City bombshell: Hundreds of angry Northern Rock clients sue TSB Bank for £800m after being trapped in high-interest mortgages July 18, 2022 City A.M. was told this morning that TSB Bank is facing a legal action worth up to £800m, brought by customers who claim they were locked into mortgages with ‘excessively high’ interest rates. Today, six years to the day since TSB bought £3.3bn mortgages from Northern Rock, approximately 200 homeowners whose mortgages have been administered [...]
Return of loan loss reserves crimp JP Morgan profits July 14, 2022 Swelling reserves set aside to deal with a historic inflation surge raising the risk of US consumers defaulting on their debts has eroded investment banking giant JP Morgan’s profits, the firm announced today. Net income dropped 28 per cent in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, driven by a $428m (£360m) [...]
UK house prices hit average of £294,845 in largest growth spurt since 2004 July 7, 2022 House prices leaped in June in the largest increase of monthly growth since 2004, hitting an average of £294,845 after months of declining growth. Climbing ever-closer to the £300,000 mark, house prices jumped 1.8 per cent in June, after climbing one per cent in May, when the average cost of a home was £289,099, according [...]
PMI: House building shrinks for first time since beginning of pandemic July 6, 2022 A slowdown in the UK economy triggered by the cost of living crisis has led to house building stalling, a closely watched survey published today reveals. Activity in the UK house building sector dropped for the first time since May 2020, when the country was in the teeth of the most onerous pandemic restrictions, according [...]
M&G snaps up major stake in non-bank lender Finance Ireland July 6, 2022 London-listed M&G revealed it has snapped up a major stake in Ireland’s largest non-bank lender Finance Ireland today, as the international savings and investments firm looks to diversify and expand. FTSE-100 M&G has taken a 41 per cent stake in the firm, bosses said, with the investment made on behalf of the £143bn Prudential With [...]
Bank of England economy warning sends London markets lower July 5, 2022 London markets were dragged lower today by the Bank of England warning the UK economy is headed for a tough time over the coming year. The capital’s premier index shed nearly three per cent to close at 7,025.47 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the [...]
If money was no object: The City is by far Londoners’ most desirable borough July 2, 2022 One in five Londoners would want to live in the City, with the figure rising to 28% among those aged 18-34, according to new research shared exclusively with City A.M. today. The Square Mile is closely followed by Kensington and Chelsea, with 18 per cent of Londoners choosing the leafy and exclusive borough as their [...]
Remortgage sales hit highest level since before the pandemic outnumbering all other types of home loans June 29, 2022 The FCA’s latest data shows that remortgage sales in the fourth quarter of last year, at 92,558, reached their highest level of activity since early 2020, before the outbreak of the pandemic. In fact, they outnumbered all other types of home loans for the first time since the third quarter of 2020, according to analysis [...]
Barclays makes major lending push with £2.3bn deal for Kensington Mortgage Company June 24, 2022 In a major push to broaden its lending offering, banking giant Barclays said this morning it has agreed a deal worth around £2.3bn to buy specialist lender Kensington Mortgage Company. Barclays said the acquisition will allow it to offer more mortgage options to the self-employed and people who have multiple or variable incomes. The bank [...]
Bank of England drops mortgage market affordability test after less than a decade June 20, 2022 The Bank of England said this morning that its Financial Policy Committee will withdraw the so-called mortgage market affordability test. “Following its latest review of the mortgage market, the Financial Policy Committee has confirmed that it will withdraw its affordability test Recommendation,” the BoE said in a statement. This will come into effect from 1 [...]