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 [...]
Truss and Kwarteng mini-budget to ‘deepen’ UK recession October 4, 2022 Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s decision to slash taxes and ramp up borrowing without costing their plans will make the looming UK recession worse, City economists predicted today. Soaring mortgage rates driven by lenders passing on higher market yields pushed up by a lack of confidence in prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s [...]
Home sellers in for a shock as house prices drop across UK and overall growth slows November 7, 2022 House prices across Britain recorded the biggest monthly fall in October since early 2021, according to an index out this a.m. The average property value fell by 0.4 per cent, marking the third month-on-month drop seen in the past four months, Halifax said. The latest month-on-month decrease follows monthly falls of 0.1 per cent in [...]
Banks cannot behave like start ups using a business model based on short term profits May 3, 2023 Banks are betting on short-term profits, and this is leading to their collapse. If we don't want to lose our small players, like we did with SVB, we need to recapitalise banks, writes Hugo Llewelyn
Nationwide and Virgin Money face mounting opposition to £2.9bn merger April 16, 2024 Nationwide's bid to acquire high-street rival Virgin Money is facing mounting opposition from members and analysts ahead of a shareholder vote.
Shack up or ship out – why London’s rental market is no place for singles May 23, 2023 London’s notoriously cut-throat rental market has long lured couples into cohabitation in desperate efforts to save costs as opposed to it being the next natural step in the relationship. However, over the past 12 months a cocktail of shrinking supply and rising rents has made trying to find a home or even a room in [...]
Why lower interest rates might not offer much support to the UK economy April 6, 2024 Although the UK fell into a recession in the second half of last year, most economists are confident that growth will return this year.
Santander UK profits rise but lender bracing itself for house price fall April 25, 2023 Santander’s UK division was boosted by higher interest rates but the bank remained cautious looking forward, suggesting house prices could fall ten per cent taking them back to 2021 levels. The Spanish bank’s UK business saw its pretax profit climb 11 per cent to £547m as higher interest rates continued to bolster its performance. Santander’s [...]
Persimmon: New home completions down a third as UK housebuilding woes continue January 10, 2024 High inflation and cost of raw materials has made it more expensive to build houses, while higher interest rates have suppressed demand for buyers.
Paragon Bank’s share price surges after record profits and deposit inflows June 6, 2023 Shares in Paragon Bank surged nearly eight per cent this morning after the FTSE 250 lender reported record interim profits and significant deposit inflows. In the first half of the year, Paragon’s underlying profit jumped 22 per cent to £128.9m as the bank benefitted from rising interest rates. The bank’s net interest margin (NIM), the [...]