PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS August 19, 2010 LOYALTY DOESN’T ALWAYS PAY Shopping around for a cheaper quote for your car insurance really does pay off, according to research from Which?, the independent product-testing and consumer campaigning champion. It surveyed nearly 2,500 consumers and found that more than a third accepted their original car insurers’ renewal quotes because they “couldn’t be bothered to [...]
BUYING August 19, 2010 MANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q.Dear Camilla. I’m thinking about buying a property in London for investment but I keep seeing various contradicting indices and I am very confused. What is happening? A.There are so many indices and they often conflict – for example, the Halifax and Nationwide indices moved in opposite directions in July. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 16, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES TOUGH TARGETS FOR BENEFIT REFORMS The Treasury has required Iain Duncan Smith, work and pensions secretary, to find about £5 of savings for every £1 he spends to simplify the benefits system, setting tight financial conditions on dramatic reforms. The fiscal parameters mark an uneasy truce in a cabinet row that gives Mr [...]
Reposessions are still falling August 12, 2010 THE Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has revised down its forecast for the number of borrowers who either fall behind in mortgage payments or lose their homes through repossession this year. The CML now expects 39,000 repossessions and 175,000 mortgages to end the year in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more, down from its [...]
PROPERTY NEWS August 12, 2010 SOLD! THE UK’S MOST EXPENSIVE HOME A penthouse in One Hyde Park, the lavish development in Knightsbridge, has entered the record books as the most expensive residential property in Britain – and, according to some estimates, the world – having been sold for £140m. The six bedroom apartment is spread over two floors with bullet [...]
Mortgage lending jumps in June but volumes stay below pre-crisis levels August 11, 2010 HOME loan volumes picked up in June but still languished at about a third of their pre-financial crisis levels, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Banks and building societies extended £13.1bn of credit to housebuyers in June, an increase of 15 per cent on May’s figure and seven per cent up on the [...]
Freddie Mac asks for a fresh $1.8bn bailout as makes fourth loss in a row August 9, 2010 MORTGAGE lending giant Freddie Mac is seeking $1.8bn (£1.1bn) in aid from the US Government after bad home loans prompted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss. Freddie Mac, the second largest provider of funding for US residential mortgages, said it lost $6bn, or $1.85 per share, in the April-to-June period. The company is required to pay [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS August 5, 2010 MS LAUNCHES NEW GROWTH PLAN Morgan Stanley this week announced the launch of its FTSE Gilt-Backed Growth Plan 4, which offers investors a fixed return equivalent to 8.5 per cent a year, paid on the first anniversary that the FTSE records flat or positive performance. If this does not happen, then investors still have some [...]
Halifax reports a rise in UK house prices in July August 4, 2010 FEARS of a double-dip in the UK housing market dissipated somewhat yesterday after mortgage lender Halifax reported that house prices rose by 0.6 per cent in July. Last month’s rise entirely offset the June drop in prices and the average price of a UK house now stands at £167,425. This is slightly below where they [...]
Taylor Wimpey returns to profit August 3, 2010 Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey swung to a first-half profit and said trading is satisfactory. The company kicked off first-half results from British housebuilders by posting a pretax profit before exceptional items of £19.6m, compared with a loss of £68.9m in the same period last year. After exceptional items, its profit reduced for the six months to [...]