Bank of England stress tests: RBS and Standard Chartered flagged for “capital inadequacies” as Bank warns new capital requirements could be introduced next year December 1, 2015 British banks could be required to bolster their capital reserves by billions of pounds as soon as next year, the Bank of England said this morning, as it revealed that two of the country’s largest lenders had narrowly avoided failing its latest round of stress tests. The Bank is actively considering raising the so-called countercyclical buffer, [...]
Grand Designs’ Kevin McCloud talks Britain’s House of the Year 2015 November 27, 2015 It is a curious paradox that, while so many of us want to own our own homes, so few get to build one. Finances and the planning system seem to conspire, with the result that personalisation of where we live is frequently restricted to some amateur interior design. But there is a way to get [...]
UK house prices: Mortgage lending up 26 per cent in October as lending recovery gains momentum – the British Bankers’ Association November 25, 2015 Mortgage borrowing was a giant 26 per cent higher in October than in the same month last year, according to figures released by the British Bankers Association. The amount loaned out reached £12.9bn, with the number of mortgages approved by lenders up 27 per cent on last year. Approvals for house purchase were up 21 per [...]
Comparing mortgage fees is about to get a lot simpler with a new tariff spearheaded by the CML and Which? November 22, 2015 Comparing the cost of mortgage fees is about to get a lot simpler. The myriad and often complex charges associated with taking ot a mortgage will be standardised, making it easier for home buyers to compare costs. A new tariff, created by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) and consumer group Which?, will be used by 85 per cent [...]
HSBC: UK homeowners are losing £29bn a year by not remortgaging November 19, 2015 Brits are losing a massive £29bn by not remortgaging onto better deals, a leading lender has said. With mortgage rates currently hovering around record lows, HSBC has calculated that homeowners who have not remortgaged onto a lower fixed rate from their standard variable rate (SVR) are losing an average of £4,000 a year. The SVRs [...]
UK house prices: Mortgage lending is steaming ahead at its fastest pace since 2008, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders November 19, 2015 Mortgage lending is in full recovery mode. The amount of mortgage lending shot up eight per cent in October compared with September to £21.8bn, according to figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) today. October was the biggest month for mortgage lending since July 2008 and takes annual mortgage lending growth to a whopping [...]
Buy-to-let is booming with more mortgage deals for landlords than ever but George Osborne’s tax changes will bite November 19, 2015 Buy to let is booming. Banks’ mortgage lending hit a post-crisis peak of £200bn last year so that “mortgage lending is currently enjoying its best spell since 2008,” says Bob Pannell of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Although mortgage lending figures remain well below their pre-crisis highs of £350bn in 2007, the number of [...]
Fintech Lookahead 2016: The disruptors you should be looking out for November 19, 2015 What can we expect to see from the fintech industry over the coming year? And what kinds of companies are leading the charge? In its 2015 Global Banking Annual Review, McKinsey said that “banks are under attack from new technology companies and others seeking to poach their customers. To date, banks’ losses to attackers have [...]
Challenger bank Aldermore looking as safe as houses in third quarter results, as residential mortgages push up lending, but share price drops November 12, 2015 Aldermore has today reported loan growth of about £1bn over the last nine months, bringing total net loans to customers to £5.8bn, an increase of 20 per cent from the end of December. In its third-quarter results for 2015, the challenger bank, which was set up by former Barclays executive Phillip Monks, said it was on [...]
Co-Op Bank given breathing space on capital requirements by Bank of England body Prudential Regulation Authority November 12, 2015 The Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has said the Co-Operative Bank does not need to issue more debt to cover its capital requirements this year. The Co-Op Bank was the only UK lender to fail the BoE's stress tests last year. The minimum capital ratio needed to pass the test was 4.5 per cent; [...]