with a reality check as the state-backed lender [...]
Former Hbos chief executive set to take top job at The Restaurant Group May 1, 2019 The former chief executive of Hbos is set to be appointed chief executive at Wagamama-owner The Restaurant Group. Sky News reported that Andy Hornby had been given the job with his role expected to be announced as soon as tomorrow. Read more: The Restaurant Group profits fall as like-for-like sales slip Hornby has reportedly resigned [...]
Restructuring and foreign currency headwinds hammer Santander profits April 30, 2019 Santander saw profits fall by a tenth as the Spanish banking giant kicked on with a major restructuring in the UK and Poland. Read more: Santander and Barclays face lawsuits over film financing schemes The company was also hit by high inflation in Argentina which hampered earnings further, despite customer growth across its core markets [...]
Property Legal Q&A: I want to carry out major renovations to my flat, but my lease prohibits structural alterations. Is there anything I can do? April 25, 2019 It is common for leases of flats to prevent any structural alterations by the tenant. In practice though, many landlords usually allow such alterations to be carried out subject to licence and, in certain circumstances, the payment of a premium. However, a recent case may have put a stop to this: Duval v 11-13 Randolph [...]
House transactions rise in March April 24, 2019 Residential transactions edged up last month, according to new figures from HMRC. Read more: UK household earnings rise at sharpest rate in a decade House deals grew by 1.4 per cent between February and March, while transactions on an annual level climbed 6.8 per cent. What the experts said "These figures show a more resilient [...]
Jet Airways’ future hangs in the balance as it fails to secure emergency funding from lenders April 15, 2019 Troubled airline Jet Airways has failed to secure emergency funding from its lenders, forcing it to extend the cancellation of its international flights. In a letter to staff, Jet Airways chief executive Vinay Dube said flights would be cancelled until Thursday 19 April. "Please note that the current status of our engagement with the lenders and [...]