A recovery built on bricks and mortar January 12, 2014 Bovis chief executive David Ritchie tells Elizabeth Fournier why he’s not concerned about a new UK housing bubble THE LAST 12 months have been good ones for Britain’s housebuilders. After a financial crisis that saw billions wiped off the sector as credit dried up and house prices crashed, 2013 saw a return to form as [...]
Young Britons hit hardest by housing crisis January 10, 2014 PR consultancy MRM has released a report investigating the attitudes of "Generation Austerity," aged 20-29. Their results set today's young people radically apart from the rest of the population, in their attitudes to personal finance. When asked what is the most important thing for you to save for right now, 37 per cent of generation [...]
Surge in small deposits caused by 2013 house market recovery January 9, 2014 THE NUMBER of home loans with a low deposit has surged by 60 per cent over the last year, as the number of mortgage loans heads back to pre-crisis levels. According to chartered surveyors E.surv, there were 9,038 house purchases with a deposit that is worth less than 15 per cent of the value of [...]
Carney could scrap Help to Buy next year January 8, 2014 GEORGE Osborne’s flagship Help to Buy mortgage scheme could be shot down by Mark Carney in the coming 18 months, top bank analysts said yesterday, as the booming housing market gathers pace. The chancellor wants the scheme, which supports house buyers with small deposits, to last for three years. But if the housing market overheats [...]
Our panel votes to hold rates as economy firms January 8, 2014 AS 2014 gets underway, our shadow monetary policy committee votes to keep interest rates and QE unchanged in January. Two members voted for a rate hike again this month, as official statistics responses to business surveys continue to reinforce the view that the UK economic recovery was strengthening as 2013 rolled to an end. Most [...]
Mortgage demand is soaring on both sides of the Atlantic January 8, 2014 US mortgage applications rose by 2.6 per cent in the week to 3 January. And last week's fall of 6.3 per cent has been revised up – to a more moderate decline of just 4.2 per cent. Over on this side of the pond, the Bank of England said this morning that mortgage demand in [...]
What you need to know before the open – 08/01 January 8, 2014 European markets are set to open flat this morning, as US employment data and Fed Open Market Committee meeting minutes are due out later today. European opening may be reflective after rudderless rally yesterday – FTSE -2, DAX -14, CAC -4 — David Buik (@truemagic68) January 8, 2014 Strong US data yesterday gave [...]
Rates fall again for UK’s savers and borrowers January 7, 2014 MARKET interest rates are still falling five years after the Bank of England slashed the base rate to 0.5 per cent, official data and Goldman Sachs research showed yesterday. Mortgage interest rates on new loans now average around 2.75 per cent, Goldman analysts said. The rates have fallen by more than one percentage point in the [...]
How to give pensioners choice without harmful annuity switching plans January 7, 2014 WITH the demise of salary-related pensions, we now face the challenge of ensuring people get the most out of the alternative defined contribution system, where their pensions are heavily dependent on how much they have saved during their working lifetime. This is why pensions minister Steve Webb is right to worry about annuities. But his [...]
Why annuities switching is likely to cause serious problems for UK insurers January 6, 2014 WE HAVE little detail of pensions minister Steve Webb’s proposals to allow pensioners to switch between annuity providers in the same way that they can switch between mortgages. However, at first sight, his ideas provide more evidence that the coalition made a serious error in appointing somebody so far to the political left to such [...]