What to expect Mark Carney to be grilled about by the House of Lords today – from Brexit to current account, inflation and Panama Papers April 19, 2016 The most watched man in Threadneedle Street will trundle over to SW1 today to face his annual grilling from the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee. That’s right, the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, will be up against 13 of the Lords’ sharpest minds, all desperate to peer into the soul of [...]
UK building societies lambast European regulators’ plans to tighten lending rules April 17, 2016 UK BUILDING societies have blasted European regulators' proposals to toughen up lending rules, which they argue would be detrimental to the growth of their businesses . The European Banking Authority (EBA) is considering tightening the necessary leverage ratio, so that building societies will need more capital in order to lend. The proposals are based on [...]
Property bubble shows no sign of popping yet as mortgage lending marches higher April 13, 2016 Mortgage lending grew by one-fifth over the last twelve months as the number of first time buyers, people moving homes, buy-to-let investors and remortgages all grew according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). In total, £8.7bn was taken out for new mortgages in February 2016, up 21 per cent on last year, while another [...]
House prices: London and regional rental prices climbed higher in March April 13, 2016 London rents rose by 7.7 per cent in the year to March as demand for rental property in the capital remained strong, new research shows. However, HomeLet said that the data comes ahead of reforms that are predicted to have a major impact within the sector, including a stamp duty increase for buy-to-let properties, and could tell [...]
Digital mortgage broker aims to bring market into “21st century” and save consumers £29bn after securing £1.55m in seed funding April 11, 2016 A digital mortgage broker aiming to save consumers up to £29bn a year launched today after securing £1.55m in seed funding. Habito said it was “taking aim at the £95bn mortgage broking market, one of the only pillars of the consumer finance sector yet to benefit from technological disruption”. The startup uses technology to analyse every [...]
These are the hottest 50 fintech companies right now (and half are from London) April 5, 2016 London continues to dominate the world of financial technology with more than half of the hottest fintech startups located in London. Of the 50 startups to make the Fintech50, a comprehensive annual list of the best new businesses disrupting finance and chosen by leading venture capitalists and top tech execs, 29 were spawned in London. The newly [...]
Soz, Osborne: Buy to let stamp duty changes aren’t putting many potential landlords off March 30, 2016 The best laid plans, and all that. It seems George Osborne's attempts to put potential landlords off sinking their cash into buy-to-let properties may not be having quite the desired effect – after new research suggested not many have given up on their plans to buy rental properties. The research, by the Nottingham Building Society, [...]
Bank of England clamps down on buy-to-let market with strict new rules for mortgage underwriters March 29, 2016 The Bank of England has today revealed plans to clamp down on the buy-to-let market, setting out strict new rules for banks underwriting buy-to-let mortgage contracts. In a new paper out today, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said lenders will need to meet a minimum set of requirements before underwriting buy-to-let mortgage contracts, including assessing the [...]
Buy to let rule changes proposed by the Bank of England see economists and landlords butt heads March 29, 2016 Economists and landlords were at loggerheads today in an unlikely battle between homeowners and number-crunchers over the latest clampdown on the buy to let (BTL) market. Following a four-month investigation, the Bank of England today announced plans to tighten the terms and conditions under which banks and building societies can offer mortgages to anybody purchasing residential rental [...]
London to face biggest changes from buy-to-let lending clampdown: As landlords brace for tougher mortgage checks, experts say investing in buy-to-let will be tougher in the capital March 29, 2016 Landlords are facing tougher rules on mortgage borrowing following an announcement from the Bank of England – and the biggest impact will felt in London, experts say. Buy-to-let has grown massively and now there are concerns about a “bubble emerging in this market,” Chancellor George Osborne said. The Bank believes overly indebted landlords pose a risk [...]