Why it’s time to think about remortgaging your house November 4, 2015 Homeowners are currently benefitting from record low interest rates. This is a result of a number of factors, including greater competition in the market, strengthening confidence in the economy, and the Bank of England’s base rate being held at an all-time low. Many seasoned players in the mortgage market may remember watching for the [...]
RBS’s share price falls as it reports decline in third quarter profits missing estimates October 30, 2015 Royal Bank of Scotland has reported third quarter adjusted operating profits down more than half, missing expectations. The lender's shares fell one per cent to 317.40p as the markets opened on the news. The figures The bank said pre-tax profit before one time items and restructuring costs fell to £842m, from £2bn a year ago, after £126m of losses relating to IFRS volatility, and £77m of [...]
Nationwide house prices index: UK house prices rise again in October October 29, 2015 Ever feel like you're repeating yourself? House prices have risen again, new figures showed today, with prices rising 3.9 per cent in the year to October, up from 3.8 per cent last year. The Nationwide House Price Index showed the average price has now crept up to £196,807, up from £195,585 this time last year. That's [...]
Land Registry: London house prices hit half million-pound mark October 28, 2015 UK house prices rose by 5.3 per cent in the year to September, with the price of an average London property reaching half a million pounds for the first time, Land Registry figures show. London posted the biggest annual rise of 9.6 per cent in September and also outpaced the rest of the UK on a [...]
Fixed rate mortgages growing in popularity as rates begin to rise – Mortgage Advice Bureau October 28, 2015 Fixed mortgage rates are growing in popularity, with 96 per cent of homebuyers opting for such products in September amid rising average rates, according to the latest national mortgage index from the Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB). The average two year fixed rate rose from 2.68 per cent in August to 2.72 per cent in September, [...]
New mortgage rules to affect dual currency earners – Investec Comment October 25, 2015 Coming into force in March next year is the EU Mortgage Credit Directive, and it is likely to have a significant impact on many who work in the City. It has a variety of implications, including for buy-to-let mortgages, but least well-understood is how it will affect the provision of mortgages for people who [...]
Mortgage lending rises sharply in September for the fourth month in a row October 22, 2015 The amount of mortgage lending to UK homebuyers jumped by 12 per cent in the year to September as rising employment and earnings growth helped keep confidence levels high. Gross mortgage lending reached £20bn in September, up from £17.8bn the same time last year and two per cent higher than August’s lending total of £19.7bn, [...]
UK house prices: Buy-to-let lending drove the mortgage boom in August, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders October 13, 2015 Mortgage lending ticked up in August compared with the same month last year, with buy-to-let lending posting a rapid increase. There was a whopping 37.9 per cent jump in buy-to-let lending on the year, with 22,200 mortgages approved. The amount of money lent out was up 47.8 per cent to £2.3bn, according to the figures released this morning [...]
Shared Ownership Week: So what is it anyway? October 5, 2015 Like the sound of Shared Ownership, but not sure how it works? Katie Bond, director of housing association Notting Hill Home Ownership (NHHO), is here to set the record straight for Shared Ownership Week (5-11 October). What is a Shared Ownership scheme and who is it meant to help? Shared Ownership is where you [...]
Breaking the Bank: What will rising UK interest rates mean for P2P lending? October 5, 2015 The Bank of England will soon need to rediscover the use of its trigger finger and fire the starting gun on interest rate rises. Still expected to be slow and steady, tightening policy after nearly seven years of ultra cheap money will nevertheless have a sizeable impact on everything and everyone, pushing up borrowing costs [...]