WAR ON BANKS AFTER BONUS ROW EXPLODES December 3, 2009 POLITICIANS rounded on bankers yesterday amid fears a windfall tax on bank profits is on the cards for the pre-budget report next week. The concerns came as a report from the National Audit Office (NAO), released today, revealed for the first time that the government has spent £117bn bailing out the banks. Lord Myners, the [...]
Buy-to-let is back as rents stabilise and low prices attract landlords December 3, 2009 BUY-TO-LET is starting to look like an attractive proposition once again, as lower house prices and a stabilising rental market result in more enticing yields. Data from LSL Property Services – the company that owns Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agencies – shows that annual returns on landlords’ investments have turned positive for the [...]
Bank reports a rise in home loan approvals November 30, 2009 HOME loan approvals rose in October to a 19-month high as the housing market showed signs of recovery. Banks approved 57,345 mortgages in October against 56,205 in September, the highest since March 2008 and the 11th monthly rise in a row, the Bank of England said. Net mortgage lending rose by £922m in October versus [...]
Tougher mortgage rules on the cards November 25, 2009 THE TREASURY has unveiled plans for tougher regulation of the mortgage market to better protect borrowers. Under the proposals, the scope of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) would be extended to include buy-to-let and second-charge mortgages. And borrowers would be protected when lenders sell on mortgage books to third parties. Sarah McCarthy-Fry, Exchequer Secretary said, [...]
PARAGON TO RESUME NEW LENDING November 24, 2009 Buy-to-let lender Paragon has said it is becoming more confident of resuming lending to new customers as it reported an annual pre-tax profit £54.3m. The group has not lent to new mortgage borrowers since February last year.
Mortgage lending rises five per cent due to time of year November 19, 2009 MORTGAGE lending ticked up by five per cent in October, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), although this was mainly down to seasonal factors. Lending rose to £13.5bn in October, compared to £12.9bn in September, the CML said, although it was still down 27 per cent on the £18.5bn that was lent to [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 17, 2009 Neptune Investment ManagementThe fund management boutique has appointed Robert Pickering, the former chief executive of blue-blooded bank JP Morgan Cazenove, to its board of directors. Pickering qualified as a solicitor with Allen & Overy in 1984 and joined Cazenove the following year. He spent a total of 23 years with the firm and was appointed [...]
Amount of repossessions is set to go up November 12, 2009 FEWER homes will be repossessed this year than previously forecast, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said yesterday, but the body expects 2010 to see more repossessions. The CML lowered its forecast for the second time this year and now anticipates that 48,000 homes will be repossessed in 2009, just 8,000 more than in 2008. [...]
CML: breakup of banks won’t lead to more lending November 10, 2009 MORTGAGE lenders have warned that the government’s banks breakup will fail to stimulate lending and even predict “stagnation” in the housing market next year. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) poured cold water on hopes that the carve up of RBS and Lloyds and the resurrection of brands like Williams & Glyn’s and Trustee Savings [...]
CBA reports strong markets November 8, 2009 Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s second-biggest lender, reported a strong first-quarter profit last night with business improving across the board, sending its shares sharply higher. CBA, also Australia’s largest mortgage lender, said in a trading update that cash net profit was about A$1.4bn (£0.77bn) as home-loan growth and stronger equity markets drove earnings.