Can the UK economy cope with sustained house price falls? June 19, 2018 Brexit uncertainty is far from over. Indeed, as we approach the crunch point in negotiations over the summer, we expect rhetoric of hard Brexit and a cliff edge to reach a crescendo, before a final deal is agreed in September or October. Meanwhile, business and consumer confidence are likely to continue to suffer, causing decisions [...]
UK mortgage borrowing soared in April with £4.4bn in new lending June 14, 2018 Mortgage lending in the UK increased considerably in April, according to a report published this morning by trade association UK Finance. UK Finance’s mortgage trends report revealed that there were 26,700 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in the month, some 3.5 per cent more than in the same month a year earlier. The £4.4bn of [...]
Fintech and funding: LendInvest’s path from adversity to opportunity June 13, 2018 Entrepreneurs often thrive in circumstances where traditional, established companies struggle – Microsoft, General Electric and Disney were all started during recessions. Nonetheless, 2008 was a precarious time to set up a mortgage business – as LendInvest co-founders Christian Faes and Ian Thomas candidly pointed out during a recent Leap 100 Breakfast. Although the online marketplace [...]
Don’t get caught up in your mortgage lender’s game of Space Invaders June 13, 2018 You might be familiar with Space Invaders – the computer game where you have to shoot aliens. According to UK Finance, that retro 70s game resembles the challenge that lenders face in the interest-only mortgage market. That is, once lenders have recouped cash from the easy targets (or borrowers), they then have to take [...]
TSB gave business customers 1,500 free Android smartphones to replace card readers prior to IT meltdown May 22, 2018 Under-fire lender TSB handed out around 1,500 free Android smartphones to business banking customers – ones which were rendered almost useless amid the lender’s calamitous IT upgrade. Firms were offered free phones to replace card readers as part of TSB’s planned lift-out from legacy Lloyds Bank systems. TSB wrote to businesses informing them card readers [...]
Nationwide profits slip for second year running after planned mortgage retreat May 22, 2018 Nationwide, Britain’s biggest building society, today announced a slump in mortgage lending amid concerns of a “fiercely competitive market”. Net lending fell from £8.8bn to £5.8bn in the year to 4 April. Annual profit slipped seven per cent to £977m A planned retreat from the buy-to-let mortgage market was the driving force behind falling lending, [...]
Barclays Qatari loan fraud charges thrown out by Crown Court May 22, 2018 Barclays celebrated a significant victory over the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) yesterday when the Crown Court dismissed charges surrounding the bank’s huge capital raising during the financial crisis a decade ago. The SFO alleged that a $3bn (£2.2bn) loan Barclays gave Qatari investors led to the Qatari acquisition of shares in a Barclays fundraising, an [...]
Lloyds Bank share price rises after striking £4bn deal with Barclays to offload its loss-making Irish mortgage book May 18, 2018 Lloyds Bank today struck a deal to sell its multi-billion euro Irish property book to rival Barclays – a move that crystallises a £110m loss for the lender. Barclays, which is fronting the deal on behalf of a number of parties such as M&G Prudential, will pay £4bn for a mountain Lloyds’ residential mortgages from [...]
Royal Bank of Scotland boss Ross McEwan rejects suggestions he will quit: ‘The job’s not done yet… I’d like to be around a little longer’ May 11, 2018 Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross McEwan has hit back at reports he is preparing to step down, today insisting he wants to remain at the helm until 2020. The New Zealander wants to oversee the return of the state-backed bank back to private ownership. Yesterday RBS announced it had finally ticked off one [...]
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors: London house prices predicted to keep falling as market has worst month since 2009 May 10, 2018 London’s housing market has experienced its worst month in nearly a decade, with surveyors expecting prices to drop even further over the next year. A highly-regarded survey published this morning reveals that 65 per cent more property surveyors saw London prices fall during April rather than rise, the weakest reading since February 2009. Sinking prices [...]