Mortgage approvals soar to 13-year high as UK housing market booms October 29, 2020 Mortgage approvals jumped again in September to hit a 13-year high as pent-up demand and the stamp duty holiday fuelled the housing market despite the economy’s fragile state. Approvals of mortgages for house purchase rose sharply to 91,500 in September from 85,500 in August, the Bank of England said today. Analysts had expected the number [...]
Consumer confidence edges up on Eat Out to Help Out boost October 25, 2020 Consumer confidence continued to climb over the last three months from a record low at the height of the pandemic, after the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme provided a welcome boost to Britain’s ailing high streets. Deloitte’s quarterly Consumer Tracker found British shoppers’ confidence edged up one percentage point to minus 16 in [...]
Banks hike mortgage interest rates amid boom in applicants October 24, 2020 Banks are reportedly hiking mortgage interest rates in order to deter prospective buyers as they struggle to meet a spike in demand for home loans amid a buoyant housing market. Lenders are turning away mortgage business as the ability to process applications has been slowed by home-working during the coronavirus pandemic. The housing market has [...]
Premiership final: Why I’d love to see resurgent Wasps spoil Exeter’s double dream October 23, 2020 If you had to put your mortgage on a team to win the Premiership final then, based on their entire 2019-20 campaign, it would have to be Exeter. The Chiefs proved that they are the best team in Europe by lifting the Champions Cup last weekend. Completing the double with victory over Wasps in Saturday’s [...]
Open finance: exploring open banking’s natural evolution October 23, 2020 Laziness. Lack of time. The all-too-frequent challenge of speaking to a helpful person by phone. There are many reasons why consumers and businesses don’t shop around and switch products and suppliers. Failing to keep abreast of the best mortgage rates? Rolling onto the same insurance every year without looking for better deals? If so, open finance – a development coming [...]
Metro Bank loans rise as capital remains below regulators’ expectations October 21, 2020 Metro Bank today reported a two per cent hike in lending for the third quarter, as the British bank warned its capital remained below buffers set out by regulators following a significant hit from the pandemic. Loans handed out by the bank climbed to £15.09bn in the three months to 30 September, up two per [...]
Barratt reports strong forward sales as housing market recovers October 14, 2020 Barratt Developments (BDEV) has reported an increase in forward sales as the housing market bounced back from the first wave of coronavirus restrictions. The housebuilder said total forward sales as of 11 October increased 16.7 per cent to 15,135 homes at a value of £3.7bn. It also reported a 20.8 per cent increase in its [...]
The answer to Britain’s housing crisis is more houses – not risky mortgages October 11, 2020 Housing experts were left scratching their heads this week after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his flagship policy to get young people on the housing ladder: bigger mortgages. Johnson plans to turn “generation rent” into “generation buy” by offering long-term, fixed-rate mortgages of up to 95 per cent of the value of the home. He [...]
Optimism rises among financial services firms as business volumes stabilise October 8, 2020 Optimism within the financial services sector increased for the first time in three quarters as business volumes showed signs of stabilising following the initial shock of the coronavirus crisis, a new survey showed. Sentiment among finance firms rose nine per cent in the three months to the end of September, according to the Confederation of [...]
In full: PM Boris Johnson’s Tory conference speech in full October 6, 2020 Boris Johnson took the stage Tuesday for the Tories’ virtual party conference, announcing policies on 1:1 teaching and low-deposit mortgages, but also promising to unleash the private sector. Here’s the text in full. Good morning conference, I want to begin by thanking you for everything you did at the election, pounding the streets in the [...]