Strong mortgage market takes total UK lending growth to seven-year high January 4, 2016 Mortgage lending is climbing at its fastest pace since 2009 with total UK lending now growing at its fastest rate for seven years. Total mortgage lending in the UK climbed by £3.9bn in November, up 2.5 per cent on November 2014, according to figures released by the Bank of England this morning. “Lenders’ appetite for new [...]
SME health check: What 2016 holds for UK firms January 4, 2016 The past year has seen the continuation of steady UK growth alongside a degree of political stability after the re-election of the Conservative Party with a majority in May. The result is that business confidence in general is positive. But what of SMEs in particular? And what could 2016 bring? First, we’ve seen a huge [...]
EU referendum: Challenger bank boss says smaller UK lenders would be better off outside of the EU December 20, 2015 The boss of a leading challenger bank has said that Britain's smaller lenders may be better off if British voters back leaving the European Union. Paul Lynam, chief executive of Secure Trust and head of the British Bankers' Association (BBA) challenger bank panel, told City A.M. over the weekend: "Arguably a Brexit would put the UK in more control [...]
Treasury is considering giving more powers to Bank of England over the buy-to-let market December 17, 2015 The Treasury is looking for feedback on giving the Bank of England more powers to control the housing market. Treasury officials announced today that they have opened a new consultation on the powers the Bank should have over the UK buy-to-let mortgage market in particular. The Bank's financial policy committee (FPC) is responsible for identifying, monitoring [...]
Mortgage lending leaps as buy-to-let investors rush to buy December 17, 2015 November’s mortgage lending figures rose 23 per cent on last year, showing signs of a stabilising recovery in the housing market, figures published this morning showed. The Council of Mortgage Lenders' (CML) November report showed gross mortgage lending rose to £19.9bn last month, nine per cent lower than October, but up on last November's £16.1bn. Mohammad [...]
Osborne must deliver on challenger pledge December 17, 2015 Two years ago, chancellor George Osborne said that the British banking system was verging on oligopoly – and needed a “reset”. “One of the prices we are paying for the financial crisis is that our banking sector is now dominated by a few big banks,” he said. “I want new faces on the high street. [...]
The Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme is boosting high loan-to-value lending December 17, 2015 The government's Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, which offers greater protection for lenders, is boosting high loan-to-value (LTV) lending, according to new figures released today. The number of mortgage deals offering loans equal to 95 per cent of the value of a property climbed to 260 in November, the data from mortgage insurer Genworth [...]
City Moves for 17 December 2015 | Who’s switching jobs December 16, 2015 L&G Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) Real Assets has announced the appointment of Tony Doherty as head of product development in its business development team. Tony takes over from Dan Batterton who has moved into the new role of build-to-rent fund manager . Prior to joining LGIM Real Assets, Tony spent 15 years at [...]
Top regulator Andrew Bailey writes to challenger banks over Basel Committee buy-to-let capital requirement proposals December 15, 2015 A top City regulator has taken new steps to reassure Britain’s challenger banks about capital requirements ahead of a meeting today between bank bosses and Treasury officials. In a letter sent to challenger bank bosses today, Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) chief executive Andrew Bailey said that smaller lenders should not be overly worried about the [...]
London rents cool off as tenant demand softens December 15, 2015 London rents dropped in November as the market was hit by a seasonal slowdown. Figures published this morning by peer-to-peer mortgage lender Landbay show rents dropping 0.6 per cent compared with October. The monthly drop took annual London rental growth down to 3.1 per cent in November from 4.3 per cent. The dip in rental [...]