Interest rates are going up – and mortgages will become harder to get June 12, 2014 It's official: money is about to become more expensive. Mark Carney warned yesterday that rates could rise more quickly than the markets were predicting. The implication is that the base rate could increase later this year, rather than in the second quarter of next year; this is a major shift for the Bank of England [...]
Tesco Bank current account finally checks in June 9, 2014 After six years of delays, glitches and excuses, and a cool £600m splashed on the project… BRITONS can today open current accounts with Tesco Bank as the retailer at last becomes a fully functioning challenger to the big banks. The long-awaited milestone comes at a tough time for Tesco, which hopes a stronger banking arm [...]
London house price danger flagged by IMF review June 6, 2014 The UK's government has this morning received a far more glowing appraisal from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) than it has become used to. The supranational organisation has delivered its Article IV mission findings, noting that the UK's economy "has rebounded strongly and growth is becoming more balanced". Among its other points, the IMF lists [...]
Banks’ fines to soar past $100 billion June 4, 2014 EUROPE’S biggest banks face an eye-watering $104bn (£62bn) bill, as regulators throughout the world ramp up fines for bad behaviour. The total amount, calculated by analysts at Credit Suisse, is nearly twice as high as had been expected a year ago, following a series of huge punitive charges in recent months. The 10 banks included [...]
It is high time voters were given the right to recall their MPs June 3, 2014 WE SHALL soon find out whether the coalition is serious about introducing a right of recall for Members of Parliament. The whole concept is revolutionary; embracing it in a proper way would transform British politics forever and help re-establish the bond between voters and those they elect to represent them. The basic idea is simple: [...]
UK industry and lending point to broader growth June 2, 2014 DATA released yesterday indicated a broad-based UK recovery, with British manufacturers growing apace, as figures on the housing market suggest recent regulatory changes have dampened a concerning upswing in mortgage lending. Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) announced a figure of 57 for their purchasing managers’ index (PMI) in May, the [...]
London house price boom set to cool down May 28, 2014 LONDON’S housing market is likely to slow down over the summer and return to normal levels of growth in the coming years, Britain’s biggest building society said today. Prices in the capital have shot up by as much as 20 per cent in the last year, but are likely to gradually slow down to increase [...]
The numbers that prove Nationwide is beating three of the big four banks May 28, 2014 As the name suggests, Britain’s Big Four banks are usually considered the biggest lenders in the country. But the country’s biggest building society, Nationwide, today released numbers showing it is firmly the second-biggest mortgage lender in the county. On top of that, it's growing far faster than RBS, Barclays and HSBC, pulling further [...]
Value of London mortgages rockets 37pc May 28, 2014 Another sign of the surging housing market: the value of mortgages to home buyers in Greater London jumped 37 per cent from a year earlier in the first quarter of this year – to £5.6bn. The figure was actually down 10 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2013 – a seasonal dip impacting lending, [...]
Full steam ahead at Nationwide as chief issues warning on housing market May 28, 2014 Nationwide has reported its best ever annual results, but has warned that the housing market may well start seeing a “natural correction”. “At some point buyers just start saying no”, said the mutual's chief executive, Graham Beale, to the BBC’s business editor Kamal Ahmed. The prognosis came as Nationwide reported that it opened 430,000 new [...]