The mortgage ‘moron premium’ and why home loans may get (slightly) cheaper despite an expected hike in interest rates January 28, 2023 The Bank of England is expected to increase interest rates next month, making borrowing more expensive for both businesses and individuals. Although the rate decides how much businesses and individuals pay to borrow money, mortgage experts believe that the cost of home loans may actually come down, because the derivatives used by mortgage lenders have [...]
Banks and housebuilders bear brunt of market chaos September 29, 2022 Wild swings in UK debt markets and concern over borrowers’ capacity to pay costlier mortgages have whacked London-listed housebuilders and banks this week. Britain’s biggest property developers have been among the hardest hit listed companies during this week’s market sell-off. FTSE 100-listed construction firms Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments have shed more than 20 per [...]
Lloyds profits top City’s expectation on higher interest rates July 27, 2022 Higher interest rates have lifted Britain’s largest mortgage lender Lloyds’s profits above the City’s expectations. Net interest income, the difference between what a bank charges borrowers and pays depositors, surged 13 per cent over the first six months of the year to £6.1n, Lloyds said today. That boost hoisted the lender’s pre-tax profits to £3.66bn, [...]
UK banks no longer ‘too big to fail’ but sector still has room for improvement June 10, 2022 All of the UK’s top banks would survive a major financial shock, but some have shortcomings in ensuring they fund themselves through a crisis, the Bank of England said today. Britain’s eight biggest high street lenders would be able to fail safely without a repeat of bailouts seen during the financial crisis in 2008, according [...]
FTSE 100 today: London markets likely to start higher, mirroring Asian peers February 7, 2024 Asian markets mirror the gains witnessed on Wall Street, supported by Beijing's escalating efforts to shore up its declining stock markets. Investors will closely monitor Fedspeak and UK house price data.
UK high street lenders whipsaw on muddled day of trading in the City April 27, 2022 The UK’s biggest high street lenders whipsawed in the City today after giving up morning gains that initially boosted London’s top indexes. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index closed 0.53 per cent higher at 7,425.61 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, dipped [...]
Price of average UK home skyrockets to £276.7k as cost of living crunch clouds home ownership dreams April 13, 2022 The average price tag of a home in the UK hit £276,755 in February, according to government figures. Rising house prices come as Brits have been forced to tighten household purse strings amid historic levels of inflation. The annual price change for a property in the UK was 10.9 per cent. The average price of [...]
Value of mortgage advances tops £70bn as real estate experts say market is cooling off March 8, 2022 Real estate experts have said the latest mortgage lenders statistics show a market cooling off from its earlier frenzy. In figures published by the Bank of England on Tuesday, the outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans was £1,613.4bn at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. This was 4.7 per cent higher than [...]
One Fifth Of UK Workers Are Using AI, Without Telling The Boss July 13, 2023 Generative AI developments are moving faster than most of us can keep up with. Recent data from the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) has found that public awareness of AI has increased over the past year, with 72% of adults now able to give at least a partial explanation of [...]
Scepticism over Kremlin’s pledges weigh on London indexes March 30, 2022 A push back from western nations on the validity of Russia pledging to roll back its assault on Ukraine drove a mixed day for London’s top indexes today. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index climbed 0.55 per cent to 7,578.75 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, dropped 1.02 per cent to 21,272.47 points. [...]