Government’s plan to subsidise credit could easily backfire June 14, 2012 USUALLY, formal dinners at Mansion House in the City are highly enjoyable but somewhat predictable affairs. This one was unusually exciting. For the first time I can remember, the speeches from George Osborne and Sir Mervyn King included major news bombshells. The Bank is launching an £80bn “funding for lending” plan to cut the cost [...]
Osborne should reject the Vickers report in his Mansion House Speech June 13, 2012 GEORGE Osborne is a flip-flop chancellor – but on all the wrong policies. One area where a u-turn would be welcome is on the implementation of the Vickers report. However, In his Mansion House speech tonight, he will signal an intention to plough on as before – accepting both the good and the bad. Let’s [...]
Housebuilder Bellway enjoys strong sales June 8, 2012 Housebuilder Bellway announced today that it had enjoyed a “resilient” spring selling season, with visitor levels and reservation rates having surpassed expectations. This successful period meant that Bellway’s target set at the beginning of the financial year of achieving 5 per cent volume growth is now “secure”. Reservations increased following the introduction of government scheme [...]
The subprime mortgage crisis isn’t over – UK taxpayers remain liable June 7, 2012 THE subprime mortgage crisis isn’t over. On the back of misguided government policies, taxpayers in the US and UK remain on the hook for huge sums. The ideology of affordable housing must end. It took just 13 years to destroy the American mortgage market with devastating effects for the rest of the world. The process began [...]
House price rise 0.5pc in May June 7, 2012 House prices rose by 0.5 per cent in May, rebounding from a 2.3 per cent decline in April, but prices were still slightly lower on the year, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Thursday. The Halifax house price index showed house prices were 0.1 per cent down in the three months to May compared [...]
Home shortage drives prices up, says Nationwide May 31, 2012 House prices are stuck at a high level despite a lack of demand because of a low rate of building, Nationwide said yesterday, arguing that allowing more construction will reduce the pressure of housing costs on households. The building society’s data showed prices rose 0.3 per cent in May, but dropped 0.7 per cent on [...]
House prices edge up in May May 31, 2012 House prices rose slightly more than expected this month to leave prices broadly unchanged on a year ago against a backdrop of generally subdued demand, according to figures from mortgage lender Nationwide. House prices rose 0.3 per cent in May after a 0.3 per cent drop the month before – a marginally bigger rise than [...]
Jump in adults priced out of flying the nest May 29, 2012 SOARING rents and large deposits are making it increasingly difficult for young people to buy a home, industry data showed yesterday. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recorded a 20 per cent jump in the number of young adults living with their parents since 1997, while figures from Rightmove showed that 30 per [...]
Paragon profit rises on return of buy-to-let May 23, 2012 INCREASED popularity of buy-to-let mortgages powered lender Paragon to a 13.4 per cent rise in profit to £44.8m for the six months to March. Chief executive Nigel Terrington told City A.M. he is “delighted” that the profit growth was driven by improved revenues rather than cost-cutting. “For the first time since the credit crunch [the buy-to-let] balance sheet [...]
Mortgage loans plummet as tax break expires May 21, 2012 MORTGAGE lending plunged in April after the stamp duty holiday expired, industry data showed yesterday, while economists warned the underlying state of the housing market is weakening. Gross mortgage lending slumped from £12.6bn in March to £10.2bn in April – a 19 per cent fall to an 11-month low, according to data from the Council [...]