Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category

Date released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows that, in January, house purchase loans fell by more than three times the decline in remortgages, demonstrating the effect that the end of the stamp duty holiday in December has had on the mortgage market. There were 49% fewer house purchase loans in ... Full story

The UK was among only five European countries that saw house prices rise last year according to the 2010 RICS European Housing Review. Prices in the UK rose by 1% in 2009 overall, but by 10% since their lowest point in April. Norway led the way with a 12% rise, followed by ... Full story

Research by Santander Cards has revealed that holidaymakers in Britain saved a collective total of £4.92 billion on holidays last year by cutting out the middle man and booking directly, with those cutting out the middle man saving an average of £423. The survey shows that of the 22 million adults that holidayed away from ... Full story

Government plans to make more people eligible to apply for Debt Relief Orders (DROs), providing extra support for those in financial difficulty, have been announced by Business Minister Ian Lucas. The proposed changes to DROs would mean that those with very small pension pots would be able to apply for the Orders, which ... Full story

According to online insurer swiftcover.com, an estimated 36,000 parents are committing fraud by illegally listing their children as their ‘spouse’ or ‘partner’ on their car insurance policy, a crime known as fronting. Fronting is where an older driver is insured as the ‘main driver' of a vehicle, but the vehicle is actually driven ... Full story

Research carried out by moneysupermarket.com indicates that Britain has almost two million ‘ghost’ households when it comes to energy bills, with people either not paying for their gas or electricity or leaving a property without paying for it. The survey found that almost one million households (4% of the total households in Britain, according ... Full story

It is now just over 21 years since the launch of the fixed rate mortgage, with Halifax publishing research into the product to coincide with the anniversary. Fixed rate mortgages were launched in the late 80s by Halifax, and CML figures show that by 2009, 68% of new mortgage lending was on fixed ... Full story

Gross mortgage lending has continued to decline in 2010 according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Figures show that lending came in at £9.1 billion in January, a 32% fall from £13.4 billion in December and a 21% fall from £11.5 billion in January 2009. A decline is typically experienced between December and January. ... Full story

Better deals for house buyers and sellers could be secured through a shake-up of how homes are sold, including updating legislation and allowing new entrants into the market, a report by the OFT has claimed. The study found that the housing market remains dominated by traditional estate agents with weak competition between them ... Full story

It has been revealed today that inflation jumped to 3.5% in January - 1.5 percentage points above the target. In an open letter to the Chancellor, the Governor of the Bank of England, offered an explanation as to why the inflation level has gone off target: "In the medium term, inflation is determined by the balance of ... Full story