RBS share price falls as it could face $13bn penalty over mortgage-backed securities July 3, 2015 Royal Bank of Scotland has been told it could face a $13bn (£8.3bn) bill over its behaviour before the 2008 crisis, causing shares to fall 2.1 per cent in mid-morning trading. The 79 per cent taxpayer-owned bank is involved in a long running case in a Connecticut court over how it packaged mortgage bonds and [...]
After UK house price growth slowed in June, is the UK housing market now finally cooling down? July 2, 2015 Augustin Eden, a research analyst at Accendo Markets, says Yes The market is finally cooling down – to the point where it may actually start to contract on an annual basis. There is much to be done until house prices are actually “affordable”, of course. A Bank of England interest rate rise would deter buyers [...]
Savills claims mortgage rules are dampening London transactions June 30, 2015 NEW GOVERNMENT data show the London home sales trailing the rest of the country. The capital saw the smallest uplift in transaction volumes last year, compared to other regions of the UK, according to new figures published by HMRC yesterday. The number of transactions in London went up from 145,000 in 2013 to 155,000 in 2014, [...]
First-time buyers suffer from cuts to higher loan-to-value lending June 28, 2015 THE HIGH loan-to-value (LTV) end of the mortgage market is in decline, according to figures published today by insurance firm Genworth and comparison site Moneyfacts.co.uk. The value of loans with a 95 per cent LTV ratio, where 95 per cent of the value of a property is borrowed, dropped by £147m year-on-year during the first [...]
George Osborne’s great government sell-off: Taxpayers risk getting burnt as sun may yet shine on RBS June 10, 2015 So after almost seven years, the moment has arrived. The symbolic importance of George Osborne’s announcement last night that the Treasury is to begin selling Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) shares at a loss is hard to overstate. “I’m not interested in what is easy – I’m interested in what is right,” he told [...]
First ever tracker mortgage with interest rate below one per cent June 5, 2015 CHELSEA Building Society yesterday unveiled the first ever tracker mortgage with an interest rate below one per cent. Housebuyers who want to borrow under the scheme need to meet stringent restrictions, including having a 35 per cent deposit and paying £1,545 in fees. But if they can do, applicants are rewarded with an interest rate [...]
UK house prices: The return of cheap housing finance? Chelsea Building Society unveils the first tracker mortgage to be launched with an interest rate lower than one per cent June 5, 2015 When the sub-prime mortgage bubble burst, everyone blamed cheap borrowing – but that clearly hasn't perturbed the Chelsea Building Society, which today unveiled the first ever tracker mortgage launched with an interest rate below one per cent. To be fair, housebuyers who want to borrow under the scheme need to meet pretty stringent restrictions, including [...]
UK house prices: Mortgage approvals have their biggest spike since April 2009 June 2, 2015 The number of mortgages granted in April for new homes grew at its fastest rate since April 2009, according to data from the Bank of England. The figures Some 68,076 mortgages were granted in April for house purchase, compared with 61,945 in March – an increase of 9.9 per cent – the biggest monthly percentage change [...]
Mortgage lending expected to rebound after pre-election drop May 27, 2015 THE MORTGAGE market slowed in the run up to General Election, according to figures released yesterday by the Council for Mortgage Lenders. London house purchase lending totalled £2.4bn in the first three months of the year, a drop of 16 per cent compared with the final three months of 2014. Housing market experts expect an [...]
Rise in house building insufficient May 21, 2015 THE NUMBER of houses being built in the UK is climbing, but experts are warning that it needs to pick up further if affordability is to improve. Builders began work on 40,300 new houses in the three months ending a March, according to figures published yesterday by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Housing [...]