Bank of England: Most mortgage borrowers could cope with an interest rate rise December 8, 2014 The majority of mortgage borrowers could cope if interest rates rose two percentage points, the Bank of England said today. According to the Bank's quarterly bulletin, which looked at the results of the annual NMG Consulting survey of household finances, if interest rates rose from their historic low of 0.5 per cent to 2.5 per [...]
It’s official: The Bank of England says mortgage borrowers could cope with an interest rate rise December 8, 2014 The majority of mortgage borrowers would be fine if interest rates rose, reckons the Bank of England. According to the Bank, if interest rates rose by two percentage points, just four per cent of mortgage borrowers would need to "take action", ie. cut their spending or work longer hours. That represents 1.3 per cent of [...]
Bank of England: Brits can cope with higher rates December 8, 2014 ECONOMISTS at the Bank of England believe interest rates can rise from their current historic lows without significantly harming Britons’ spending power. The Bank’s latest quarterly report, published this morning, includes thorough calculations regarding the impact of tighter monetary policy. “Overall, these results do not imply that increases in interest rates from their current historically [...]
UK house price growth slows, but prices are five times average earnings December 4, 2014 House prices across the UK were up 8.2 per cent in the year to November, another month of slower growth after October's 8.8 per cent rise. The price to earnings ratio is ticking up, however, and has reached a multiplier of 5.02. Halifax’s house price index also showed quarterly prices up 0.7 per cent (slowing [...]
Cheap mortgages are here to stay as OBR predicts interest rates will remain low December 3, 2014 Interest rates will stay lower for longer, the fiscal watchdog predicted yesterday, because the Bank of England is now not expected to tighten monetary policy until well into 2015. When it last made its forecasts in March, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicted the average mortgage interest rate would dip below three per cent [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: What does George Osborne’s budget mean for you? From single parents to entrepreneurs December 3, 2014 THE SINGLE PARENT Catherine Gannon, 51 Managing partner of law firm Gannons Gannons Commercial Law continues to perform extremely well as profits and earnings increase on last year. Catherine is commercially savvy and has recently restructured the business from an LLP to a Limited Company due to the new Legislation covering LLPs. This illustrates that [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: Stamp duty, business rates, banking profits and tech firm taxes. How has industry responded? December 3, 2014 There were a number of surprises in George Osborne's final Autumn Statement before the general election, many of which are solidly aimed at middle class voters. Bankers taxes are being limited, multinational tech firms are going to have to pay more taxes and stamp duty slabs have been scrapped. The squeezed middle and chattering [...]
Winkworth says mansion tax talk hitting demand for London £2m-plus homes December 2, 2014 The threat of a potential mansion tax after May’s general election was hitting demand for £2m-plus homes, estate agent Winkworth said yesterday. Shares in the agency fell 2.6 per cent after it warned of a “subdued” first half of 2015, despite anticipating a pick-up in activity in the final six months of the year. It [...]
Spending is on the rise as housing costs more than ever December 2, 2014 Household spending is at its highest since 2010, according to the latest official figures, with more money being spent on housing than ever before. The average UK household spending was £517.30 a week in 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), up from an all time low of £501 the previous year and [...]
House prices expected to slow after mortgage approval dip December 1, 2014 THE MORTGAGE market continued to slow in October, reflecting a wider slump in the housing market. The number of loan approvals for house purchase was 59,426 in October compared with the average of 63,727 over the previous six months, according to Bank of England figures released yesterday. Mortgage approvals have dipped in each of the [...]