The Bank of England has recently confirmed figures relating to the levels of negative equity amongst homeowners in the UK following around twenty months of house price falls.

Britain’s largest building society, Nationwide, decided earlier this month to increase its interest rates on standard variable rate mortgages, which has sparked fears that other lenders will follow suit.

Officials from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors have called for an increase in funds to be injected into the mortgage sector.

Recently released figures have shown that the level of mortgage approvals for the month of February increased by more than many industry officials had been expecting.

For the first time in history, the bank rate charged by the Bank of England stands at 0.5%, the sixth straight cut to the rate in an effort to revive the sagging economy. Another policy introduced by the bank is that of quantitative easing, which means the bank will place more money in the system [...]

A recent report has highlighted how many British homeowners that have fixed rate mortgage deals in place may be missing out financially because of the cut in interest rates over recent months.

Following the recent Monetary Policy Committee meeting held last week the Bank of England has announced that the UK base interest rate has been cut yet again, falling by 0.5 percent from 2 percent to just 1.5 percent.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has recently spoken out to defend its member banks, after some banks were criticised for failing to pass on base rate cuts and were accused of making a profit. The CML insists that its member banks are actually profiteering, and recently released a statement to this effect.

According to recent reports many borrowers may start to benefit from the recent base interest rate cuts, as many lenders – under pressure from the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown – are now responding the recent rate cuts, and are cutting their own borrowing interest rates accordingly. In October of this year the Bank of England, [...]

Officials from the Nationwide Building Society have recently stated that the fall in house prices in the UK could continue over the course of 2009 and even into 2010. The building society, which has slashed mortgage lending like many other lenders since the onset of the global credit crunch, has said that the housing market [...]

Following the recent 1.5% base rate cut, and in response to calls from the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, a number o major lenders in the UK have said that they will be passing on the full 1.5% rate cut to borrowers over the coming weeks. As hoped by the government this could help to ease [...]

A policymaker from the Bank of England has said that the recent rate cuts are going to take some time to take effect and feed through to the economy. Andrew Sentance reckons that negative performance indicators in the economy will continue into next year despite the recent drastic rate cuts, as these will need time [...]

According to a recent report lending amongst UK banks is getting even more difficult, and many of the banks and building societies in the UK are set to cut their lending level even more than they have over the past year, since the onset of the global credit crunch. This data comes from a report [...]

Earlier this week the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced that the UK base rate was being cut by 0.5% from 5% to 4.5% in a surprise move one day ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting. Other central banks around the globe, including the US Federal Reserve [...]

Earlier this week the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, called a press conference where they announced that the UK’s base interest rate had been cut by 0.5% in an unprecedented move that saw central banks around the glob cutting their interest rates. The move came just one day [...]

There has been a great deal of speculation over when and by how much the Bank of England will cut the base interest rate over the next year, with inflationary pressures coupled with the threat of recession making decisions challenging for the Monetary Policy Committee. A number of industry officials have now said that the [...]

Since the housing slump began some months ago in the UK there have been many problems for homeowners that are trying to sell their properties. Property sales in England and Wales have gone through the floor for a number of reasons. Falling house prices have put some people off buying for fear of falling into [...]

Earlier this month the Monetary Policy Committee met for its monthly meeting in order to discuss the base rate, and it was decided following the meeting that the base interest rate would be kept on hold at 5%. The base rate was last cut in April, following two earlier rate cuts. However, despite concerns over [...]

In April of this year the Bank of England cut the base rate for the third time since December of last year, cutting it by a further 0.25% and taking it from 5.25% to 5%. Following the rate cut the majority of analysts and economists predicted that there would not be a further interest rate [...]

An industry official has expressed concern that the Bank of England is effectively losing control of retail interest rates, stating that the recent base rate cuts by the central bank have often gone ignored by lenders, who have continued to raise their interest rates despite the base rate cut. Since December there have been three [...]

Recent figures show that mortgage approval levels have been plummeting over recent months, with the number of mortgage approval levels falling to 64,000 in March. This was a 44% drop from the same period a year earlier, and was the lowest level since records began in 1999. The falling figures have stemmed from the global [...]

The UK’s financial markets are in something of a mess as a result of the global credit crunch, which made its way across the nation last summer. All areas of finance have been affected, such as loans, credit cards, and mortgages. Consumer confidence has taken a dive, the economy has been adversely affected, and lending [...]

Following a recent meeting with banking and mortgage officials the government has announced that there will be help in place to assist struggling homeowners that are in danger of losing their homes due to mortgage arrears. This includes those that are coming off cheap fixed rate mortgage, many of whom could face losing their homes [...]

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has recently announced that he wants banks to do what they can to help the more vulnerable families in the country, stating that banks need to help struggling homeowners in order to reduce the risk of rocketing repossession levels. Both Darling and the Housing Minister, Caroline Flint, have stated [...]

The Bank of England announced earlier this week that the base rate was being cut by 0.25%, taking the base rate from 5.25% down to 5%. The announcement came after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday, but did not come as a surprise to many industry experts who had been expecting the bank to [...]

Following the latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting last week the Bank of England has decided to keep interest rates on hold amidst concerns over rising inflation. Although there have been calls for the central bank to cut rates as a result of the flagging economy officials have also had to take into consideration the risks [...]

With a multitude of mortgages available what are the benefits and disadvantages of the product known as a tracker mortgage?