Arrears continue to rise as higher rates pour pain onto borrowers August 10, 2023 Arrears continued rising in the second quarter as customers struggled with soaring repayment costs, new data shows. According to figures from industry body UK Finance, there were 81,900 homeowner mortgages in arrears of more than 2.5 per cent in the second quarter, seven per cent more than the previous quarter. Within this, 30,940 mortgages were [...]
Rents likely to continue rising sharply despite cost of living crisis August 10, 2023 Rents are likely to continue rising sharply despite the cost of living crisis, surveyors are warning. Property professionals’ expectations that rents will rise in the next few months are at the strongest levels seen so far this century, the findings from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) indicate. A net balance of 63 per [...]
Brokers predict ‘mortgage price war’ as lenders including HSBC and Nationwide cut rates again August 9, 2023 Brokers have suggested there could be a “mortgage price war” as lenders continue to reduce rates amid hopes inflation is finally on the way down. Nationwide reduced prices on some of its fixed products by up to 0.55 percentage points while HSBC reduced rates by up to 0.2 percentage points. TSB also lowered rates by [...]
Nationwide and TSB join HSBC in reducing rates on mortgage deals July 27, 2023 Nationwide and TSB joined HSBC in reducing rates on a range of mortgage products today, as rates on mortgages continued to come down after last week’s inflation reading. Nationwide announced that it would be reducing fixed rates by up to 0.35 per cent while it would reduce rates available on its tracker products by 0.2 [...]
HSBC set to reduce fixed-rate deals as hopes rise that mortgage rates will start to fall July 25, 2023 HSBC became the first high street bank to announce they will be reducing rates on a swathe of their fixed-rate products, sparking hope that mortgage rates might begin to fall. Mortgage rates have spiralled in recent months as inflation has remained stubbornly above the Bank of England’s target. Traders are now betting that the Bank [...]
In defence of landlords, by the Bank of England July 18, 2023 Few people in Britain draw as much scorn than landlords. It’s easy to understand why. Young people shackled to renting see landlords as a barrier to their homeownership dreams. Particularly in London, renters hate handing over a huge share of their monthly wage to property investors. Doing so stops them from using their cash [...]
Mortgage defaults expected to pick up as rising rates hits borrowers, say lenders July 13, 2023 Banks and building societies expect the level of mortgage defaults to increase over the next quarter as the impact of rising interest rates filters through the economy. In the Bank of England’s quarterly credit conditions survey, lenders reported “losses and default rates on secured loans to households increased in Q2, and were expected to increase [...]
Mortgage rates: Banks warn of more ‘financial difficulty’ – but arrears increase will be small July 11, 2023 Leading bankers have said that an increasing number of customers will face financial difficulties as mortgage rates rise, but remained confident that both consumers and lenders could withstand the pressure. Bradley Fordham, mortgage director at Santander, said that with rates at six per cent, the average increase in monthly payments for customers coming off a [...]
Mortgage rates climb to 15-year high following surprisingly strong wage growth July 11, 2023 The typical rate available on a two-year fixed mortgage has climbed to a 15-year high, surpassing the levels seen last Autumn in the wake of the disastrous mini-budget. According to Moneyfacts, the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate hit 6.66 per cent, marginally higher than the 6.65 per cent seen last October. This was the [...]
Labour mortgage summit amid brewing repayments crisis July 9, 2023 Labour are set to hold crunch talks with mortgage brokers this week amid a brewing repayments crisis. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has pledged homeownership will be the core of her ‘securenomics’ philosophy as she claimed Labour is now the party of house buyers. Reeves and shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy will attend the summit [...]