Lenders and housebuilders summoned for Help to Buy meeting July 23, 2013 CHANCELLOR George Osborne has summoned Britain’s housebuilders and mortgage lenders for a meeting today, to discuss the second phase of the Help to Buy Scheme. The scheme was first launched four months ago and allows people to buy new homes with just a five per cent deposit. The biggest lenders, including Lloyds, RBS, Nationwide and [...]
London Week Ahead: Mark versus market in first public speech August 26, 2013 BANK of England governor Mark Carney’s keynote lunch speech to business leaders in Nottingham tomorrow has already been dubbed “Mark versus Market” – with market watchers dubious about Carney’s claims for long-term low interest rates. Rob Wood, economist at Berenberg Bank, said: “Growing momentum in the economy, rapidly rising house prices, and wide disagreements on [...]
Innovation Diary: Why food innovators have broken out of the development kitchen October 13, 2013 THINK of food innovation and the cronut (a croissant/doughnut) or the duffin (its doughnut/muffin cousin) may come to mind. Such foody portmanteaus – while reflecting the vibrancy of an industry that has weathered the last five years well – can have unpredictable results. Frappuccinos and banoffee pie now barely raise an eyebrow. The pluot (a [...]
Renters still itch to own as price increases begin August 4, 2013 THE VAST majority of people renting property still dream of owning a home in the future, according the a Rightmove survey released today. The survey of over 3,000 tenants suggested that 96 per cent see home ownership as their ultimate goal, and 70 per cent are ready to continue trying to get on the property [...]
Tesco pulls out of independent Chinese operations amid growing regional competition August 9, 2013 Tesco has announced it will be ending its independent operations in China to embark on a joint venture with China Resources Enterprise (release). Tesco will merge 131 of its stores with 2.986 of CRE’s, taking advantage of the Chinese company’s “deep understanding of local customers, established nationwide infrastructure and proven track record as a partner [...]
Bottom Line: Privatise this bank and let it flourish August 21, 2013 LLOYDS suddenly looks like Britain’s least-troubled bank, with soaring shares, a return to profit and almost all of its business focused on core UK markets. Its position is in stark contrast to much of the rest of the sector. RBS is getting a new boss to push the government’s favoured strategy of cutting back investment [...]
Card firms on hook for £1.3bn mis-selling bill August 22, 2013 THIRTEEN of Britain’s biggest lenders yesterday unveiled plans to repay consumers £1.3bn for mis-selling credit card protection products. Seven million customers bought the products which came from CCP and were sold through high street lenders and retailers. They either provided loss protection already covered by the bank, or were misleadingly advertised. If customers bought card [...]
Ratings agency says Help to Buy will push up house prices August 6, 2013 Ratings agency Fitch has said that chancellor George Osborne's mortgage backing scheme Help to Buy will "probably push up house prices" (release). The policy is also unlikely to help with very low housing supply, Fitch says that the "impact on the number of new homes built is less clear". House builders stand to benefit, but [...]
House prices rose by more than expected in July August 6, 2013 UK house prices rose by a larger-than-expected 0.9 per cent in July, according to the Halifax House Price index. Analysts had forecast a rise of 0.5 per cent following an upwardly revised 0.7 per cent growth in June. In the three months to July, house prices rose 4.6 per cent compared to the same period [...]
EU looks to adopt Britain’s tough bank capital rules August 5, 2013 EUROPE’S banks could soon face the same tough conditions as their British peers as the continent’s regulators yesterday said they would look at imposing a leverage ratio cap similar to that taking hold in the UK. British lenders such as Barclays and Nationwide have been caught by the three per cent cap, with both forced [...]