Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
New research by the Resolution Foundation has found that youth home ownership rates have risen since the mid-2010s trough to leave younger millennials with greater home ownership rates at age 25 than older millennials had at that age. But with middle- and higher-income households gaining the most in recent years, the property divide between rich…
Read more
The Bank of England has decided to maintain interest rates at 4.75% following a split vote among its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). While six members opted to keep rates unchanged, three advocated for a 0.25 percentage point cut due to concerns over stagnating economic growth. The MPC’s new projections indicate zero GDP growth for the…
Read more
UK Finance has predicted that mortgage lending is set to rise by 11% in 2025 UK Finance says that with rate and cost pressures continuing to ease, the outlook for 2025 is for a gradual improvement in mortgage affordability, feeding into market growth. As interest rates tick down, we expect arrears to continue to fall,…
Read more
New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that second charge mortgage new business volumes grew by 32% in October 2024 Commenting on the latest new business figures for the second charge mortgage market, Fiona Hoyle, Director of Consumer & Mortgage Finance and Inclusion at the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA), said…
Read more
Mortgage lending rose for the second consecutive quarter to reach £41.4bn in Quarter 3 (Q3), up 15% compared to the same three months of last year, according to latest data UK Finance. Mortgage activity throughout 2024 has been very sensitive to changes in product pricing. In the third quarter, as lenders were able to reduce…
Read more
Latest Data from the Bank of England shows that UK lenders approved the most mortgages in more than two years in October, with 68,300 home loans given the green light. This was the highest monthly total since August 2022 and compares to 66,115 approvals in September. While brokers had been anticipating a rebound in activity…
Read more
New research by Halifax has found that homebuying is becoming more affordable relative to income. The analysis based on data from the Halifax House Price Index compared typical house prices to average earnings across the UK. House prices have increased by +3.8 % compared to a year ago, reaching an average of £292,508. Meanwhile, annual earnings…
Read more
Latest data from the Building Societies Association (BSA) has shown that mortgage balances, in the sector, grew by £11.7 billion, accounting for 72% of the mortgage market growth during the period. This follows 2023 where building societies were responsible for all the growth in the mortgage market, as overall mortgage balances at other lenders reduced…
Read more
Latest data from UK Finance has shown that there were 33,840 new loans advanced to older borrowers in Q3, up 2 per cent year on year. The value of this lending was £5.2bn, which was up 9.7 per cent compared with the same quarter a year previously. There were 5,830 new lifetime mortgages advanced in…
Read more
New data analysis by Hargreaves Lansdown has found that in 2023/24, 30% of people had a mortgage, 35% owned outright, 19% rented privately (32% in London) and 16% rented from the social sector. The average weekly mortgage payment in England was £222. Outside London, it was £209 (up £47 in a year) and in London…
Read more
A new report by Lenvi has revealed that four-fifths (81%) have borrowed money – with the most popular form of loan being the ‘bank of mum and dad’ (40%). However, parents and guardians may be pulling some strings to make this happen – in this instance, driving themselves into debt – to support their children.…
Read more
Mortgage lending is set to grow 1.6% this year (up from – 0.1% in 2023), 2.6% in 2025 and 3.3% in 2026, as housing affordability improves according to new analysis by EY ITEM Club. The forecast is on the proviso that inflation and interest rates continue to gradually fall following August and November’s Bank of…
Read more
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to cut the base rate by 0.25% to 4.75%. MPC voted 8-1 to cut rates, with the dissenter preferring to leave cuts unchanged at 5%. Inflation is expected to increase to around 2.5% by the end of the year, from 1.7% in September. Steve Vaid,…
Read more