Cheap funds for lenders in bid to boost borrowing April 30, 2013 BANKS are being offered cheap funding for another year in a renewed drive to boost lending to the private sector and get the economy moving. The funding for lending scheme (FLS) was launched in August and was expected to run for 18 months. But the Bank of England and the government are worried that lending [...]
Why Osborne’s housing subsidies feel right out of the 1970s March 24, 2013 IT is all too easy to make comparisons between the behaviour of current politicians and those of their historic predecessors. But basic economic errors seem ingrained in the nature of those in positions of power, and keep happening in almost cyclical fashion, albeit always in superficially very different circumstances. I have previously compared George Osborne [...]
Osborne’s gambled on the wrong policy March 23, 2013 THERE is a striking paradox at the heart of George Osborne’s approach to the economy, as demonstrated yet again in yesterday’s Budget. He was remarkably risk-averse with his tax and spend policies, refusing to embrace the kinds of shock and awe tax reforms many of us wanted, or to cut spending faster, though he did [...]
Big banks could be forced to hold more capital February 27, 2013 The Financial Services Authority chairman, Lord Adair Turner, is currently before the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards. Our banking reporter Tim Wallace is following proceedings: Turner: Big banks could be forced to hold extra capital against mortgage lending because their internal models give them too easy a ride — Tim Wallace (@Tim_Wallace) February 27, 2013 [...]
First-time buys up to five year high in London February 26, 2013 FIRST-TIMERS rushed back to the London housing market in 2012, with first-time sales up to their highest since 2007. London housing transactions involving first-time buyers rocketed up 15 per cent between 2011 and 2012, from 32,400 to 37,300, according to Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) figures out yesterday. And the figure continued to rise through to the [...]
Strong start to the new year for Persimmon February 25, 2013 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon yesterday reported a sharp rise in full-year profits and said its strong performance has continued into 2013, with forward sales reaching £1bn. Britain’s largest housebuilder by market value said underlying profit before tax increased by 52 per cent to £225.1m in the year to 31 December while its operating margin rose 10 per [...]
RBS and Lloyds results look set to show losses February 24, 2013 STATE-BACKED banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are both expected to announce full-year results this week, with analysts forecasting both lenders will remain loss-making. Investec believes RBS, which will deliver its 2012 figures on Thursday, will announce an attributable loss of £2.2bn for the final quarter – or a £5.6bn loss for [...]
Mortgage rates fall to new low with state aid February 21, 2013 MORTGAGE interest rates dropped to their lowest level ever in February, new figures showed yesterday, six months after the Bank of England started offering banks cheap funding in an effort to boost lending to the private sector. The average five-year fixed mortgage costs just 4.14 per cent, according to finance research site MoneyFacts. That is [...]
Buy to let loans grow to 12pc of market in 2012 February 14, 2013 THE BUY-TO-LET market enjoyed rapid expansion in 2012, ballooning back up towards its pre-recession peak, according to figures out yesterday. Buy-to let lending exploded 19 per cent between 2011 and last year, from £13.8bn to £16.4bn, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said. This boom saw it taking up 11.5 per cent of total gross [...]
Work placements for the unemployed make a lot of sense February 12, 2013 UNEMPLOYMENT remains obscenely high in today’s stagnant Britain, and far too many people – young and old – have been on the dole or on other out of work benefits for far too long. Anything that allows them to break out of their present predicament should be welcome. The government should be able to ask [...]