Proposed Basel changes could distort UK mortgage market, warns Council of Mortgage Lenders March 14, 2016 Proposed reforms to financial regulations would have “negative and unintended consequences” for the UK mortgage market, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has warned today. The CML said proposed reforms to Basel rules, a set of global rules adhered to by countries voluntarily, were "unduly harsh" on prime residential and buy to let mortgages. The reforms [...]
Budget 2016: Chancellor George Osborne to kick start £16bn B&B sell-off March 12, 2016 Chancellor George Osborne is gearing up to kick start a £16bn sale of bailed-out banking group Bradford and Bingley (B&B) loans in next week's Budget. Osborne decided to include the projected sale of the mortgage lender on Wednesday, following weeks of discussions with Treasury officials. The timing of the auction is unclear, and it may not conclude for months, giving investor's appetites [...]
House prices: Mortgage lending jumps in February as landlords make last sprint ahead of April stamp duty hike March 11, 2016 The rush to beat April's stamp duty surcharge on second homes continued to fuel record high levels of lending in February. House purchase approvals reached 72,799 in February, up 17.4 per cent on the same month last year and the second highest monthly figure since January 2014, according to figures released today by UK chartered surveyor e.surv. This was [...]
More borrowers opt for fixed rate deals as mortgage rates hit record low March 8, 2016 Mortgage rates have dropped to the cheapest on record, according to figures released by the Bank of England this morning. The overall interest rate on new mortgage lending in the final three months of 2015 fell to 2.71 per cent, the lowest since the series began in 2007. The interest lenders are making on the total stock [...]
Shawbrook’s share price follows profits higher at the challenger bank, as small business lending and buy to let loans soar March 3, 2016 SHAWBROOK chief executive Steve Pateman has warned the bank is unlikely to see its buy to let loan book grow as quickly in 2016, amid concerns the market is getting out of control. Earlier this year, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said recent developments in the booming buy to let mortgage market posed a [...]
UK house prices are going to keep going up – Standard and Poor’s March 2, 2016 The UK's rapid house price growth will not end anytime soon, a major ratings agency said today. "Conditions for ongoing robust gains of UK residential property prices remain intact," Standard and Poor's said in a new report. Low mortgage rates and record high employment are fuelling demand, the report said. It added that "the search for yields in a [...]
High street banks plan to help Treasury offload £17bn of Bradford and Bingley loans March 1, 2016 Britain’s largest high street banks are planning to help the Treasury offload £17bn of Bradford and Bingley (B&B) loans. The proposal would see Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide and Santander guarantee around £17bn of financing to the purchasers of the loans. It emerged at the beginning of this year that a sizeable part [...]
With mortgage rates heading towards 1 per cent, should we be worried about a bubble in the market? February 29, 2016 Scott Corfe, director at the Centre for Business and Economic Research, says Yes. Most of the house price growth seen in the UK over the past couple of years has been fundamentals-driven. Supply of new homes simply hasn’t caught up with demand. However, one does wonder if we are now veering into bubble territory – particularly [...]
Zoopla share price rises as it shrugs off competition from OnTheMarket.com to post ninth month of growth February 25, 2016 It could have been a difficult day for Zoopla, which faced tough competition in the form of estate agent-run rival, OnTheMarket.com, when it launched at the beginning of last year. But this morning the property portal said it had a "solid start" to 2016, with a record 58m visits in January, and an average 47m monthly visits [...]
Challenger banks: Moody’s says smaller lenders are poised to compete with Britain’s big banks for a share of the UK mortgage market February 25, 2016 British challenger banks are poised to compete with larger lenders for a share of the mortgage market, Moody’s Investors Service has said. In a new report out today, Moody’s said challengers are likely to use securitisation to compete for a bigger share of the UK mortgage market. “Increasing competition in the mortgage market driven by [...]