Loans News

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  • House prices to slowdown next year

    The Nationwide Building Society has warned that house price growth could grind to a halt next year, stating that there will be a 'significant slowdown' in house price growth over 2008. The current level of annual house price inflation stands at 9.7% but officials from Nationwide state that this could plummet to 0% by this time next year. The building society has said that a number of factors have led to this predicted slowdown, including lower demand for buy to let, lack of affordability, tighter lending criteria, and a slump in the economy.


  • Tenants better off than homeowners

    According to a recent survey the benefits of owning a home rather than renting have plummeted by 75% over the past twelve months, which means that in many of the country's regions tenants that are renting their home are actually better off than those that own their own home. The report suggests that tenants are actually better off than homeowners in over 50% of the regions in the UK. The information comes from the latest Rent V Buy index, which is put together by the Abbey bank.


  • About HIPs

    Earlier on this year the government in the UK introduced HIPs, or Home Information Packs. These HIPs have to be provided by the vendor or agent for any home of three bedrooms or more that goes up for sale in England or Wales. Eventually these HIPs will be rolled out to all properties rather than just larger properties, and it will be a legal obligation for all properties marketed for sale to have a Home Information Pack available.


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  • Lenders may be raising mortgage rates

    A recent report has indicated that many lenders may be looking to raise their mortgage interest rates as a result of the turmoil that has been caused by the global credit crunch that has swept across the UK and other parts of the world. The credit crunch was sparked in the sub-prime sector of the United States and made its way across the Atlantic in August of this year. Since this time many areas of the financial sector have been affected, and there have been some high profile victims of the credit crunch, the most prolific of which is probably Northern Rock.


  • Small rise in fixed rates over two years

    According to data from the Bank of England there was a marginal rise in interest rates on two year fixed rate mortgages last month. It is thought that the slight rise could be the result of continued turmoil in the banking and financial markets in the UK, which has resulted from the widespread credit crunch that was sparked in the sub-prime mortgage sector in the United States. October saw the cost of a two year fixed rate mortgage for 95% of the property's value rise to 6.37%. The previous month it was 6.32%.


  • Be careful about home improvements

    According to some industry experts there may be in an increase in the number of people carrying out large scale home improvements over the coming months as a result of lower consumer interest in purchasing property and fewer properties coming onto the market. Many sellers are reluctant to sell because of falling house prices and the controversial Home Information Packs. Others cannot find interested parties due to decreased interest from buyers and difficulties getting a mortgage for buyers in light of the financial turmoil in the money markets.


  • FSA fines broker

    The UK's financial regulator, the Financial Services Authority, recently decided to fine a mortgage broker dealing with equity release mortgages, claiming that it had found 'persistent record keeping failures and systems and controls deficiencies' during investigations into the firm. The Minel Group, based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, was fined £10,500 by the Financial Services Authority following the investigation over the mis-selling of these lifetime mortgages, and was also told to review the sale of equity release mortgages between November 2004 and December 2005, issuing compensation to customers that had lost money through the mis-selling of these mortgages.


  • Building societies offer most of the best mortgage deals

    A recent report has claimed that the vast majority of affordable mortgages actually come from building societies rather than from banks, and as a result of this consumers thinking of taking out a mortgage are being advised to steer clear of banks when it comes to finding a low cost mortgage deal.


  • Many consumers do not change mortgage lender

    According to the results shown in a recent report many consumers in the UK are failing to shop around for a better mortgage, even when their existing affordable deals come to an end and they are faced with the prospect of moving to the lender's standard variable rate, which is often in excess of 7.75%. The poll was carried out by mform.co.uk, and showed that many consumers could be missing out on annual savings of thousands of pounds simply by failing to shop around and find the best mortgage deal.


  • Campaign over sale and rent back schemes increases

    Over recent months sale and rent back scheme have been hitting the headlines on a regular basis, and have not been viewed in a good light by many officials and campaigners. With more and more people facing repossession in the UK due to higher interest rates and repayments these firms have crawled out of the woodwork offering these vulnerable consumers a chance to stay in their homes and eliminate the risk of repossession. This is through selling their home to the company and then renting it back from them.


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