Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
A new report from FTSE100 financial services group Legal & General and Cebr shows that, amidst a reduction in transaction volumes across the UK housing market, it has been highlighted that the Bank of Mum and Dad (BoMaD) will fund nearly 20% fewer property purchases than in 2018. The jump in BoMaD loan sizes has…
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Over 50s are increasingly financing not just one, but two generations; boosting spending money, gifting lump sums, or providing childcare – totalling £53bn per year according to new research from Saga. The research has revealed that 69% of over 50s provide financial support to their children and 57% to their grandchildren. In fact, four in…
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Households have been pushed nearly £2,000 into the red in the period since Theresa May became prime minister, according to TUC analysis as she prepares to resign the Conservative Party leadership. In every reported quarter since her arrival in Downing Street (2016 Q4 to 2018 Q4), families’ outgoings have outstripped their incomes. This has resulted…
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New figures from the British Retail Consortium-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor analysis show that retail sales suffered their worst month in 24 years. UK shoppers shunned the high street last month leading to sales plunging in May faster than at any time in the past 24 years. Sales dropped 2.7% in the four weeks to May…
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Consumer credit increased by £0.9 billion in April, in line with the monthly average increase since July 2018. The annual growth in consumer credit continued slowing, to 5.9% from 6.4% in March – its slowest rate since 2014 – as households limited spending on credit cards and cut back on finance deals. The figures highlighted…
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Latest household finance update statistics from UK Finance, show that £11.4 billion was spent on credit cards in April 2019 this was 11.7 per cent higher than the same month in 2018, This growth in spending reflects consumers’ increased preference for using credit cards as a means of payment, particularly online, because of purchase protection…
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Visa’s UK Consumer Spending Index, compiled by IHS Markit, pointed to a further marginal decline in overall household spending at the start of the second quarter. Expenditure fell -0.5% on an annual basis during April, which was slightly quicker than the -0.2% reduction seen in March. Consumer spending has now fallen in each of the…
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Financial wellbeing is deteriorating at its fastest pace since September 2017 despite a sustained rise in income from employment according to a new report IHS Markit. The report found that household finances were squeezed to the strongest extent since September 201 whilst workplace activity and incomes from employment continue to rise. The outlook towards future…
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The latest UK card stats reveal that the growth in credit card spending is down to 4.9% in February. In February 2018 the corresponding figure was 8.3%. However, the use of credit cards continues to increase as a payment method in the UK. There were 246 million transactions on cardholders’ credit cards in February 2019,…
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The Treasury Committee has published a new unanimously-agreed Report on consumers’ access to financial services. The report says access to financial services and financial inclusion are issues of fundamental importance to the Treasury Committee, UK consumers, and also the functioning of the economy. Everyone can be vulnerable at some point, so financial inclusion matters to everybody,…
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New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that consumer finance new business fell by 2% in March compared with the same month last year. In Q1 2019 as a whole, new business was at a similar level to Q1 2018. Retail store and online credit new business increased by 4% in…
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Homeowner mortgages in arrears figures remain at historically low levels according to the latest figures from UK Finance. The figures published reveal that there were 76,580 homeowner mortgages in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more in the first quarter of 2019, four per cent fewer than in the same quarter of 2018. Whilst the…
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New analysis from KPMG UK finds the rising prominence of so-called ‘zombie firms’ is threatening to cause a significant drag-effect on the UK economy. KPMG’s analysis looks at the last three annual accounts of listed UK companies (FTSE and AIM) reveals that 8% of UK companies currently display zombie-like symptoms. But based on the latest…
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