Mortgage sales for the UK increased by £3.4 billion in May, up 25.4% on the previous month, according to Equifax Touchstone analysis of the intermediary marketplace. Buy-to-let figures jumped 26.1% (£0.55 billion) to £2.7 billion, with residential up 25.2% (£2.88 billion) to £14.3 billion. Overall, mortgage sales for the month grew to £17.0 billion. Every…
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Legal & General’s annual Bank of Mum and Dad survey has found that parents unlocking the equity in the family home could help to put nearly 450,000 young people into their first property. The survey found that this year 4% of homeowners over the age of 55 were considering releasing equity from their home. The…
Read moreFewer than half as many female than male business owners are confident about the future success of their businesses post-Brexit. New research conducted by RateSetter Business Finance has revealed that only 10% of women business leaders believe that leaving the EU will be positive for their business. This contrasts to the fact that twice the…
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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is urging the Government not to revisit shelved plans for tax increases on the self-employed as its latest Small Business Index (SBI) shows confidence dropping among members. The SBI is down to +15 in Q2 2017 from +20 in Q1, marking the first fall in the index since the…
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Cifas has released a new collaborative report with LexisNexis Risk Solutions which highlights that company directors are one of the most at-risk groups for identity fraud. Nearly 19% of identity fraud victims are company directors, this is despite company directors comprising less than 9% of the UK’s population. Furthermore, the report also identifies a trend where identity fraudsters…
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John Brooks has joined alternative lender Thincats as Business Origination Manager. Brooks joins the company from Natwest and having spent 42 years working with UK businesses – 30 years of which he spent working within different areas of the SME market. The past 12 years have seen John specialising in the professional services sector in…
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Credit Insurer Euler Hermes has strengthened its UK and Ireland management team with the appointment of Melissa Dowle as Director of Customer Strategy and Mike de Bresser as Commercial Director. The Director of Customer Strategy is a newly-created role and Dowle will manage Euler Hermes’ response to the changing needs of clients and brokers. De…
Read moreNew research conducted by RateSetter Business Finance reveals how credit conditions look to be tightening again, with over 400,000 small businesses now interested in finding an alternative to the banks for a loan. When asked, 32% of SMEs that had considered raising finance said that it was now harder than six months ago. During this…
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Following the announcement of Thursday’s UK General Election the credit industry has been responding to the result. Paul Marston, Managing Director of RateSetter Commercial Finance, said “Without doubt, a hung Parliament is the worst outcome for the business community. While politicians vie for position over the next few days, a shadow of uncertainty forms, meaning…
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UK household spending has fallen for the first time since 2013. Kevin Jenkins, UK & Ireland Managing Director at Visa said “Consumer spending fell for the first time in nearly four years in May, following some marked slowdowns in growth since the beginning of the year. Our Index clearly shows that with rising prices and stalling…
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New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that asset finance new business (primarily leasing and hire purchase) grew by 5% in April, compared with the same month last year. The plant and machinery finance sector reported new business up in April by 9%, while new finance for business cars grew…
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New figures released today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that new business in the point of sale (POS) consumer new car finance market fell 19% by value and 28% by volume in April, compared with the same month in 2016. This mirrored a reduction in private new car sales in April which…
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One out of every 10 Irish borrowers is in some form of arrears on their mortgage. A total of 76,400 mortgages on homes were in arrears in the first three months of this year, new Central Bank of Ireland figures show. Of the total in arrears, almost 34,000 mortgage accounts are more than two years…
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