Q&A: BUYING May 27, 2010 Camilla Dell MANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q.Dear Camilla, Hips were originally introduced to protect buyers, now that they have been abolished what protection do buyers have? A. HOME Information Packs (Hips) were initially put in place to help buyers find out important information about the properties they were buying and to stop sales falling [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 26, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES APPLE, HP AND DELL INVESTIGATE FOXCONN AFTER SPATE OF SUICIDES Apple, Dell and HP, three of the world’s largest IT companies, said yesterday they were investigating working conditions at Foxconn after a series of suicides at the huge factory in southern China where Foxconn makes electronic goods. Nine workers at Foxconn’s Shenzhen plant, [...]
Nationwidesuffers as profits halve May 26, 2010 NATIONWIDE, Britain’s largest building society, said it expected broad stability in the housing market over the next 6-12 months, when posting a near halving of full-year profit yesterday. House prices have recovered ground in recent months, though they fell in February and April, according to rival lender Halifax, raising questions over the strength of the [...]
CML sees fewer repossessions and arrears May 13, 2010 FEWER Britons saw their homes repossessed in the first quarter of 2010 and the number of mortgages in arrears also dropped, data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed yesterday. But it warned that there was no room for complacency in what remains a highly vulnerable housing market. The number of repossessions was 9,800, [...]
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 [...]