DEBATE: Do banks still need a high-street presence? July 8, 2021 Monzo, Revolut and Starling are all household names. People can open accounts without ever speaking with an employee and most don’t have any branches at all. High-street banks are also closing down and the mass transition towards online banking has only been expedited by the pandemic. Do banks still need a high street presence? Gareth [...]
House prices fall for the first time this year as stamp duty holiday winds down July 7, 2021 The price of the average UK property fell last month for the first time this year, as the end of the most generous stamp duty holiday loomed. House prices fell 0.5 per cent in June, down £1,284 to an average price of £260,358, according to figures from Halifax. The new figures mean annual house price [...]
HSBC launches lowest ever fixed-rate mortgage at 0.94 per cent July 6, 2021 HSBC UK has launched a fixed-rate mortgage at 0.94 per cent, its lowest fixed-rate mortgage ever, but the product will only be available to those with a 40 per cent deposit. The lender will charge a £999 fee to access the mortgage, or alternatively, people can take out a ‘fee-saver’ version with no product fee [...]
Alibaba founders pledge company stock to secure bank loans July 2, 2021 Chinese tycoons Jack Ma and Joe Tsai have pledged part of their combined $35bn (£25bn) stake in Alibaba in exchange for large loans from investment banks. The share pledges, which were made to lenders including UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, were made by offshore companies that control half of the two billionaire’s stake in [...]
Credit Suisse ‘wooed’ Sanjeev Gupta before Greensill collapse June 11, 2021 Credit Suisse has been embroiled in further controversy over its links to Sanjeev Gupta after details emerged about the Swiss lender’s direct relationship with the tycoon. Former executives at the bank told the Financial Times that leadership wooed Gupta, offering him a string of services as his private wealth manager, as well as VIP treatment. [...]
Inflation might be the only cure for our bubbly housing market June 8, 2021 House prices in the UK (and many other parts of the world) are soaring, squeezing affordability yet further. Rising inflation looks like the most obvious candidate to prick this bubble. House prices in the UK rose by 10.9% in the year to May. That’s the most rapid growth seen in almost seven years, according to [...]
Housebuilder stocks soar as property prices climb another £3,000 to new record high June 7, 2021 House prices in the UK rose again last month by around £3,000, bringing the average property price up to a record high of £261,743. May’s 1.3 per cent price increase means the average home in the UK has increased by more than £22,000 – or 9.5 per cent – in the last 12 months, according [...]
Former Barclays boss in line for £200m windfall as Blackrock takes 10x stake June 5, 2021 Former Barclays boss Antony Jenkins is said to be on the brink of a deal that will see his personal wealth surge by £200m as Blackrock funds close in on his new fintech venture. Jenkins, who was ousted as chief executive of Barclays in 2015, is close to selling a stake in 10x Future Technologies [...]
First-time buyers offered new homes at up to half price under government scheme June 5, 2021 First-time buyers in England will be able to apply for a discount of up to 50 per cent on a new build home under a government project launched today. The First Homes scheme will help people onto the property ladder, which experts believe could spark a scramble for properties and further bolster the house price [...]
Lenders hand out most mortgages to first-time buyers in nearly 20 years June 3, 2021 Banks and building societies handed out more mortgages to first-time buyers in March than any time since 2002. Across the UK, 42,330 mortgages were issued to first-time buyers in March, marking the highest monthly total since December 2002 when 44,000 were advanced, according to trade association UK Finance. Many people who would have taken their [...]