The Bank of England figures show the number of new mortgages approved for homebuyers fell in July to just 33,000, down 71 per cent on a year ago. This brings further pressure on the government which is expected to release tomorrow a package of financial measures to get the housing market moving again. The latest
Collapsing house prices are plunging 60,000 homeowners a month into negative equity, making the figures worse than the housing crash of the 1990s. At the current rate, by the end of this month 335,000 homes will be worth less than their mortgages, a rise of 260,000 in four months. If the trend continues two million
Should affordable housing be Gordon Brown’s first priority? Yes, say four of the six Labour deputy leader candidates in the Mirror. Yes, along with other things, say the other two. The politics of housing is complicated but the solution is simple – build more homes – says Steve Richards in the Independent. Housing organisations are
Britain’s largest housebuilder, Persimmon, announced record profits for 2007, but says that it is cautious about prospects for the housing market this year. The average selling price for a property rose 1 per cent last year, but the number of sales fell 4.8 per cent. Mortgage lending in January continued to be subdued according to
Yesterday the Bank of England kept interest rates on hold at 5 per cent. The number of homeowners facing repossession action in England and Wales has increased 16 per cent in the first quarter on 2008. The figure, from the Ministry of Justice, covers the number of mortgage repossession claims before the courts, which is
The Government announced its £1 billion housing package this morning. It aims to help first-time buyers get on the housing market with a £300 million shared equity scheme, support vulnerable homeowners at risk of repossession with a £100 million mortgage rescue scheme, and support the housebuilding industry with a £400 million boost for social housing
Despite yesterday’s decision by the Bank of England’s to cut the base rate, many people will still be hit by higher mortgage costs after several lenders raised their charges last night. Nationwide, Royal Bank of Scotland, Alliance & Leicester and Britannia Building Society all raised their fixed rate deals. But several banks, including Halifax, Lloyds
The Office of Fair Trading has concluded its report into customer satisfaction and the success of regulations and competition in the housebuilding industry. Seven in 10 buyers of newly-built homes found faults with their property, although most of the problems were only minor issues and did not cost the buyer anything to fix. However, 32
Beleaguered bank, Northern Rock, is expected to receive as many as eight offers – some priced ‘aggressively low’ – to buy all or some of it, as the deadline closes today. The company has suggested that even if the bank was bought outright, the Bank of England may still need to bail it out to
The number of new mortgages approved for house purchases in Britain has fallen for another month. The figures from the Bank of England shows that 42,000 homes were approved in May, a 28 per cent fall from the previous month, and down 64 per cent from a year ago. These are the lowest figures since