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 [...]
London house prices soaring above the rest of the UK with average cost now £498,000 May 19, 2015 House prices in the capital continue to outpace prices in the rest of the UK, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). London house prices were up 11.2 per cent in the year to March 2015, compared to a nationwide average of 9.6 per cent, according to the ONS house price [...]
London house prices no longer steepest risers May 14, 2015 HOUSE prices in the rest of the south-east and in East Anglia are now growing faster than those in London, according to figures out today from LSL Property Services. Prices in London were 6.8 per cent higher in the three months to April than in the same period of 2014. By contrast those in the rest [...]
UK house prices: Number of risky mortgages grows 64 per cent in five years May 6, 2015 In the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis, you'd have thought lenders had learned their lessons – but perhaps not, after a new study suggested the number of risky mortgages sold in the UK has risen 64 per cent since 2010. Using last year’s data from the Bank of England, Moore Stevens, an accountancy firm, [...]
Virgin Money eats up mortgage market share as lending rises May 1, 2015 The figures Virgin Money delivered a rise in mortgage lending and ate up a larger chunk of market share during the first quarter, cementing its position as one of the UK's fastest growing challenger banks. The lender said it enjoyed a 34 per cent rise in gross mortgage lending to £1.6bn at a time when [...]
UK house prices climb to new heights in April due to “surplus in demand which is outpacing supply” April 29, 2015 House prices climbed higher in April, new figures from a major mortgage lender reveal. Annual house price growth edged up to 5.2 per cent in April from March’s 5.1 per cent. The average UK house price is now a £193,048 – the highest on record. Housing analysts blame a lack of supply for [...]
Santander profits rise as it wins over current account customers April 28, 2015 Santander UK’s profits rose sharply in the first quarter as the lender continued to win customers from rivals. The high street bank yesterday reported profits of £470m for the three-month period, up 13 per cent on the year. It is engaged in a fierce battle with Halifax for new current account customers. Both brands offer [...]
Mortgage approvals just jumped to a six-month high in March April 28, 2015 Mortgage approvals hit a six-month high in March, but they're still about 14 per cent lower than a year ago, according to data released by the British Bankers' Association (BBA) today. Mortgage approvals for house purchase rose to 38,751 in March, up from 37,453 in February and the largest amount since September last year. "The [...]
Bank holiday cancelled: RBS branches stay open on Monday April 27, 2015 Bank holidays could soon be a relic of a bygone age of short opening hours and inconvenient service, as RBS plans to open dozens of branches this Monday. As internet and mobile banking have taken off, branch use has plummeted, prompting banks to try to make access to their expensive high street sites more convenient. [...]