UK house price growth slows in May amid Brexit uncertainty May 31, 2019 Annual growth of UK house prices remained below one per cent for the sixth consecutive month in May, as political uncertainty continued to weigh on the property market. Prices fell 0.2 per cent month-on month, while annual house price growth slowed to 0.6 per cent, falling from 0.9 per cent in April and below the [...]
UK mortgage approvals hit two-year high following Brexit extension May 28, 2019 The number of mortgage approvals for house purchases in the UK reached a two-year high in April, a survey showed today, suggesting the country’s housing market may be recovering from a recent slowdown. Read more: Mortgage approvals fall as lending to businesses also drops UK banks approved 42,989 mortgages in April, the highest figure since [...]
Why is the mortgage market strangely resistant to technological change? May 16, 2019 Technology is so pervasive that it is easy to forget just how fundamentally it has impacted our lives. In fact, it is hard to think of an area of life that hasn’t been made more accessible, faster or cheaper. Personal finance is no exception. Price comparison websites, mobile banking, and other innovations have all transformed the [...]
The big fixer-upper: How to solve the problems in the mortgage market May 15, 2019 We've sent people into space, built driverless cars, and engineered robots that can think like us. And yet, fixing the mortgage approval process still seems out of humanity’s reach. The market is riddled with inefficiencies. Consumers are forced to fill out documents detailing every corner of their lives, while clunky underwriting processes mean that it [...]
City watchdog proposes mortgage shake-up to boost consumer choice May 7, 2019 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today announced changes to mortgage advice rules to try and increase choice for consumers. The City watchdog identified a number of ways its advice rules are acting as a barrier to the development of new tools to help consumers choose and buy a mortgage and the new rules are aimed [...]
UK house prices suffer fifth month of ‘subdued’ growth amid Brexit uncertainty May 1, 2019 UK house price growth remained flattened in April, as the annual price growth rate rose less than one per cent, the latest data showed today. Read more: London house prices plunge in blow to UK housing market UK house price growth remained quiet in April, as the annual price growth rate rose less than one [...]
Mortgage and investment platform Lendinvest secures £200m funding from HSBC April 8, 2019 Mortgage marketplace and property investment platform Lendinvest has secured up to £200m in funding from HSBC in order to launch its home loan product this year. The new funding will allow the London-based firm, which launched in 2008, to enter the regulated home loan market for the first time as it targets becoming a whole-of-market [...]
UK house prices drop in March amid Brexit uncertainty after shock rise, says Halifax April 5, 2019 UK house prices grew 2.6 per cent year on year in March, but fell compared to the month before, according to data released today. The value of the average UK home hit £233,181 last month, after growing 1.6 per cent between January to March compared to the three months to the end of December. Read [...]
Niche bank Cambridge and Counties hits record lending levels after launch of classic car loans April 2, 2019 Niche property bank Cambridge and Counties reported a profit rise and assets of more than £1bn after the successful launch of its classic car loans arm. The business-focused bank said pre-tax profit increased 14 per cent to £27.9m last year and loans and deposit levels reached record highs. Read more: Mortgage approvals fall as lending [...]
Mortgage approvals fall as lending to businesses also drops March 29, 2019 Mortgage approvals for house purchases fell in February while the number approvals for remortgaging also decreased, data released today showed. Meanwhile, the annual growth of bank lending to businesses fell in February for non-financial businesses, reversing an increase in January, Bank of England (BoE) data revealed. Read more: Sluggish GDP growth and shrinking business investment in UK [...]