UK borrowers impacted by pandemic face rising mortgage payments, L&G warns March 17, 2021 UK borrowers who have suffered a drop in income during the pandemic could soon be paying thousands of pounds more in monthly mortgage repayments, according to the latest research. The survey by Legal & General Mortgage Club found that one in three borrowers are considering staying on their current lender’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR) once [...]
House price boom continues in March as buyer demand hits record levels March 15, 2021 Record levels of buyer demand pushed the average price of new properties coming to market up 0.8 per cent last month, new research shows. According to Rightmove, the current excess of demand is the highest it has been for a decade, pushing prices up £2,484 in March. The number of potential buyers enquiring about each [...]
Atom Bank valuation set to halve after latest fundraising round March 11, 2021 The valuation of digital lender Atom Bank could halve as it closes its latest fundraising round. Atom announced its £40m fundraising last month claiming it would put it “on the path to profitability in the near term”. But the challenger bank is now close to concluding a round at 60p-a-share, just under half the price [...]
Finance need an overhaul to price in climate change risk and push green agenda forward March 6, 2021 Why did the credit and wider financial system only take off in the last 400 years? Despite money and lending being around for millennia, financial services only truly got going alongside the Enlightenment. According to the writer Yuval Noah Harari, the fundamental shift was to be found in humanity’s belief about the future. In previous [...]
Budget 2021: Government to guarantee five per cent mortgages on homes up to £600,000 March 3, 2021 The government will introduce a new scheme that will allow individuals to put down just a five per cent deposit on homes valued up to £600,000. From April, the government will introduce a the scheme that will provide a guarantee to lenders across the UK that offer mortgages to people with a deposit of five [...]
UK consumer credit slumped in January as lockdown took hold March 1, 2021 Consumer borrowing in January fell at its fastest pace since May last year as the country returned to lockdown, Bank of England data showed on Monday. Unsecured lending to consumers tumbled by £2.4bn, the biggest drop since last May’s £4.5bn hit. This takes the year-on-year fall to 8.9 per cent, the biggest decline since monthly [...]
Budget 2021: Chancellor set to unveil mortgage guarantee scheme February 27, 2021 The Chancellor will use Wednesday’s Budget to unveil a new mortgage scheme aimed at getting tens of thousands of people onto the property ladder. Under the new programme, first time or current homeowners looking to buy a house of up to £600,000 will need a deposit of just five per cent to secure a mortgage. [...]
Sunak to crack down on Covid support fraudsters with new taskforce February 27, 2021 A new fraud taskforce to crack down on people who have exploited the government’s Covid-19 support schemes will be unveiled at next week’s Budget. The Treasury has announced that it will put £100m into a new Taxpayer Protection Taskforce to investigate those who fraudulently made use schemes such as furlough and the Self Employment Income Support [...]
Atom Bank taps investors for cash as it targets IPO February 25, 2021 Digital challenger Atom Bank is looking to raise £40m from existing investors as it targets an IPO in the next few years. The neobank Atom is confident it will move to profitability from its mortgage and business lending “within a year”. The optimism contrasts with its fintech peers which have faced difficulties since the outbreak [...]
Metro Bank losses widen as it takes £124m hit from Covid, sending shares lower February 24, 2021 Metro Bank loss widens as it takes £124m hit from Covid pandemic