SBI launches buy to let mortgages in UK September 21, 2011 STATE Bank of India is entering the British buy-to-let mortgage market as part of a push to increase the size of its retail division. The lender, which is majority owned by the Indian government, has just begun offering sums of between £50,000 and £1.5m to professional landlords and people who own second homes. It plans [...]
Only facing up to your debt problems will stop the stress September 21, 2011 DON’T look so frightened,” Tracy Finn tells me. We are sat in the big Queen Street branch of HSBC in the City. It’s 10am on Wednesday morning, and I’m only about a year late for this meeting. “I help dozens of people with their personal debt every month,” she assures me. “Most of them earning [...]
Loan market is stagnating, warns CML September 20, 2011 LENDING to housebuyers increased strongly in August, offsetting July’s poor figures according to statistics released yesterday by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Lenders doled out £13.4bn last month, up six per cent on July and an increase of 10 per cent on August 2010. July 2009 was the last time monthly lending was higher, [...]
Mortgage lending highest since July 2009 September 20, 2011 Gross mortgage lending in Britain last month rose to its highest level in more than two years, rebounding from July’s weak reading to stand 10 percent higher than a year ago, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said. Gross mortgage lending in August came in at an estimated £13.4bn, up from £12.6bn in July and £12.1bn [...]
Rise in Taylor Wimpey sales lifts margins September 19, 2011 HOUSEBUILDER Taylor Wimpey said yesterday that sales rates in recent weeks have been encouraging, as the industry has benefited from a seasonal surge in home buying activity. The FTSE 250-listed firm added it is on track to deliver on margin targets this year. The country’s second largest builder by market value said net sales rates [...]
Taylor Wimpey says housebuilding bouncing back September 19, 2011 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said sales rates in recent weeks have been encouraging, as the industry has benefited from a seasonal surge in home buying activity, and added it is on track to deliver on margin targets. The country’s second largest builder by market value said net sales rates so far in the second half are [...]
Banks bashed: Vickers hits UK lenders with a raft of new rules and limits September 12, 2011 THE UK yesterday took a radical step towards imposing new regulations that will cost banks billions and risk eroding the competitiveness of the City. The Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) unveiled a report that its chair Sir John Vickers said “goes further” than international regulation. The ICB says that the reforms will cost banks between [...]
Economic uncertainty keeps housing market weighed down during August September 12, 2011 THE UNSTABLE economic outlook kept the UK’s housing market subdued last month, a survey published this morning suggests. The average number of house sales per surveyor fell to 14 in August, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has found – “taking transactions back to June 2009 levels”. Nearly eight in 10 surveyors reported “general [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS September 7, 2011 NEW MOBILE APP FOR INVESTORS Hargreaves Lansdown has released a new smartphone app, allowing investors to view their Isa, Sipp and other investments on both iPhone and Android systems. Ofcom figures show that 27 per cent of UK adults now own a smartphone.“The age of connected computing is with us,” says Richard Hunter, head of [...]
House prices fall more than expected in August September 7, 2011 UK house prices fell 1.2 per cent in August, mortgage lender Halifax has said, after an 0.5 per cent fall in the second quarter, reinforcing views that current prices cannot be sustained by cash-strapped UK buyers. The fall is about twice the 0.6 per cent fall posted in the rival Nationwide measure of house prices. [...]