Model citizens can get the best deals May 13, 2010 THE turmoil of the past two years has been unforgiving for first time buyers. In the boom times they were falling over themselves to snap up properties before prices shot up further, fuelled by a plethora of mortgages that offered 100 per cent borrowing and sometimes even more than that (thank you, Northern Rock). By [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 12, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES INDIAN TELECOMS GROUPS HIT OUT AT CHARGES Telecoms companies in India have raised alarm over a threat of retrospective charges for users of mobile spectrum that analysts warn could cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. The move by the Indian telecoms regulator has provoked interest from Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar. MICROSOFT [...]
House prices rising but slowdown may follow May 7, 2010 HOUSE prices have risen by 6.6 per cent in the past year, according to the Halifax house price survey. The jump represented the fastest annual rate of increase since October 2007. However, the mortgage lender said that the trend in recent months has been for price rises to stutter. Prices fell slightly in April by [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS May 6, 2010 CHELSEA OFFERS FIRST ONLINE ACCOUNT Chelsea Building Society has launched its first ever online account, the e-Saver Reward. The account, which pays monthly interest of 2.57 per cent (2.60 per cent AER), is available to UK residents aged 16 and over and has a minimum deposit of £1. Withdrawals can be made online with only [...]
SELLING Q&A May 6, 2010 MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PROPERTY HUNT Q. Dear Russell, I’m selling my home but it is taking ages. How do I know if the buyer is stalling? A. The key is to have a good solicitor on board who is a specialist in residential property rather than a generalist. They will be able to deal with [...]
Freddie Mac seeks $10.6bn more from US May 5, 2010 FREDDIE Mac is to ask for $10.6bn (£7bn) in state aid, as the stricken US mortgage lender saw a loss of $8bn during the first three months of 2010. Part of the mammoth losses incurred by Freddie Mac account for $3.1bn in dividends paid to the Treasury Department. Freddie Mac said it would have to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 3, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES DERIPASKA IN NEW LISTING Oleg Deripaska, the Russian billionaire, is preparing to float a second resource company in Hong Kong just three months after the controversial $2.2bn initial public offering of Rusal, his aluminium group. Strikeforce Mining and Resources aims to raise as much as $200m this month, according to people close to [...]
Santander in £426m profit April 29, 2010 SANTANDER, the eurozone’s largest bank, grew its UK profits by more than 15 per cent in the first quarter as it bit off a greater market share in mortgage lending. The Spanish giant yesterday said trading profits were £426m in the three months to March. In a challenge to Britain’s high street players, Santander expanded [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS April 29, 2010 STATE-OWNED MORTGAGE LENDERS FAIL TO SATISFY State-owned mortgage providers are trailing behind smaller lenders and building societies for customer satisfaction, says a new survey from Which? Money. Bank of Scotland – part of Lloyds Banking Group – had the lowest score; just 41 per cent of customers were satisfied with the provider. Halifax (44 per [...]
Redrow on way to profit April 26, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Redrow expects to return to profitability in the second half of 2010 as market conditions continue to improve. The FTSE 250 group says it has been “encouraged” by sales activity since the start of the calendar year. It is likely to legally complete more than 2,500 homes this year with sales rates per outlet [...]