Bank data reveals loans drop despite Funding for Lending October 18, 2012 NET lending was negative in August, statistics showed yesterday, with more businesses paying off debt than taking more out. The net monthly flow of lending to businesses was minus £2.2bn in the month, according to Bank of England data. The total stock of lending shrunk 2.2 per cent at an annualised rate in the three months to [...]
Wheatley’s new City watchdog shows its teeth October 16, 2012 THE FINANCIAL Conduct Authority (FCA) yesterday unveiled its plan to regulate behaviour in the City, pledging to force companies to “put consumers at the heart of their business”. Martin Wheatley, who will be chief executive of the FCA when it is spawned from the disbanding Financial Services Authority (FSA) next year, outlined its approach. New [...]
It might be prime time to refinance October 14, 2012 HISTORICALLY low interest rates and government schemes mean that it may make sense, for some borrowers at least, to remortgage their homes. But data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders serves as a stark reminder as to how tight conditions still are. In 2011, £46.6bn worth of remortgages were taken out by borrowers in 375,000 [...]
BBA’s Browne set to face MPs October 11, 2012 THE NEW head of the British Bankers’ Association will tell MPs next week what the industry body thinks of new powers set to be handed to the Bank of England. A new committee within the Bank could soon be able to impose capital rules for lenders and set charges to dampen lending in overheated parts [...]
What the other papers say this Morning October 9, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Channel Islands unite over deficits Guernsey and Jersey are setting aside centuries of rivalry to defeat a common foe: the budget deficit. Senior politicians on the two islands, which have struggled to balance their books since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, are considering radical moves to combine public services, including [...]
Boost for mortgage lending October 8, 2012 The number of mortgages available to prospective home-buyers has started to expand, according to the Moneysupermarket website. The group also claimed that lenders are offering high loan to value (LTV) ratio deals. “Since April, there has been a 14 per cent increase in the number of 75 per cent LTV mortgages available, rising from 636 [...]
Nationwide to scrap interest-only loans October 4, 2012 ONE of the UK’s biggest mortgage lenders yesterday said it would withdraw interest-only mortgages to future homeowners from next week, in a further sign of the squeeze on higher risk lending. Nationwide Building Society, the third biggest mortgage lender in the country, wrote to brokers yesterday saying it would stop offering the mortgage on 11 [...]
Halifax data points to house prices stuck in the doldrums October 4, 2012 HOUSE PRICES slipped in September, according to data released by Halifax yesterday, adding to the evidence suggesting a weak housing market. The average UK house price slipped 0.4 per cent during September to £159,586, the Halifax house price index showed, with analysts putting the decline down to poor fundamentals. “The generally weak economic climate remains [...]
EU reveals new crackdown on biggest banks October 2, 2012 BANKS across Europe will be split by new ringfencing rules, and be forced to hold more capital against mortgages in EU plans outlined yesterday. The new plans are aimed at making banking safer, but lawyers warned they will increase banks’ costs, hitting consumers and the wider economy, as well as causing confusion as they do [...]
Lenders should reflect changes by offering 50-year mortgages October 1, 2012 LENDERS should consider offering mortgages for terms of up to 50 years, according to a report released yesterday by City giant Legal & General. The research compares 35-year-olds today with their equivalent in 1977 and alleges that the financial services industry has failed to keep up with demographic changes. Highlighting increases in intergenerational dependency and [...]