New postcode lending data reveals Britain’s strikingly healthy SME sector July 24, 2013 HOW are businesses in your area doing? Are they building up cash piles, or piling up the debts? Until this week, regional borrowing and saving by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was a mystery. But thanks to data released from banks for 120 postcode areas, we now know what is happening in each part of [...]
Hooked on help to buy July 23, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT’S commitment to underwrite hundreds of thousands of mortgages is “like a drug” that will artificially inflate house prices, critics have warned. George Osborne yesterday confirmed details of the next stage of his Help to Buy scheme, which will guarantee £130bn worth of mortgages from January 2014. Buyers will need a deposit of just [...]
Pressure rises on banks as they agree to publish local loan data July 23, 2013 BRITAIN’S biggest banks will face even more public pressure and scrutiny as they publish detailed lending figures every quarter starting next year, the Treasury will announce today. The seven largest lenders will make public their business, mortgage and unsecured consumer lending figures, listed by postcode. It is part of a long drive to put pressure [...]
Help to Buy not for second homes, says Osborne July 23, 2013 THE EXTENSION of the Help to Buy Scheme will be closed to second home buyers, the chancellor confirmed today. George Osborne met with lenders and housebuilders at Number 11 to discuss the second stage of the scheme, which enables people to buy new homes with just a five per cent deposit. In addition to the [...]
UK mortgage approvals rise to a 17-month high as chancellor meets with lenders to discuss Help to Buy July 23, 2013 Some 37,278 home loans were approved in June 2013 – a 17-month high – according to a report from the British Banker’s Association. While this came in below analysts' expectations of a rise to 38,500, mortgage approvals were still up 32 per cent from June 2012 and 17 per cent from the 2012 average. It [...]
Lenders and housebuilders summoned for Help to Buy meeting July 23, 2013 CHANCELLOR George Osborne has summoned Britain’s housebuilders and mortgage lenders for a meeting today, to discuss the second phase of the Help to Buy Scheme. The scheme was first launched four months ago and allows people to buy new homes with just a five per cent deposit. The biggest lenders, including Lloyds, RBS, Nationwide and [...]
UBS settles loan case as earnings soar 62 per cent July 22, 2013 SWISS bank UBS is paying SFr700m (£487m) to settle claims it overstated the quality of loans in the run up to the financial crisis, the lender announced yesterday. US regulators brought the case after complaints from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who claim they were misled by 18 institutions into buying bad debts without realising [...]
Mortgage lending jumps to highest in five years July 18, 2013 LENDING for property purchases leapt to its highest level since the end of 2008 in the second quarter, according to figures released yesterday by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Gross lending between April and June reached £42bn, up nearly a quarter on the previous three months. In June alone, £15bn was lent, rising two [...]
Northern Rock’s bad bank selling assets to JC Flowers July 18, 2013 PRIVATE equity group JC Flowers is set to buy a portfolio of £450m Northern Rock loans from the bad bank part of the lender. UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) is expected to sell the loans to One Savings Bank, owned by JC Flowers, for around £300m. UKAR exists to wind down the bad loans built up [...]
Handelsbanken profits rise as it plans 12 more branches in the UK July 17, 2013 BRITISH operations of Nordic lender Handelsbanken expanded rapidly again in the first half of the year, the group reported yesterday. Operating profits in the UK increased five per cent on the year to 276m Swedish krona (£27.6m). Household lending jumped 28 per cent to £3.1bn, while corporate lending rose 19 per cent on the previous [...]