Mortgage sales rise by £3.4 billion in May

21st June 2017 Consumer Collections |

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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N Brown to close retail outlets

21st June 2017 Consumer Collections |

Home Catalogue Specialist N Brown has announced that it will be closing up to five Simply Be and Jacamo dual-fascia stores. This decision takes into account weak high-street footfall, both current and predicted, together with significant future business rate increases for some stores. Together, these five stores contributed £5million revenue but accounted for the entire £2million…

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Bank of Mum and Dad could fund nearly half a million home buyers

21st June 2017 Consumer Collections |

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…

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Smaller mortgage lenders show the strongest growth in Mortgage report

20th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

 The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has published data showing mortgage lending by CML members in 2016. The tables show members’ gross mortgage lending in the latest calendar year and balances outstanding at the end of 2016, rounded to the nearest £100 million and ranked on the same basis. This means that the very smallest…

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Quint posts record annual results

20th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

Quint Group has reported a record year of growth with a 64 per cent increase in revenue to almost £32m by March 2017. Quint saw its turnover rise from £19.5m to £31.9m in 2016/17, along with an increase in underlying profits of over 250 per cent from £1.6m to £5.9m. Growth has been driven by…

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Over a quarter of Brits have personal debt repayment fear

19th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

A TDX Group Consumer Debt Report has revealed that over a quarter (28%) of Brits fear they may not be able to keep up with repayments on their personal debt. The online survey, conducted by YouGov, also found that unsecured debt now tops average monthly earnings¹, with more than one in four (28%) owing in…

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Card payments more than double over a decade

19th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

The number of purchases using debit and credit cards has more than doubled in the past 10 years, as contactless payments and online retail have driven a change in the way consumers pay, according to a report from The UK Cards Association. Debit and credit cards were used to make 16.4 billion purchases in 2016,…

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Over half of Scots sometimes run out of money before payday

19th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

More than half of Scots (51%) say they occasionally run out of money before payday, with 15% saying they do so ‘most of the time’ or ‘always. The figures are part of a new report by Citizens Advice Scotland which aims to take a snapshot of the financial realities facing Scots in 2017, and in particular,…

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Borro CEO steps down from role

16th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

Alternative secured specialist lender Borro, has announced that Chief Executive Officer and Founder Paul Aitken is to leave the company. Aitken, who founded the company in 2008, led Aitken, who founded the company in 2008, led Borro through its early growth stages online, expansion into the American market, and the launch of property lending in…

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Volvo Car UK appoints new Head of Financial Services

16th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

Selwyn Cooper has been appointed Head of Financial Services of Volvo Car UK. The new role will see Cooper heading up the Volvo Car Financial Services division, with responsibility for the management and delivery of the expanding range of finance and insurance products offered by Volvo in the UK. Cooper has worked at Volvo for…

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Money Statistics: June 2017

15th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

Here is an overview of The Money Charity’s latest statistics for June 2017: Personal debt in the UK People in the UK owed £1.532 trillion at the end of April 2017. This is up from £1.485 trillion at the end of April 2016 – an extra £886.84 per UK adult Per adult in the UK…

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Credit Union closes

15th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

Plough & Share Credit Union has closed after it was revealed it was in default and could not repay deposits to its 2,550 members. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has stepped in to protect members of the Credit Union. The FSCS will compensate the vast majority of members within seven days. The scheme will use…

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New Vulnerable customer guide launched

14th June 2017 Consumer Collections |

A new guide that helps finance providers identify and support customers in vulnerable situations during the credit application process is being launched today by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) and The UK Cards Association. Developed by the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC), in partnership with both Associations, Vulnerability: a guide for…

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